Stucco Repair
Damaged sections cut back to sound material, rebuilt in layers and blended into the finish, with the cause dealt with so the same spot does not fail twice.
Tucson Stucco Work: Repair, Recoat, Paint or Re-Stucco
Most tired stucco does not need everything the first quote suggests, and some of it needs more. We look at what your exterior is really doing, compare the four options with you, and do the one that fits.
Exterior stucco across the Tucson metro, from Marana to Green Valley
- Options compared before you choose
- The cause found before the patch
- A written scope before work starts
- Exterior stucco and its coatings, nothing else
Four ways to deal with an aging stucco wall
If you are looking at a chalky finish, a few cracks or a color you have never liked, you are really choosing between four jobs at very different costs. Picking well depends on what is happening under the surface, not on how the wall looks from the driveway.
Repair fixes a defined area: an impact, a loose section, a failed patch. It makes sense when the rest of the wall is sound. Its weakness is color, because new material rarely matches a finish that has spent twenty summers in the sun.
Recoat puts a new color layer on sound stucco. A fog coat is a thin cement wash that keeps the wall breathing. An acrylic finish coat adds a fresh texture with color all the way through. Elastomeric goes on thick and bridges hairline cracks, but holds moisture in if the wall is already wet.
Paint is the fastest change of color. It needs clean, chalk free walls and it commits you to repainting from then on, so it is worth a second thought if your stucco has never been painted.
Re-stucco is the big one, either a new finish over a sound base or a full tear off down to the lath or block. It is the right answer when the system has failed, and an expensive mistake when it has not.
Stucco Services We Offer
From a single damaged corner to the whole exterior of a commercial building, here is the work we take on.
Re-Stucco
A new finish over walls that are still sound, or a tear off where the old system has failed, so the whole home reads as one surface again.
Stucco Painting
Color refreshes and full color changes using breathable coatings, with prep that deals with chalk and sun before anything goes on the wall.
Elastomeric Coating
Thick, flexible coating systems for hairline cracking, along with a straight answer on the walls where they would trap moisture and do harm.
New Stucco Installation
Lath, scratch, brown and finish coats for additions, garden walls and exterior upgrades on block or frame.
Stucco Crack and Water Damage Repair
Moving cracks, parapet leaks and damp walls traced to their source and corrected from there outward.
Commercial Stucco
Shopping centers, offices, multifamily and HOA communities, with phasing and scope documents that suit a board or owner.
Stucco Texture Matching
Sand, dash, lace and smooth finishes matched so additions and repairs do not stand out.
Stucco Inspections
An exterior condition review for buyers, sellers and owners planning ahead.
Synthetic Stucco
Repairs and recoats on foam and acrylic finish systems, using materials compatible with what is already on the wall.
Why Tucson owners talk to us before deciding
We compare, then recommend
You hear what each option would do for your wall, what it would not do, and which we would choose if the house were ours.
We start at the top of the wall
On a flat roofed Southwest home, trouble often begins at the parapet cap or a roof transition and shows up far lower. We look there first.
We work for this climate
Sun that chalks a finish, monsoon rain driven sideways, caliche and clay soil that moves, and irrigation spray at the base of a wall all change what a good job looks like here.
Exterior stucco is the whole job
We do not do interior plaster, drywall or general contracting. If your wall needs a roofer first, we will say so.
How a stucco project works with us
1. Tell us what you are seeing
Call or send a request with a few words about the wall, the age of the home, and what you are weighing up.
2. We walk the exterior
We look at every elevation, the parapets, the base of the walls and any old patches, and sound out anything suspect.
3. You get the options
We explain what we would do, what the alternatives are, and why one may suit your wall better than another.
4. A written scope
What is included, what is not, and the prep and materials involved, so you can compare us fairly against anyone else.
5. The work
Prep and repairs first, then coats applied around the sun, with the timing suited to the season and the material.
6. The walk through
We go around the home with you, look at the finished walls in good light and deal with anything you want to raise.
Stucco work across the Tucson metro
We work in Tucson, Oro Valley, the Catalina Foothills, Marana, Sahuarita, Casas Adobes, Vail and Green Valley.
- Oro Valley
- Catalina Foothills
- Marana
- Sahuarita
- Tucson
- Casas Adobes
- Vail
- Green Valley
Questions owners ask about stucco
Is it better to re-stucco or paint a house?
If the stucco is sound and only the color has gone, paint or a fog coat costs far less and does the job. If the wall has widespread cracking, hollow sections or a history of failed patches, paint just covers the problem for a season or two. Tap the wall, look at the parapets, and let the condition make the decision.
Is it better to repair or replace stucco?
Repair it when the damage is local and the rest is bonded to the wall. Replacement starts to make sense when hollow or loose stucco runs across large areas, the lath has rusted, or water has been getting behind it for years. Most Tucson homes fall well short of needing full replacement.
How long will stucco last on a house?
Well built cement stucco can last fifty years or more. The finish wears out far sooner, and in Tucson the sun does most of that work. What usually shortens the life of the system is water at the top of the wall, not age alone. Keep the parapets and caps watertight and the stucco has a much better chance.
How much does it cost to stucco a house in AZ?
It depends on the wall area, how many stories and corners there are, access, whether you are recoating or tearing off, the condition of what is underneath, and the finish you choose. A plain ranch and a hillside home with long parapets are very different jobs. We price from your home after looking at it, and we would be cautious about anyone quoting a square foot figure unseen.
What are the disadvantages of stucco?
It cracks, because cement shrinks and buildings move. Flat roofed homes rely heavily on sound parapet caps, and a hidden leak can run for a long time before it shows. Patches rarely match without recoating the wall. Against that, it suits the climate, shrugs off dry heat, does not rot and looks right on a Southwest home.
Should I avoid buying a stucco house?
No. In Tucson you would be ruling out most of the market, and stucco suits the desert well. Do look carefully before you buy: the parapets and roof transitions, cracks at window corners, soft or hollow areas, staining below scuppers, and soil or gravel banked against the base of the wall.
Not sure which of the four your walls need?
Tell us what you are seeing and what you are weighing up. We will call to arrange a look at the home and talk through the options.
Mon to Fri, 7am to 4pm. Saturday estimates by appointment.