Stucco Cracking? (San Diego: house, contractor, earthquakes)

[djxpress]

Just curious how common hairline exterior stucco cracks are in Southern California homes? I know that concrete driveway cracks are a fact of life here in SD, but does that go for exterior stucco as well?

[kettlepot]

I have had hairline interior stucco cracks. I painted over those, and they "went away". I'm not sure about exterior cracks, as my house has been previously re-stuccoed. My thought is that stucco cracks are inevitable and frequent.

[cruitr]

Here's the guy I used to repair a few stucco cracks around my house:
Erbhandyman Service - Point Loma - San Diego, CA | Yelp

Jon does most of our handyman work. He's a very honest and hard-working guy.

[mommabear2]

Hairlines cracks are frequent as there's a variety of reasons why they occur.

Stucco is placed on top of a "brown coat" of concrete. So if the concrete cracks underneath then the stucco will too. If the stucco is placed on the concrete on a very hot day and the stucco dries too quickly it will not cure right... there will be small hairline cracks like the stucco is separating (hard to describe). That's why on a hot day, the person applying the stucco will lightly mist the drying stucco. Not the greatest method though.

The brown coat and scratch coat of the concrete needs time to cure before the stucco (or paint) is applied. Cure time cannot be overlooked. I would not put it past a contractor to jump the gun and start stuccoing too soon.

The building will also settle over time which can also cause hairline cracks. I have very few hairline cracks on my house. But if you have them you need to do something about them. Sometimes it's not a superficial crack and it can be a source of water entry on a rainy day (I know this because I have a south facing building where the hairline crack was a source of water entry. But it was an extensive crack caused by someone who didn't understand the concept of settling concrete or building for that matter. He caused all kinds of building problems... but I digress). Oh, and earthquakes can cause them of course.

But I'd have to actually see and know the history of the building to guess what causes the cracks.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

A lot of SD is built out on landfill which means it can settle. I've seen a lot of fresh cracks after a quake too. It would be pretty hard to match stucco color and that's why so many just paint over it. It's easy to patch, then just paint it.