Stucco near you

Traditional stucco is built up in coats of cement-based plaster over metal lath, with a water-resistant barrier behind. It's hard, heavy and stands up to knocks and fire, but it's rigid, so it cracks when the house moves or when the base coats weren't cured properly. The top coat can be cement or an acrylic finish, which offers brighter colours and a little flexibility.

EIFS, short for exterior insulation and finish system, layers a base coat with reinforcing mesh and a thin acrylic finish over foam insulation boards. It adds insulation outside the wall, weighs less and allows crisp bands and shapes, but its surface is softer and dents or punctures more easily near the ground. Early systems installed with no way for water to drain out gave EIFS a poor reputation; systems designed with a drainage cavity behave very differently. Knowing which one you have comes first, since repair methods and materials don't mix.

No stucco is waterproof. Rain soaks into cement stucco and finds its way through cracks and joints in any system, so what happens behind the finish decides whether the wall stays sound. When one of these details is missing, water collects in the sheathing and framing, where it can cause rot and mould long before anything shows outside.

Most cement stucco walls develop fine hairline cracks as they cure and go through seasons of heat and frost. On their own they're mainly cosmetic, but they should be filled and coated with compatible products so water doesn't work into them winter after winter. Cracks that are wider, keep growing, run diagonally or in steps from window and door corners, or have one side out of line with the other point to movement in the structure.

When cracks follow the foundation or show up alongside sticking doors, sloping floors or cracks in the basement, have the foundation assessed first; see our foundation cracks page. Patching stucco over a structure that's still moving only brings the crack back. Other warning signs are listed below.

A good patch starts by finding and fixing the cause, whether a missing flashing, an overflowing gutter or damaged lath, before any new stucco goes on. The contractor cuts back to sound material, repairs the barrier and lath, rebuilds the coats and blends the finish. Matching an existing texture, from sand and dash finishes to swirls and smooth trowel work, is a craft, and new colour next to faded stucco always shows, so recoating a whole wall section, corner to corner, often gives the most even result.

When cracks and water damage are widespread, or testing finds wet sheathing behind a large area, patching gives way to removing and redoing the stucco on that wall with a proper drainage plane.

Before old stucco is cut or ground, two hazards matter. Health Canada lists cement and plaster, as well as surface treatments such as paint, among home products that may contain asbestos; they pose no significant risk when left undisturbed in good condition, but should be tested by a professional before renovation and removed by a qualified specialist if asbestos is found. Cutting cement stucco also releases crystalline silica dust, which calls for dust control and respiratory protection. See our asbestos removal page if testing comes back positive.

Cement stucco can be painted to refresh its colour, but whatever goes on must let water vapour out. Moisture always finds its way into a wall, and a tight film holds it in, leading to peeling, blistering and, in winter, frost damage just behind the paint. Coatings made for masonry and stucco are the usual choice, and on EIFS the system's own finishes or coatings its maker approves; ask the contractor which product they plan to use and why.

Preparation does most of the work: washing off dirt and mildew gently rather than blasting water into the wall, letting it dry thoroughly, filling cracks with a compatible product and letting patches cure as the instructions require. Once painted, stucco needs recoating from then on, so when a wall is due for repair anyway, consider a new tinted finish coat instead. Our exterior painting page covers the painting side in more detail.

Stucco hides problems well, so it deserves close attention in a pre-purchase inspection. A home inspector looks at cracks, stains, clearance at grade, flashing and sealant, and notes whether the walls appear to be cement stucco or EIFS. A moisture meter or thermal camera can flag suspect areas, but only points to where to look further.

When the visual inspection raises concerns, especially on EIFS or around windows and decks, a stucco specialist can do invasive moisture testing: drilling small probe holes to measure moisture in the sheathing, then sealing them. Ask the seller for records of past repairs or testing, and see our home inspectors page for what a general inspection covers.

Cement stucco needs water to cure, and acrylic finishes need to dry and form a film. Freezing stops both: water in fresh stucco can freeze and weaken it, and acrylic finishes may not bond or can dry blotchy and chalky. That's why product instructions, and the building code where it applies, set minimum temperatures for applying stucco and for the period that follows.

Across most of Canada, stucco work is planned for the warmer months. Jobs that can't wait are sometimes done inside heated, tarped enclosures, as the manufacturer allows, which adds time and complexity. Ask the contractor how they'll protect fresh work from rain, strong sun and an early frost.