EIFS / STUCCO: 3-COAT VS EIFS

$8 to $14 per square foot installed in most 2026 markets, with a national average near $16 and complex detail work running higher; traditional three-coat stucco runs $7 to $9. The spread is insulation thickness, drainage system, detail density, and substrate prep, which is why contractors need their own tracked cost-per-SF by system rather than a published average.

EIFS/stucco contractors at $1M to $5M net 5.5 percent on average, rising to 8 percent by $25M to $50M; the CFOS target at $1M to $5M is 10 percent. The trade earns solid gross margins; the leaks are underpriced detail work, weather-eaten schedules, and warranty exposure nobody reserved for. Every net profit figure here is stated before taxes, the same basis CFMA reports on, so the two are directly comparable.

Because it's a sealed system: installed with bad flashing, caulking, or penetration details, it traps water in the wall. Class actions started in 1995 and built a remediation industry that still bills $15,000 to $40,000 per full replacement. Modern drainage-plane systems fixed the design risk; installation quality carries the rest, which makes detail-level QC documentation the installer's real insurance.

Three tiers, and which one you are in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. Core is where you stop guessing: job costing built against the way you estimate, a 13 week cash forecast, monthly WIP, and a monthly meeting that ends in decisions, while your bookkeeper keeps doing the books. Executive is where you stop touching the books, because we run the bookkeeping and the controllership as well. Strategic is where every job shows its margin while it is still running, because the job costing and WIP platform is set up and managed for you. No payroll. No scope gaps.

Sixty days. We migrate your books back to the start of your last taxable year, set up ControlQore, and build your job costing structure from scratch. Fully operational in two months.