How to install EIFS insulation boards on a facade

Step-by-step procedure

1. 1

   Survey and set out

   Check facade flatness — the system tolerates limited deviation. Mark the starter track level, plan board coursing, and set out movement joints to match the structure.

2. 2

   Fix the starter profile

   Mechanically fix a levelled aluminium or PVC starter track at the base to support the first course and close the bottom edge against water and pests.

3. 3

   Bond the boards

   Apply adhesive as a continuous perimeter bead plus centre dabs, or full-bed on flat substrates, targeting at least 40% contact. Press boards tight to each other with no adhesive in the vertical joints.

4. 4

   Stagger and detail openings

   Lay boards in a running bond with staggered joints and interlocked corners. At window and door corners use L-shaped cut boards so no board joint lines up with an opening corner — that is where diagonal cracks start.

5. 5

   Mechanically fix

   After 24 hours, install expansion plugs to the specified pattern and depth for the substrate, countersunk and capped so fixing heads cannot telegraph as cold spots.

6. 6

   Rasp flat and fill

   Rasp the whole surface to a true plane and fill gaps over 2 mm with insulation offcuts or foam — never with adhesive mortar, which creates thermal bridges.

7. 7

   Reinforce

   Apply basecoat, add diagonal mesh patches at opening corners, then embed the full mesh sheet with 100 mm overlaps into the middle third of a wet basecoat and skim over so the mesh is not visible.

8. 8

   Prime and finish

   After the basecoat cures, apply the primer and then the specified textured finish coat, working elevation by elevation without cold joints.

Details that decide performance

Base terminations, window reveals, sills with adequate overhang and drip, parapet cappings and service penetrations account for most EIFS failures. Detail them on drawings before the first board is bonded.