Stucco Repair
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Six types of exterior stucco
AA Brite 24/7 is located in Tucson Arizona, and we put local exterior stucco into one of six categories:
The six types are briefly described below. If you click on the name or the picture you will go to the page with more information on that particular type of stucco.
Smooth Stucco Texture
Advantages: Considered the most elegant looking by many people
Disadvantages: The walls can end up wavy if no skilled labor was used to build them. Cracks are difficult to repair and highly visible.
When well done, smooth stucco is often considered the most elegant looking. The mansion pictured on my main web page and below has a smooth stucco finish and it looks great. However, smooth stucco comes at a price. The smoother and flatter a surface the more it shows any defect or variation - and all walls have some waves and variations. Think of a shiny clean glass table with three grains of sand on it. The three grains of sand (read small defects) stand out so much because the table is smooth. Its also the most difficult stucco to patch. Again think of trying to glue together a broken glass table without having any witness lines or scars, even after its painted. Though we repair it, it's fairly difficult to do.
Well done original flat stucco will only require minor crack repairs. With well done stucco the building will not look like a zebra when the prep work is finished and its ready to be repainted since only a spot here or there was patched. As you slide down further in the quality of the original construction, the building will be more and more striped with repair work. When it looks like a zebra prior to painting, then some of the patch work is going to show. For cases like this there is only one other option and that's to re-stucco the exterior - which can cost ten to thirty thousand dollars.
The photo above is of a home that could have been built better. It appears the foam backing is moving under the stucco, and there are quite a few waves. if a like new finish is desired, then the correct answer is to entirely re-stucco the home. Since variations and defects are so visible on this stucco type, most builders avoid using it.
When cracks are perfectly horizontal or vertical this is also an indication the materials under the stucco are moving. Cracks don't naturally occur in straight lines. Looking at this picture you can almost count the pieces of plywood and foam under the stucco - based on the way its cracking.
Sanded Stucco Texture
Advantages: Considered elegant looking and gives the home a soft feel.
Disadvantages: If there are air voids or the texture came out sharp it is difficult to patch.
Sanded stucco is much more common than smooth, and its a little more forgiving to work with. The texture created by the sand on the wall helps hide any waves or joints by camouflaging them. The key word being "helps". Though its better than smooth from a repair point of view, it is still fairly difficult to patch without scars or spotting. Something working against whoever is doing the patching is the short height of the texture. Sanded stucco repairs are messed up by the inexperienced fairly frequently, with the most common mistake being caulk is applied directly to the crack and then left to dry as is. The resulting lines are called "scars" and the big ones look terrible!
Shown above is a sanded stucco home that had cracks which were not properly patched. Caulk or patching compound was likely applied to the cracks and then not thoroughly worked in while still wet. Once the raised up new material dries it is going to look bad until the home is completely re-stuccoed.
As a side note, when the addition is finished at my home, the existing exterior walls will be finished with a sanded stucco texture. We have adobe block now and my better half says she wants sanded stucco for its soft and elegant look. Stuccoing after the addition is complete will also give the appearance the house and additions were all built at the same time. But back to the main topic.
Depending on the quality of the material and the craftsmanship, sanded stucco has a number of different looks.
This is as good as it gets. There are almost no air bubbles and getting the paint to laminate and waterproof the surface is not a problem.
The stucco has quite a few open pores, and this is an intermediate level paint job as a result of the extra work required to minimize the shadowing. Shadowing is when you see darker colors of the open air pockets when looking at the stucco from the side.
An older stucco with small grains of sand. Notice how the texture is soft (not pointed or really lumpy). The crack is a minor problem and can be filled in without scarring prior to or during painting. Paint and caulk are similar materials and by forcing paint down into narrow cracks they will not return unless there is movement of the stucco.
Sprayed Cement Stucco Repair
Advantages: Applies fast. Can be used to blend in new and old construction.
Disadvantages: Sharp texture. Texture varies in height and density over the building. Some patches are easy and some are difficult depending on the texture. Frequently has a lot of air bubbles. Being pure cement it also seems to crack quite a bit easier than stucco which was formulated for the purpose of covering a wall.
Sprayed on cement stucco comes in a several "flavors" or types. The most common looks similar to Spanish Lace. For our purposes stucco textures which look similar to Spanish Lace are covered in that category.
For conversational purposes here "sprayed cement stucco" is only concrete stucco which was left alone after spraying. Its texture could be compared to thousands upon thousands of miniature volcanoes which come to sharp points.
This texture can be quickly sprayed on and its biggest advantage is the texture helps hide defects and variations of the concrete blocks it is usually sprayed over.
Alas there is still a down side. This texture is usually really sharp and the form of the texture is a result of how thin or thick the concrete was when it was sprayed along with the distance from the wall and the air pressure. Frequently the density and height of the "mini volcanoes" changes significantly over the course of the building. This makes matching the texture difficult, and each repair might require a completely different look. The person doing the patching needs to mimic these "mini volcanoes" as closely as possible by controlling the variables. All of the sprayed concrete stucco homes I've seen have been older.