Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It's not a smart thing to use around here in Central and east Texas. Our foundations move far too much for stucco. It's a non-stop maintenance item if you have it here. Unfortunately the national builders have come in with many plans optioned as stucco. They're now realizing what a mistake that has been. Can't very well spec a post tension slab that's designed to flex with our clay soils and then not expect the cracker like stucco not to crack. The elastomeric doesn't help even as a top coat.
All well and good except that it cracks in the cold.
Sit through a few hundred lawsuits over it and you will understand.
How about elaborating(?)
Start with which type of stucco are you referring too?
Then detail why it cracked. Was it actually the "stucco"; or was it the installation?
The SE went through a slew of lawsuits/class action suits in regards to EIFS. Almost every single incident could be traced back to either poor (or non-existent) installation of flashing, or lack of maintenance- clearly neither of which are about the "stucco".
Thanks everyone. I know some things are regional - like colonials and raised ranches in the northeast but more craftsman in the PNW, so I figured that was moreso the reason. I just love the way white stucco looks and wanted to see if it was an option. I don’t think think I’ll risk it tho. It gets pretty cold here. There’s a house in my development that’s like half stucco half vinyl and I love it. Vinyl board and batten was on my list too ( and not much more than th regular vinyl you see at Home Depot) so I think that is going to be a better option. With a brick facade below it
Probably a really stupid question but is there a temperature reasoning behind this? I’m in NY and you BARELY see anything other than boring vinyl siding- or old wood siding. I want to re- side my house in the next couple of years and really just want a white stucco. Is there a reason I shouldn’t/ can’t do it where I live?
Here in Oregon, I see only a handful of stucco houses. But they all seem to be in good shape. There's a pair of almost identical stucco houses on Hwy. 126-East, that were apparently built in the 1930s, but they could be new, from their street-views. Maybe there's different versions of stucco, some being waterproof?
One house in particular, is on the SW corner of 19th & Lincoln Streets in Eugene and it was there before my parents moved into the neighborhood, in 1934. Go on Google Earth and take a look at it, on their Street View.
We use stucco fascades, wall siding cover, and detail pieces both in C algary, Alberta in the most expensive "Bearspaw" homes, where it gets -45 below with a high wind off the Rockies, and in Vancovuer, BC where rain and mold and wetness is prevalent year around.
Quality, correct work and the "new polymers", along with proper design for your area are key. Unfortuanately, especially in the USA in construction with so much "underground" economy and large numbers with little enforcement there are lots of yahoos out your way to take the money and run. \\
I drive by detail pieces I installed 25 years ago and they still look pretty good.
I grew up in Riverside, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. I'd guess that between a third and a half of the homes were stucco. Our home was stucco; we never had problems. I never knew anyone there who expressed a dislike for stucco. There were other suburbs with many stucco homes, primarily to the west and south of the city. These towns saw their greatest expansion during the first third of the twentieth century.
Mostly it's tradition + material availability. In the NY you had plenty of wood so you got wood houses with wood siding (and now vinyl and/or hardiboard which is meant to look like wood). In the southwest, very little wood. My area of NJ is the same, except for some reason whoever built Montclair State University liked Mission architecture so it's stucco.
I'm in Minnesota and there are some, mostly older homes that are stucco. See a lot of Tudor styles with that in Minneapolis, mostly built in the 30-40's. A home next door to my parents, built in the 50's,typical rambler style is fully stucco. These are all stick built homes. I think it is a lost art, too time consuming now. A number of years ago a "new" product for "fake" stucco ended up being defective and most homes had to have it all removed and replaced with regular siding.
I'm in Minnesota and there are some, mostly older homes that are stucco. See a lot of Tudor styles with that in Minneapolis, mostly built in the 30-40's. A home next door to my parents, built in the 50's,typical rambler style is fully stucco. These are all stick built homes. I think it is a lost art, too time consuming now. A number of years ago a "new" product for "fake" stucco ended up being defective and most homes had to have it all removed and replaced with regular siding.
I am thinking that the stucco of old was quite different from the new as several have suggested. I think it's really attractive when clean and fresh but I notice in my area of NJ that the newer homes with it look really dirty and often have the discoloration and cracks showing through. We are now in the market (will be selling and buying momentarily and were informed that where there is stucco (and there was one house that just had a little bit of it) it is prudent to have a separate inspection for it because of all the issues.
We had put an offer on a house, it was accepted, and then we had a general inspection which didn't sit well with us.
Because of that, we and the seller were not able to come to further agreement so the stucco inspection (>$500) was not ordered.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
and were informed that where there is stucco (and there was one house that just had a little bit of it) it is prudent to have a separate inspection for it because of all the issues. 
