When I presented to the builder that the gaps should be sealed or caulked underneath the 2nd Story bump out, the builder replied no, you would never seal those gaps because the gaps are supposed to be there, because that is your drip edge if water were to get behind there it would need a place to drain.
Note that the second story is wood frame, not block. I have never heard of a drip edge made for wood.
Can someone help in terms of who is right and what needs to be done if anything?
Builder is correct. Those are drain plain weeps, and should not be sealed. Without them, the bottom of the bump out or beam can hold water and cause rot.
Thank you for clarifying. Is there any benefit for the bottom to be a soffit vs wood with drain plain weeps? I notice another 2 story has a soffit instead.
2 different construction components soffit the underside of an architectural structure such as an arch, a balcony, or overhanging eaves weep screed or perforated casing bead is used to facilitate moisture drainage from the lowest termination of stucco, eifs or acmv cladding systems
2 entirely different construction components soffit
the underside of an architectural structure such as an arch, a balcony, or overhanging eaves
weep screed or perforated casing bead
is a code & industry prescribed component that facilitates moisture drainage from the lowest wall or foundation termination of stucco, eifs or acmv drained cladding systems
2 entirely different construction components soffit
the underside of an architectural structure such as an arch, a balcony, or overhanging eaves
weep screed or perforated casing bead
is a code & industry prescribed component that facilitates moisture drainage from the lowest wall or foundation termination of stucco, eifs or acmv drained cladding systems
The Journal Of Light Construction has actually written an article about Stucco Buckets and provided some real nasty pictures of what happens with them. Hope this helps you understand them.
I’ve been writing them up for 15 years and seen countless with water damage, however, I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I’ve never heard the term “stucco bucket” associated with it.
A fellow inspector shared the same article Manny refers to above is where I first heard the term. Stucco is (almost) never installed correctly around here.
I read the above. However, the builder decided to put a soffit under the bump out on the same house model down the street vs the bump out without a soffit that has a weep screed/stucco bucket
Why would a builder put a soffit instead of a weep screed/stucco bucket, is there any benefit to having a soffit instead?
Photos attached of weep screed/stucco bucket vs soffit
What are the pro’s and con’s of having a weep screed vs a soffit underneath the bump out? The exact same model house has a weep screed on one and a soffit on the other. See photos
check permit dates
they may have encountered earlier problems/reports calling out the soffit band as a latent deficient installation & learned from their ignorant mistakes the proper way to drain eifs/stucco
