Stucco Repair
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
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.
Sanded Stucco
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.
Sprayed Cement Stucco
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.
Spanish Lace Stucco
Advantages: Cracks less than all other kinds. Is the best for hiding defects. Seems to be stronger than other types. A popular stucco for new construction.
Disadvantages: Not many other than it is not considered to be as elegant looking as sanded or smooth.
Tex Coating Stucco
Advantages: Applies fast. Can be sprayed on over wood and pipes.
Disadvantages: To my knowledge it hasn't been used in the past 20 years. It flakes off on large chunks. New patches could eventually fall off since the material its applied to was not intended to be stuccoed.
Synthetic Sprayed Stucco
Advantages: Looks great and goes on fast. Is newer method.
Disadvantages: The very few that I've seen have lots of air bubbles when looked at closely, and when patched have to be painted twice. This is a close up view. From a distance it looks great and non-contractors wouldn't normally notice the bubbles.
Within each of these categories there will be quite a bit of variation in workmanship, which affects the look and also the likelihood that patches can be applied without looking like patches. As my friend and fellow painter Keith Black says "Great original stucco workmanship is easy to patch and paint, poor workmanship is a pain forever more."
Smooth Stucco
Smooth Stucco
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 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 at the five or ten year mark. 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.
Link to Next Page - Sanded Stucco
