Stucco issues? (Austin: homeowners association, insurance, condo)

[stargazer]

Our realtor just told us that there has been issues with stucco homes here. Not the fake kind but the real stuff and that is why stucco homes here are priced low to sell because of the mold that is getting in them. I was told if I bought a home to rennovate as well, not to use stucco anywhere on the outside. Also something about insurance companies too not wanting to insure?

Can someone set me straight about this? Thanks

[socketz]

I would call a couple of insurance companies and see what they say.

CA is full of Stucco homes and I've never heard of Stucco causing mold damage....insurance agents normally have excellent feedback on this type of stuff.

[turnbun]

In Austin, we had a horrible issue with stucco and mold at our condo. So much so that they had to tear the entire complex down to the studs and rebuild the whole thing -- a HUGE lawsuit was won by the homeowners association over it. From what I understand, stucco is not a good material to use in Texas because it is humid and stucco is more for dry climates and there are not a lot of people in Texas who know who to properly apply stucco, so there are a lot of stucco homes with problems (namely, as you said, mold). My mother in law built a home on Lake Travis and wanted to use stucco, but her builder said he will not work with stucco b/c of the issues it presents in Texas (with the humidity and his lack of confidence in anyone being able to apply it properly).
After our experience in Austin, I will NEVER buy a stucco structure again. We lost our shirt on that deal.

[Metroplex 1]

A product called drive-it ?(stucco) had serious quality issues in DFW.
Avoid it.
The DFW realtors are afraid of all stucco now and may not resell it for you!
Brick, stone and hardi board are all better choices.

[KBilly]

There were a lot of poor stucco jobs done in past, esp.with EIFS -- synthetic stucco. As well, not many did traditional, 3 coat cementatious stucco was done correctly, either, in the boom 80's.

That being said, not many wood frame builders use it anymore, because of those old problems due to bad drainage planes and improper weep screeds. It spelled MOLD in our hot, humid climate.

That being said, we have traditional stucco on our new home, but it's ICF, so no wood to worry about...

[Spree]

Our house in FL is stucco - 99% of the houses here are stucco. Our relo company sent out a moisture inspector to look at our stucco, and if it didn't meet their requirements, they would not have been able to offer a buyout. I guess some is "fake" where stucco is placed over styrofoam - water gets in between the styrofoam and the house, it can't evaporate and mold forms. This is what was explained to me, although I still don't entirely understand it. I was just glad ours was done properly.

[socketz]

This is interesting. Falls into that 'you learn something new every day' bucket.

I see alot of homes here in Willowbend that are Stucco and often wondered why the builders didn't use more Stucco.

Also, Drive-it was created by the father of someone I grew up with in MD. Been around for years. I was a kid then and never really even knew what it was...now here we are....it's causing problems a thousand miles away.

[KBilly]

BTW, it's Dryvit.

[loves2read]

my realtor told me that about 10-15 years ago when houses were using Dryvit fake stucco (almost like the acoustic they spray on popcorn ceilings) there were lots of people who bought the homes--did not know about the product's likelyhood of failing obviously....it was popular look and fairly inexpensive to build compared to brick exterior or the real stucco which was expensive process....

many of these houses were in price range where there was lot of corporate transfers with relo packages...

houses started to get bad problems...even houses w/no problems w/exteriors would not sell in normal MLS listing time or for what people wanted so companies had to do the buy-out of people they transferred....
companies lost a lot of money---insurance companies had problems as well---
she said now (and she does almost all relo clients) that most business would not cover a stucco home under a re-lo contract...

The way that dryvit works is that it is coating sprayed onto the exterior wall of home--not onto brick/cinder block/SIP panels but usually plywood sheets or OSB sheets....there is a raw edge at the bottom which is usually above the ground at the foundation line....it is porous--you can feel the plywood behind it in certain places...

moisture --especially standing water from heavy rains on porches or flower beds or where gutter downspouts don't drain effectively -- that gets into the bottom of the dryvit can wick up through that bottom into the walls and behind it --into OSB especially which is engineered wood strands held together w/basically a glue-type adhesive compound---it does melt when it gets and stays wet long enough...

Some people have gone to the HardiBoard smooth panels and using some type of texture over it to approximate stucco---some builders --more custom/expensive home are actually doing cement/stucco exteriors...but takes money and someone with real experience in knowing how to do it and around here those guys are few and far between....

[momof2dfw]

"moisture --especially standing water from heavy rains on porches or flower beds or where gutter downspouts don't drain effectively -- that gets into the bottom of the dryvit can wick up through that bottom into the walls and behind it --"



This is something to remember when you are putting flower beds around your house. Do not cover up the weep holes. This will be the space between two bricks that is left w/o mortar every so many feet along the last row of bricks at the foundation. If you do cover it up then water can back up into the wall and cause major problems.