Painting stucco homes and or buildings.

Stucco homes have a different set of rules to follow but if you own a stucco home you are in luck. If you paint your stucco home right it can and will last twenty years; you will only need to repaint the trim once or twice before repaint the walls again.

The first step is washing your home correctly. You must remove all the dirt, mold, and other things that are just floating around in the air. Mold is a killer when it comes to paint and most painters don’t take mold seriously enough. You must apply the right materials and do it the right way or the problem will return far too soon.

In addition to the mold that you can see on top of your paint, there can also be mold under your paint. If you don’t wash the home or building right the mold will be showing up again and in just a year or so it will be eating the paint from the inside out. If that weren’t bad enough, the next paint job is going to cost a lot more then the first one.

Most people think that stucco homes don’t need prep work, which is false. Most stucco homes start breaking down as soon as the new siding has reached its drying point. One inch of stucco takes about two years to fully dry. Once it dries it will start to crack. Once you see this crack, you know its time to deal with the problem and repainting is your best option.

The cracks in your walls or windows, if not dealt with properly, will let the rain water get behind your walls and they will start to eat your stucco walls from behind.

There are many different ways of patching for many different kinds of holes, cracks, or broken areas. You just have to make the home and your walls closed to all water intrusion.

Older stucco homes that were painted with flat or low luster paint may in fact need a sealer applied prior to the walls being painted. If your walls have a chalky residue that comes off on your hand, then you have waited too long between paint jobs. You will have to apply one coat of a condition primer prior to your home being painted.

After your home has been washed, prepped and ready for paint you want to use a water proofing paint called Elastic Terpolymer coating. Terpolymer is made very differently than conventional paint; it provides more water proofing and better adhesion to a stucco surface then conventional paint. The material also moves with the house to reduce cracking. This is especially important in areas where homes move and/or Earthquakes occur.

If you have a stucco home and want it to be all it can be and last up to twenty years then give us a call.