How To Maintain Stucco to Reduce Repair Expenses?

Like any building material, stucco must be maintained regularly to remain in good shape, despite being a popular and long-lasting material for home exteriors. By taking proper care of your stucco, you can prolong its lifespan and avoid expensive repairs. Weather, moisture, and structural movement are among the variables that can cause chips, cracks, and other damage over time. 

However, homeowners may preserve the integrity of their stucco and save a chunk of hard-earned money on repairs by adopting easy preventative measures like routine cleaning, early crack sealing, and moisture damage inspection.

Why maintain a stucco regularly?

For the exterior of your house to remain intact and look seamless, stucco maintenance is integral. If left ignored, weather, moisture, and everyday wear and tear can eventually lead to chips, cracks, and water damage that will require expensive repairs. Cleaning, caulking cracks, and checking for damage are examples of routine maintenance that can keep these problems from worsening. 

With the right maintenance, your stucco will last an extended period and offer good insulation and protection for your house. Furthermore, adequately maintained stucco raises your home’s curb appeal and value, making it a wise investment in both long-term structural integrity and aesthetics. However, prior to understanding the maintenance cost, it would be ideal to know that the cost to repair stucco considerably depends on how an inspector performs the inspection. While stucco inspection for a larger home may fall between $495 and $1195, commercial structures would incur more costs.  

That said, this article will help understand necessary stucco maintenance techniques to reduce repair expenses.

1. External Stucco Wall Cleaning

With a bit of cleaning, your stucco can be kept in ideal condition. Additionally, the interior of your walls will be better shielded from moisture-related issues like mold, mildew, and rotting when your stucco is in a good state.

To clean your stucco, gently rinse the wall with a garden hose. Start at the bottom of the wall and work your way up to complete this. After letting it set for a while, you will work your way back down the wall at a higher pressure.

In the second step, carefully remove debris from the wall using dish soap and a stiff-bristle brush if you want a deeper clean. If you want more significant pressure than a hose can offer, use a power washer alternatively. Make sure the pressure isn’t too intense, though, as this could harm the stucco.

To prevent them from drying out entirely between your first rinse and the second cleaning step, cleaning one wall or face of your house at a time would be wise.

That said, invest in a few cleaning sessions once a season.

2. Stucco Refinishing and Resealing

You should get your stucco painted and resealed every few years. By acting as protective coatings, the paint and sealant prevent moisture and dirt from penetrating the surface.

Paint and sealant, however, may deteriorate, wear off, and sustain additional damage over time. This deterioration will expose your walls to more harm in addition to making your stucco start to look worse for wear. The damage will worsen until remediation is implemented.

Additionally, some paints, like elastomeric, can fill in minor stucco cracks. By doing this, you will stop moisture from penetrating your walls through the crevices and causing more damage.

3. Frequent Inspections 

Every year, stucco inspections must be conducted to search for indications of problems with your installation and identify any concerns before they worsen. Even simple visual examinations can be done by a homeowner. Simply examine your stucco for holes, mold, crumbling, cracking, etc.

Once done, engage a stucco contractor to perform thorough checks if you see anything wrong. Since stucco contractors know what to look for, they might be able to identify other problems that you missed initially. Additionally, they are aware of the telltale indicators of moisture entry that the untrained eye may miss.

Additionally, such professionals can assess the extent of any underlying damage to your walls using more intrusive techniques.

4. Fixing Small Damage

You might be able to fix minor chips, cracks, or imperfections yourself if your visual inspection reveals them. Damage that is purely aesthetic might simply need a small amount of fresh paint. However, if you decide not to repaint the entire structure, be aware that the fresh paint patch will be visible.

Consequently, caulking can be a useful therapy for hairline cracks. By doing this, the crack will be sealed again, keeping water out. However, in cases where the water may have already seeped into the wall due to cracks, repairing equipment might be required. Resealing the cracks with caulk won’t repair the underlying damage, so you’ll definitely need expert assistance.

For instance, a network of fractures on one of your walls indicates a significant amount of problems occurring underneath.

In the end!

You can drastically lower repair costs by adhering to routine maintenance procedures, such as cleaning your stucco, quickly caulking cracks, and inspecting for moisture damage. Performing these easy yet crucial actions can protect the exterior integrity of your house and keep minor problems from becoming more severe and requiring expensive repairs. 

In addition to extending the stucco’s lifespan, proper maintenance maintains your home’s greatest appearance for many years to come. By taking the time to repair your stucco today, you may prevent more serious issues and costs down the road and give your property long-lasting protection.