Stucco has a long, illustrious history as both a building material and an artistic medium. In ancient times, Greeks and Romans used stone, block and brick to build magnificent structures, often adorning them with beautiful frescoes. Artists of that time combined gypsum, marble dust and glue to form the lasting smooth surface (a precursor to what we call “stucco”), on which their frescoes were painted. During the Renaissance, Italian craftsman and then later, craftsmen all across Europe, adopted stucco techniques with equally lasting and beautiful results.
Beautifying today’s homes, stucco is either a mixture of Portland cement, sand, and water combined to form a plaster, or a synthetic product manufactured to provide the beautiful appearance of true stucco. These synthetic products combine an insulated sheathing board and a fiberglass mesh, and are finished with a synthetic material that looks just like the real thing.
Time and weather take their toll.
Darkened and stained areas can occur on just about any exterior wall surface. In the case of stucco, many people think that the culprit is a breakdown of the stucco finish itself, but that’s seldom true. Dark, stained areas most often result from trapped moisture that has
caused mold and mildew to take hold and grow. Settling cracks can also open the wall to troublesome moisture. Years of accumulated dust and dirt can turn a formerly beautiful color dull and uninteresting.
Regaining original beauty Even with recommended, regular light-duty maintenance, the time will come when you’ll want to refresh or change the color of your stucco and perhaps have some more repairs done to improve the appearance of your stucco finish. At the very least, this would involve cleaning the damaged area, removing loose stucco material, and sealing minor stucco cracks with a high-quality, textured, elastomeric caulk to match the existing stucco texture.
More severe stucco damage may require removing larger sections of the stucco and repairing the substrate. It’s important, especially in wet climates, to identify areas where water penetration may occur, then repair those areas to prevent further damage. Once the substrate is repaired, we use a dry mix stucco product with a bonding adhesive to recreate the stucco finish.” After priming with a quality 100% acrylic exterior masonry primer, the final step is to apply a 100% acrylic exterior finish coat.
Repairing stucco properly is a challenge, and each project requires different levels of prep and repairs to ensure that the new stucco material adheres properly, matches the existing texture, and of course, lasts for years.