After seven years and $400,000 in repairs, Gary Weiss had finally hit his breaking point.

Woodpeckers were ruining the stucco at his Playa Del Sol Resort in Kelowna, and he was desperate.

“We used to do repairs on our own,” Weiss said. “But then they’d just dig out the holes the next morning.

“I said, ‘nobody is touching the building until we figure out a solution.’”

He invited stucco guy Keith Eisenkrein to offer a permanent fix, but Eisenkrein wasn’t interested.

“I said, ‘What do I care? They’re woodpeckers.’”

But the more Eisenkrein thought about it, the more he realized opportunity awaited him. After mulling over the idea in his garage, a “light went off in my head” and EIFS Armour was born. 

Two years later, the business is booming – literally.

Eisenkrein’s company is busy upgrading the siding at Centuria Urban Village at Bernard and Gordon in Kelowna until June 27. It's a $255,000 job. He’s brought in what he calls the largest boom crane to ever work in the Okanagan to help seal the building against the destructive birds.

The Genie SK-180 Boom Lift weighs 24,494 kilograms and can reach heights of 186 feet in under five minutes.

EIFS ArmourThe 180-foot Boom Lift is the largest of its kind in the world. Nevertheless, the lift is compact and easily transportable.It’s an extreme tool for an extreme problem in Kelowna, Eisenkrein said.

Eisenkrein’s system involves applying a steel mesh to repel woodpeckers and flickers. He relies on a blend of bird-resistant materials, a new anchoring system and acrylic hardeners. He also worked in masonry, and borrowed techniques he learned there using steel mesh.

Woodpeckers are a million-dollar problem in the Okanagan, Eisenkrein said.

He estimates 40 per cent of buildings in Kelowna are stucco, and virtually all of them battle with woodpeckers leaving gaping holes in the siding. They rip out Styrofoam, make a mess below them and – of course – they poop on whatever is below them. The holes also allow pests and water to breach the building, causing even more headaches.

He said he’s worried the new Okanagan Innovation Centre under construction in downtown Kelowna will “turn into a bird sanctuary” because it doesn't have his shielding.

For people in the 150 units at Centuria, it was getting ugly. Eisenkrein found 300 holes and repairing them just forces birds to move down two feet and start again.

The problem forced Eisenkrein to become an amateur ornithologist.

What he found was woodpeckers are not just persistent noisemakers, but they’re omnivores and can be brutal. They will eat eggs and baby birds from other nests.

EIFS ArmourA shot from the top of the 180ft boom lift offers passengers an excellent view of the Centuria buildings and surrounding Kelowna.

While some might believe they drill holes into trees to get at insects, Eisenkrein noticed something else: holes become traps.

Insects might collect in those holes, but those holes also attract other birds that use them for nests, he said. The woodpeckers swoop in and can feast on anything they find, Eisenkrein said.

Since launching his business, Eisenkrein is now in the process of licensing it across North America. He’s negotiating with companies in Western Canada and as far away as Atlantic City, N.J.

There may be residential and retail opportunities to come, Eisenkrein said. If you’ve ever had a woodpecker hammering on your metal chimney, you might be asking yourself why the stupid birds continue to look for insects inside metal tubes. Eisenkrein said that’s a mating ritual, they're not trying to feed.

He wants to develop something to install over a home’s chimney to make it impossible for the birds to perch.

“You’ll see it,” Eisenkrein promised.

Not only has his business reached new heights, Eisenkrein said his whole outlook on life has changed.

“I stuck every dime I had into my patents and my lawyers and into testing this and getting my first job,” he said. “Nowadays, it’s changed my life because I’m not in debt anymore like that. I’m not stressed out. I’m happy. I’m doing something worthwhile in my life.”

EIFS ArmourThe 180-foot boom lift ascends towards the heights of the Centuria building.