EIFSFACTS.ORG

The Real Facts About EIFS 

- STO Does Not Offer Factory Training and Certification -

It used to be that you could not purchase STO EIFS materials and supplies unless you were an applicator that was trained and certified by STO. Then, the EIFS crisis hit. STO has decided that there is too much liability in being the "trainers" of the very applicators they blame for EIFS failures. They now claim they do not provide factory training as this e-mail response from John Edgar, Technical Director of STO, to an EIFS home-owner shows:

jedgar@stocorp.com on 11/24/99 10:40:47 AM

To:   Sally Van Vels

Subject:  Re: Roofing

Sallie,

You have raised a few issues which I will attempt to answer:

1]  You use the term "Factory Trained" Installers.  Applicators who use our product attend a two day seminar to become famaliar with our products and details.  They are not trained to be skilled with tools.  They should have the skills prior to attending the seminar.  Applicators are independent contractors who are not under the control of Sto or Sto's distributor.  Using the expression "factory trained" suggests a level of training that does not exist.

Regards,

John Edgar

Phone calls to both STO and STO distributors on 12/09/99 confirm that STO will now sell materials to anyone. STO has gotten away from the concept of "certified contractors". One can no longer obtain information on applicators from STO's web site. Calls the same day to Dryvit and their distributors show that Dryvit maintains their policy of selling EIFS materials only to Dryvit Trained and Certified contractors. If you want to purchase Dryvit materials from distributors, you'll have to present them with your Dryvit Certificate: