WILMINGTON MORNING STAR /SATURDAY,SEPTEMBER 23,1996

NEW HANOVER/43 OF 45 houses have rot

Stucco woe may be more widespread

By BETTIE FENNELL

"When you can sink an eight-inch ice pick into wood, it's rotten."

Allen Golden, Building Inspector

When New Hanover County building inspectors heard that

contractor John Hatfield had almost no problems with houses

he covered with synthetic stucco, they wanted to see what he

was doing right.

But when Allen Golden, assistant inspections director,

examined a house Friday that Mr. Hatfield covered six years

ago, three or four walls were rotting top to bottom, Mr.

Golden said.

"When you can sink an eight-inch ice pick into wood,

 it's rotten." Mr.Golden said. "Normally you can't drive

 eight-inch ice pick into wood with human strength." he said.

The house in Landfall,is one of 45 stucco covered struc-

tures the inspection department has examined in the past

several weeks. All but two have moisture problems, Mr.

Golden said.

Mr. Hatfield, who was with Mr. Golden when he examined

the house, downplayed the problem. He said only the back

wall had moisture damage, where water drained from a deck.

The water got in the walls because of deck pilings that were

covered with stucco. The pilings, he said, didn't have

flashing to protect the main structure from moisture.

"There was no way to flash it." Mr. Hatfield said. "It's

really not poor workmanship."

He advised builders not to cover deck pilings with

stucco.

Building and inspection officials are unsure about the

cause of the problem,though numerous theories have been

suggested.

A task force, made up of representatives with the

National Association of Home Builders, the state Insurance

Department, stucco manufacturers and local inspections

officials recently formed to determine why walls behind

synthetic stucco are rotting and how to prevent the problem.

Friday, the state Insurance Department asked building

inspection departments across the state to report such

problems to the department before Oct. 18, the day two

subcommitees with the Building Code Council plan to meet

to discuss the issue.

Synthetic stucco is applied over sheets of pressed

board or plywood and glued on plastic foam board. A thin

layer of mesh, often fiberglass, is added to act as a

framework for the stucco, a mix of cement and synthetic

materials.

New Hanover County Inspections Director Jay Graham

said inspection officials don't yet know the extent of

damage in the county. But it could pose a problem if a

strong wind or hurricane sweeps through. " A hurricane

can cause damage to structures that are in fine shape."

Mr. Graham said.

The county has 3,196 houses and 418 commercial buildings

covered with synthetic stucco.

More than a week ago, Mr. Golden asked the state Building

Code Council to issue a moratorium on the use of synthetic

stucco. But the council, which establishes state building

codes, declined, saying it didn't have enough information to

act and needed to study the issue further.

The county could issue a moratorium, but the County

Commissioners would have to determine that the public's

health and safety would be in jeopardy, said County Attorney

Wanda Copley. A public hearing probably would be held and a

deadline set to lift the moratorium.

Ms. Copley said she has not been instructed to prepare a

proposal for a moratorium.

"A moratorium is a very serious thing to do," she said.

"You don't do it lightly."

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