Stucco is tough, but living out here in San Bernardino puts exterior walls through a lot. Between the blistering summer heat rolling off the Cajon Pass and those bone-dry Santa Ana winds kicking up dust, your home takes a daily beating. San Bernardino Stucco & Plastering has been patching and repairing stucco across the Inland Empire for many years, and we can tell you right now that a little preventative care goes a long way. If you ignore your exterior walls, minor hairline cracks turn into major moisture headaches before you know it.
How to Extend the Life of Your Stucco
Homeowners do not need a degree in construction to keep their walls healthy, but consistency is important. Wash your stucco down once or twice a year with a garden hose to get rid of the layer of dust and smog that settles on it. Keep your landscaping trimmed back at least a foot away from the house. When bushes and tree branches constantly brush against the surface during a windstorm, they slowly grind down the finish coat. Also, make sure your sprinklers are not hitting the lower third of your walls. Constant hard water spray from local irrigation will stain the finish and break down the binder over time.
What Regular Maintenance Looks Like
Walk your property every spring and fall. Take the time to actually look at the walls instead of just walking past them. Homeowners should look for hairline fractures that show up as the house settles into our shifting, dry soil. If you spot a crack the width of a hair or a pencil lead, that is normal settling. Clean out any loose debris, let it dry completely, and seal it with an elastomeric masonry patching compound before the winter rains hit. Paint is another important factor here. A good quality 100 percent acrylic elastomeric paint acts like a flexible skin over the stucco, bridging tiny cracks and blocking moisture while still letting the wall breathe.
Warning Signs You Can Not Ignore
Some issues go beyond normal wear and tear. Here is what you need to keep on your radar regarding Stucco Repair:
- Spider-web cracking patterns that span across large sections of a wall.
- Bulging, soft, or hollow-sounding spots when you tap on the surface of the Stucco.
- Dark, damp stains that linger long after a rare rainstorm or morning dew has dried on the Stucco.
- White, powdery buildup called efflorescence pushing through the colored finish of the Stucco.
If you see rust stains bleeding through the Stucco, that usually means the lath wire behind the coat is rusting out from moisture exposure. That is not something you can fix with a quick tube of caulk.
When to Call a Professional
Structural Stucco work gets messy fast. If a crack is wider than a nickel, or if you notice sections of the finish coat starting to delaminate and flake off in sheets, it is time to bring in backup. San Bernardino Stucco & Plastering sees what happens when small water leaks behind compromised walls sit in the heat and rot the framing underneath. Catching these problems early saves you thousands of dollars in framing repairs down the road. For homes and businesses in San Bernardino, San Bernardino Stucco & Plastering provides Stucco services.