Aluminum wiring:     Aluminum wiring became a popular alternative to copper during the late 1960's and into the mid 1970's.  It's apparent dangers became quickly evident in home fires starting at receptacles and switches.  Here is a link to an article put out by the CPSC about the dangers, and repair possibilities of aluminum branch wiring in homes: 
     www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PUBS/516.pdf    
     You need to have Adobe Reader on your computer to open this file.   You can also type, surrounded by parenthesis, "aluminum wiring" into www.Google.com and lots of information, on a variety of reliable sources will come up.
     If you suspect your home was built in the mid to late 60's or early to mid 70's, or have had additions or electrical work done during this time period, you may want to contact a qualified electrician to check it out.  Home inspectors look for this wiring during a home inspection, while inspecting the service panel.  The panel cover must be removed to see the wiring, and to look for identification on the branch wiring insulation material.  The home owner should NOT attempt to remove the panel cover from the main service panel, and should leave this to a qualified electrician or home inspector.  If aluminum branch wiring is found during a home inspection, the inspector will note this on the Inspection Report as a Safety Issue, and will recommend referral to a qualified electrician.


EIFS :     Exterior Insulation Finished systems.     I'm sure your familiar with this type of exterior covering.  You see it every day, in commercial buildings such as restaurants, clinics, office buildings, and shopping centers, and, it's very common on homes.  It looks like stucco.  Like the building was made from cement.  It usually has contrasting colors, and interesting architectural designs, and features, done in contrasting colors for accents.  It looks great, and properly installed, and maintained, it's a beautiful exterior cladding for any type of building.  


     On commercial buildings, typically, this system is installed over a steel stud exterior wall, that is first sheeted with a water proof cement board, or it can be applied directly over exterior masonry walls.  On residential buildings, and single family homes, this system is typically applied directly over the sheeting of the exterior walls.  Usually this sheeting is particle board, or OSB (Orientated Strand Board), or plywood.  The problem occurs when areas start to leak, and take on moisture, such as wall penetrations, ( pipes, electrical fixtures, attachments like shutters, etc.), joints and seams, areas around windows and doors, cracks in the finish coat, areas where the system ends at ground level, areas where different building features or roof lines intersect with walls, etc.  When the infiltration of moisture occurs, and is allowed to continue, the wall begins to rot and decay from the inside......hidden from view by the EIFS system  Moisture detectors that home inspectors use, are usually the first positive detection of what is going on underneath the surface.  It can also be noticed by cracks in the system that have discoloring, discoloring around window and door sills, mold growth, and a general uneven coloring of the surface.  It can also show up on the inside of the wall surface by discoloring, and in the worse cases, actually mold growth.

Doing a search for  "EIFS" on the internet will reveal many of interesting and informative topics on EIFS.  Here are a couple of links you can check out.
www.eima.com  is the website for the EIFS Industry Members Assoc.  This is an informative site, with a downloadable handbook on proper installation and sealing techniques.
www.stuccolaw.com/what/frame.html  is an interesting slide show about EIFS.  You can advance through by clicking on next, at the bottom of each frame, or every 15 seconds, it will advance to the next frame.
     If you have this type of exterior finish system, take a close look around your home, and stay on top of any issues that may be present where moisture can intrude and get behind the system, and cause alot of ugly and expensive damage.