Welcome to The Sealed Cladding System!
The Sealed Cladding System is the only Code-Approved, Tested & Warranted system for exterior cladding in the all climate zones including warm, humid climate zones.
The Sealed Cladding System has received Florida Product Approval FL# 30710. System has been tested to exceed the requirements of ASTM E330 & E331.
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Designed by Plastering Contractors
Uses Industry Standard Materials
As Affordable as Other Stucco Systems
More Installation Friendly – Easy Application
Creates a Face Barrier System for Performance
Based Upon Decades Old Plastering Methods
Manufacturer Warranted for 15 Years!
Three Prominent Manufacturers in the Construction Industry have teamed with the Stucco Institute to provide the industry with the revolutionary code approved and manufacturer warranted Sealed Cladding System.
Structa-Wire
Drylok Extreme
Enroll in the On-Line Course and become a Certified Applicator – Contractors, Foremen and Workers
Cover Your Lath!
Protect yourself from litigation with the Code-Approved Sealed Cladding System
If you are applying stucco systems according to the ASTM C-926 (stucco) and C-1063 (lath) standards, you are exposed to untrained consultants (who may have never plastered or stuccoed) who misinterpret, misapply and misconstrue these provisions when inspecting your work in the field, or worse yet, to prepare a so-called code violations list for an unjust lawsuit against you!
Protecting your reputation and preventing unjust lawsuits begin with a quality cladding system that has code approval and has clear, unambiguous installation details for a system you know will perform flawlessly for decades. It also must be easy for your crew to understand and follow. The Sealed Cladding System gives you peace of mind so you can spend no time worrying about differing opinions of others as to how the system is to be installed and no time worrying about your reputation being assaulted by lawsuits – and spend more time getting things done and turning a healthier profit!
- Over 40 years of flawless service life
- No Control Joints — No Weep Screeds — No Rusty Lath!
- Eliminates problematic and unnecessary accessories – that means it’s cost-effective and time-efficient!
- Tough against the worst type conditions: wind storms, airborne salt concentration, heat, and humidity or frigid cold.
- Customer Placard reminds customers to perform maintenance checkups
- 15 year warranty when installed in accordance with the required instructions!
Breaking News!!
We evaluated an installation of a Face Barrier Stucco Stucco System after 35 years of service and the results are astonishing! Read the Newsletter below about the Sealed Cladding System, learn what common issues are plaguing the industry, and understand how the installation method makes all of the difference!
35 Year Old Stucco Wall Performing Perfectly!
For other informative articles about exterior finishes and cladding in all areas, visit www.StuccoInstitute.com
Address: 8301 Joliet St, Hudson, FL 34667
Phone: (727) 857-3904
Email: info@stuccoinstitute.com
About the Sealed Cladding System
The Sealed Cladding System was developed to provide a serviceable exterior cladding system for both residential and light commercial construction applications. The Sealed Cladding System is designed for all Climate Zones as defined by the International Energy Conservation Code with special emphasis on Zones 1, 2 & 3. These zones are particularly susceptible to high-wind storm events (tropical storms, hurricanes, or other weather extremes) and a high airborne salt concentration.
For more than 40 years, successful residential stucco systems in the Southern United States region have not been installed as an ASTM C 926 drain plane wall-covering system using colored stucco as the finish coat nor were they being installed to provide structural shear values or fire resistance values. Local stucco contractors and experts recognized that international standards and the codes referencing international standards needed regional modification in order to perform as a regional system.
Experts knew that differences in regional climate, regional construction methodologies, and regional building envelope needs ultimately required the locally-trained applicator to modify or eliminate many of these international provisions for better service life and performance of the product.
International exterior cladding standards allow the cladding to be installed over “open framing” without any painting. As a result, the cladding can be applied with white or gray material, or tinted with a cement dye to offer a complete range of possible color hues and tints for the consumer. Installing cladding in this manner provides the additional marketing benefit of a “maintenance-free” exterior.
In such an instance, a standard will require a “drain plane” behind the cladding to protect the underlying wood sub-framing members. This “drain plane” can manage minor amounts of water that would, or could, migrate through the cladding and the underlying metal lath by way of normal and anticipated cracking of the cladding plane. Most of the water is evaporated when the sun comes out, drying the stucco surface. Minuscule amounts remaining simply migrate back out to the surface of the cladding at the “weep screed” placed at the foundation wall.
In more humid (and other regional) applications, local experts have long recognized that this process cannot be applied in a salt-rich environment. Migrating water carries migrating salts and those migrating salts create rusting of the metal lath behind the cladding. Therefore water that might be harmless in a different environment is not harmless in these environments.
Accordingly, stucco cladding systems in a harsh, damp environment need a “face barrier system” which includes proper sealants of all penetrations. The goal has always been to absolutely bar and prevents the passage of any water through the cladding system or around penetrations. With such a system in place, there is no need for a “drain plane” system since there is no water to “manage” behind the stucco system.
Air barriers are required and can be sequenced so as to serve as both an air barrier and a secondary water barrier depending upon their type, application, and integrated construction detailing. In the 1980s control homes built in Southeast Florida were constructed using an air barrier and water barrier placed directly underneath the wire lath and cladding. Final testing results showed excellent performance as an air barrier and cladding substrate.
As time went along, new inventions such as plastic corner beads and accessories evolved creating some of their own unique problems. Traditional techniques of “rodding” the corners seemed to vanish. Precast accent trim (which was previously attached after the exterior finish and waterproofing) started to be applied in a faux fashion by using newly developed plastic casing beads “back-to-back” to create leak paths directly to the metal underlayment and wood sub-framing. The placement of foam bands in similar situations followed suit and yielded the same complications.
Fenestration also changed. Screens that were inside, moved outside. Mechanical joints became stressed by improper installation. Unintended hydraulic heads were caused by screen blockage. Reduction of overhangs and wall stresses also acted on the mechanical joints, creating pathways for water intrusion.
Traditionally applications of coatings that were “rolled” (providing the required millage thickness) were replaced with airless sprayers and extension wands. These have allowed the exterior coating to appear properly painted – but, when millage thickness is measured, the covering may only be 10% of its required thickness. This, of course, does not bridge the underlying cracking of the stucco, nor does it provide the required waterproofing capabilities necessary for a face barrier system.
Quality sealants and joint preparation also fell by the wayside. It was replaced by inexpensive caulks and improperly prepared bases. Usually, provided that an initial house was marginally painted, the repainting at the recommended 5-year mark (to the correct mil thickness), meant these stucco systems suffered little harm. However, after the fifth year, problems manifested themselves exponentially with passing time. Simple stucco repairs became much more cost- and labor-intensive.
The Sealed Cladding System is a technique for applying exterior cladding and sequencing exterior coatings that entirely avoids the aforementioned stucco problems. With more than 40 years of time-honored, complication-free service life, the Sealed Cladding System was developed to fulfill the specific requirements that are necessary for a successful exterior cement finish installation in Florida or similar humid or harsh environments.
The details and protocols contained in its installation instructions restore the time-old traditions of a quality installation. The Sealed Cladding System installation specifications require the elimination of plastic-type corner beads with inhibitive flange-embedment properties. The installation also requires the exterior finish contractor to prepare the surface with the time-old tradition of sealant “V” grooves and reliefs. These details are necessary for the waterproofing contractor so that a sufficient seal with a quality sealant can be applied, instead of the inadequate application of a “beauty bead” which provides ineffective waterproofing to critical areas. The system requires the coating to be installed to the proper thickness using proper methodologies which specify the sealant type and grade. But most importantly, the system is only installed by someone trained to either install or supervise the installation of the system to ensure uncompromising quality and performance.