Stucco Exterior - advantages and disadvantages (roofing, paint, ceilings, furniture)
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how does the owner of a stucco home get rid of the moisture which penetrates into and through a stucco wall?
On a concrete house, the moisture is not as much of a problem. On a wood frame house, the moisture is blocked by paint and care in the application. The synthetic stuccos did not "weep" as much as mortar stuccos; the fault was in not sealing the joints between stucco and windows and doors and such properly. In South Florida, mold is annoying but the moisture promotes rot which will destroy a wood house. In my opinion, I would never own a wood frame house with a stucco exterior, others say it's OK.
In South Florida, on a wood frame house, there is one siding material that is worse than stucco -- T1/12 plywood siding. It WILL rot. Even stucco is better. Every T1/12 sided building owned by me or my kids (3 houses, a commercial building and a garage) have had to be resided in less than 30 years.
The majority of houses built in Florida are CBS (concrete bliock & stucco). Hardiboards or Hardipanels are rarely used on concrete block because it's difficult to fasten unless furred out first. If you see a house with Hardiboard, it's probably a wood frame house. I'm not sure why some builders might use stucco in the front and Hardiboards elsewhere; in my experience it's usually the other way around,, because Hardiboard is a much more attractive material. There are some two story houses with the first floor in CBS and the second floor in wood frame; many of these tie the front facade together with stucco and use Hardiboard (or more likely vinyl siding) on the sides and rear of the second floor. My personal opinion is that is cheap construction.
So many houses in Florida are stucco, frankly I'm bored with the look. My new house will be Hardiboard. That's the second most often used siding in Florida, but the difference is like 80% stucco and 10% Hardiboard and 10% everything else. I should qualify that and say it is for South Florida; in North Florida houses sometimes take on a more northern appearance, including brick.
It's the complete opposite in NorthEast Florida. Nearly all the houses here are wood frame, traditionally one-story though that has changed in the last 3 or 4 years and we see more two-stories being built now.
There is actually a stigma to concrete block houses here, they are considered lower income housing (the one exception being houses right on the ocean itself...these are sometimes block and clearly not low-income).
I'm bored of the stucco too, but it's what you get now unless you want to pay for an upgrade to brick (few people do). You can have the house stucco all around, but again, few do. Most people here go for the stucco front (cleaner look) and the hardiboard surrounding the rest (lower maintenance). It is all painted to match and considering how close lots are these days, the change in material is hardly noticeable. The vinyl siding was a brief and awful period - now THAT really stood out against the hardiboard - you don't see builders currently going that route now.
The method is as you outlined, with the wire mesh.
Is it cheap construction? Well, I guess that's subjective. The majority of people in Jacksonville are buying new construction homes in the $300k and up range. Once you get into the $600k range, the builders will offer more options, but otherwise, you're likely to have stucco and hardiboard...it is what it is .
how does the owner of a stucco home get rid of the moisture which penetrates into and through a stucco wall?
Hi again ,
I've owned exclusively stucco covered homes from San Diego to Santa Clarita, and now Northern Nevada. They've all been stick built houses with the stucco exterior.
In each case, from 35 years ago to today in each of my houses, the water got out via a weep screed along the entire bottom edge of each wall. As was mentioned in part of one reply, the frame is covered by panels, which are then covered by a house wrap of some type. Then a metal lath (kinda like chicken wire) is applied on which the first concrete-type coat is applied. That coat is scartched so the finish coat of stucco can adhere. Once the stucco is applied, it is finished.
If done right, the color is inside the stucco. It lasts a long time and, should it need to be renewed or the color changed, a thin new layer of stucco is applied. Paint is not used, but if it is painted, it is best to continue painting from then on. New stucco won't adhere properly unless the paint is removed.
To continue, any concrete or stucco product is somewhat porus. Much of any rain will be shed, but some will penetrate the stucco covering. Some will evaporate but it will eventually reach the house wrap where is will fall down and reach the weep screed. It is the weep screed that allows it to exit the wall onto the ground.
What is important to recognize is that stucco has been especially successful in somewhat arid environments. Places like Mexico and the US Southwest are places where it has worked well for hundreds of years. It rarely rains and the air is dry, so that limits any mold issues.
Then things were changed with the synthetic stucco. It doesn't breathe the same as the natural product and was introduced to areas where stucco had not been a common building product. Between improper installation by contractors unfamilar with the product and an entirely new and wet environment, people ran into problems. It doesn't mean there was something wrong with the synthetic stucco, it just meant that it was a wrong product for the labor and environment in the area. It continued to work well in its traditional regions.
As for brick preferences, again it's something that needs to be appropriate for the area. Newly built brick homes are more often than not, not true brick homes. They are just stick-built houses with a brick facia. Although nice and sturdy under many conditions, the grout is also porus and requires a secondary interior barrier to shed water similar to a stucco covered house.
Full brick houses, as well as brick facia, are also not appropriate in many areas of the country. They fall down or fall off the structre in things called earthquakes. So, houses with movement, like stickbuilt that can sway like a sapling, which is needed in earthquake country, do better. Although stucco will crack under those conditions, and probably something like a cementboard product (e.g., Hardiplank) would fare better, stucco cracks are still very easy to fix. It's a lot easier than resetting an entire wall of fallen facia brick.
BTW, remember that earthquake country isn't limited to the Pacific Coast. One of the biggest faultlines in the country is historically ready to let off again in West Tennessee/Southeast Missouri. It's the New Madrid fault. I think the last time it broke, sometime in the 1800's, rivers flowed backwards for days. So, all those popular and beautiful old brick homes in that region are going to be in for a rude surprise.
Garth
do you power wash the stucco walls of your home when they get dirty? I'd be afraid to blow a hole through stucco or at least crack it. I'd have to keep the PSI down using my power washer.
and you're absolutely right....newer brick homes only have fascia brick and not true brick walls. If I get tired of my brick, I can always tear it off and stucco my home. Haven't gotten to that point yet here in Indiana.
Last edited by Southside Shrek; 07-20-2007 at 01:48 PM..
Hummm, I've nver really power washed it. It's too dry for dark or green thngs to start growing on the side of the house. The only thing might be dust and I take care of that with just hosing/rinsing down the side when I have a slow day.
There were a lot of houses built in the 50's and earlier that are stucco--those houses have real stucco too. Those houses are rock solid homes as well. The stucco issues were mainly in the 80's and 90's.
We had a real stucco house in the MoTown area in the 60s-70s. I'd guess it was built in the 50s or late 40s, it had real plaster, arched doorways, quality wood floors, solid wood doors, a great house.
Stucco is tough stuff when done properly, sort of like a cement house.
Dwatted W
didn't they put asbestos in plaster and stucco for added strength back in the 40's and 50's? I know that if that kind of plaster or stucco is not breaking up, the asbestos is still contained inside and probably not a health hazard. However once it starts cracking and crumbling, it's a whole different story.
I find this information very helpful. I am currently looking at a stucco home built in 1999. Since these lawsuits have been forthcoming, I am hopeful that this home is the real thing and not the synthetic stuff. In addition to this home being stucco, it has the tile roof. What kind of information is out there in regards to this type of roof. The house is considered mediterranean.
On all those stucco houses I've had, they've each had a tile roof. They've either been the barrel type (rounded on top) or the flat concrete.
Tile roofs can last for many many years, even centuries like you see in Europe. However, they're not good to walk on, especially the rounded type. If you have to get on the roof, be very very carefl when walking on them. They can crack. The flat ones are better for walking on than the rounded ones, but I would still avoid it if at all possible.
If your 1999 house is a production house, and it has the rounded type of tiles, they're probably machine made and very consistent in size. If it's a custom home, it's possible that the tiles are hand-made. Those are a little more expensive and they're not consistent in size.
You can tell if they're hand-made by looking at the underside of the tiles. They're made by bending the clay over the maker's calf. You will see hand marks and possible impressions from each maker's leg in the clay.
Otherwise, there's little, if any, maintenance with the tiles. I would just take a look every now and again to make sure none have cracked from something hitting them. I really don't know what would hit them, unless you live in hail country, because the only thing that usually falls from the sky in tradional mediterranean areas is rain. Rain doesn't tend to break tiles.
Overall I've found them very trouble-free in my western environments. If you're also in such areas as SoCal, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, and other such areas, I think you'll also find them trouble-free.
How do you know what you are getting? Are the inspectors up on how great stucco is when it is the type you have? Wow -- interesting about the law suits! Was that because sellers weren't honest or people just take their chances because they loved the stucco home? What you have sounds great and when you get the name, please post it. I think they are very attractive homes; but the ones I liked that I saw on the computer were built around 10-15 years ago. "Beam me up Scottie" on the stucco so that I won't get "stucko"!
If water or moisture gets behind it,you will have a MOLD problem.Can affect air quality in home.
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So, houses with movement, like stickbuilt that can sway like a sapling, which is needed in earthquake country, do better. Although stucco will crack under those conditions, and probably something like a cementboard product (e.g., Hardiplank) would fare better, stucco cracks are still very easy to fix. It's a lot easier than resetting an entire wall of fallen facia brick.
