I’m getting ready to build a new home. I am planning on using factory painted (15 year)clapboard siding on the first floor and wood shingles on the gables and dormers.
Recently I’ve been consicering having the first floor smooth stucco, could some of you tell me how you feel about stucco?
Thanks
Roy
Replies
A lot depends on your climate. Here in Southern California, there's almost nothing but stucco. It is porous, so water soaking in and freezing might be an issue elsewhere.
-- J.S.
In Minnesota I am having a hard time finding stucco contractors anymore. lack of product liability insurance is forcing many out of the business. Aparently there have been so many claims with stucco and the new "sealed" walls that hold moisture and wind up rotting, that insurance has disappeared.
Most of the work I do is residential remodeling here in the northeast. Most of the homes I work on are at least 50 + yrs. old, the majority being even older. Every older home with a stucco exterior I`ve ever worked on had some type of rot to the framing. Although very often it cannot be spotted until the walls are opened, it apears that the moisture is being soaked in by the stucco until it reaches the wood frame where it wreaks havoc. Often times I have removed the stucco siding to find little more than dust sitting on a sill plate, although there were no visible signs from either the inside or outside. It seems to me that many people think that a cement siding product does not require maintenance (i. e. painting). Don`t use stucco as reason to save on maintenance.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
"DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE"
Thanks for the info on stucco..............I'm sticking with clapboard
Roy
I had a 100 year old house in northern IL that had stucco exterior and saw no structural degradation at all. I opened plenty of the walls during plaster repairs/replacement as well as cutting in a few new openings for a few french doors and windows. Something to note, however, this house had no vapor barrier and no insulation in the walls. Search this forum on "vapor barriers" and you'll see a great deal of discussion (and disagreement) on the issue. The stucco was rough, not smooth, but I liked it.