Who knows about Stucco finishes

megadesertdiesel

megadesertdiesel

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I have a block house that was built in ‘78 and at some point the face of the house was rough stucco finished and a few layers of paint.  Most of the other houses are just raw block or painted block which would have been nicer and less maintenance.  
 

Is there a way to update to the smooth stucco? 
 

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It can be done but you will want someone that knows what they are doing. Going over a painted surface can cause issues down the road with the new stucco popping off. The old school way was to remove as much of the paint as possible then go over it with a new scratch coat and then a finish coat. My house was the same way, we did it about 35 years ago with a smooth sand finish and I haven't had any issues. I know the technology has come a long way on bonding agents so going over the paint may not be an issue any longer.

 
Getting finish coat to bond to the existing paint/coating can be dealt with, but remember the real point of adhesion is still where the oldest layer is in contact with the substrate. When, not if, that fails, everything fails with it. Could last for years, or could peel like potato chips in short order.

 
I think they'll have to sandblast the house then apply the coating... my neighbor is a contractor and had his done....looks nicer. 

 
While not ideal, as long as the existing stucco is sound, a good plasterer can do it and make it look perfect.  They basically would use an adhesive / crack isolation system that would apply a mesh over the existing stucco and smooth it out with a material that the smooth coat would then be applied over. The critical thing is having a good stucco guy. Smooth stucco jobs are not easy to do right. Its more of an art that most people can't do right and most owners that are looking for the cheapest quote are gonna get what they pay for. 

 
Just did this on my 2 story house.  It was built in 1970 and had the same rough surface texture.  I had to remove the lower 6 feet of stucco as the home was not built with weep screeds.  It appears your home is not either.  This lack of weep screed will result in water damage to your wall plates, lath and insulation.  Good chance your in the same situation as I was as i dont see the weep screed and I do see stucco crumbling at the base of your walls.

On the smooth stucco deal.  It looks amazing when done. Its not cheap.  I am 65K into it with the wall repair, adding weep screed and lath, brown coat and full stucco on the house.

Would I do it again. Yes but......

I would remove all the stucco and do it right. Buy once cry once. Shear wall the whole house.  This will lead to new windows too, 

I have cracks in my smooth stucco.  Its 1 year old.  My high end Newport Beach clients have smooth stucco, they have cracks.  All smooth stucco will crack with house movement.  No way around it.  Some of my clients have even crack filled and painted over their smooth stucco as it was the only way to make the cracks repairable so to speak.

Happy to discus in more detail.

 
My last Stucco guy was definitely on Crack !! 

 
thanks for the info, looks like I'll be chipping the old stucco off this winter.  I would imagine a pneumatic chipping hammer would do the trick.  

 
Grease Monkey said:
Just did this on my 2 story house.  It was built in 1970 and had the same rough surface texture.  I had to remove the lower 6 feet of stucco as the home was not built with weep screeds.  It appears your home is not either.  This lack of weep screed will result in water damage to your wall plates, lath and insulation.  Good chance your in the same situation as I was as i dont see the weep screed and I do see stucco crumbling at the base of your walls.

On the smooth stucco deal.  It looks amazing when done. Its not cheap.  I am 65K into it with the wall repair, adding weep screed and lath, brown coat and full stucco on the house.

Would I do it again. Yes but......

I would remove all the stucco and do it right. Buy once cry once. Shear wall the whole house.  This will lead to new windows too, 

I have cracks in my smooth stucco.  Its 1 year old.  My high end Newport Beach clients have smooth stucco, they have cracks.  All smooth stucco will crack with house movement.  No way around it.  Some of my clients have even crack filled and painted over their smooth stucco as it was the only way to make the cracks repairable so to speak.

Happy to discus in more detail.
Click to expand...
No weep plates with slump block, wall plates are just a furring strip on the interior, Insulation is filled into the block 

 
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