Ok, I’ve read multiple places that you should never paint stucco (or if you do, you use some special paint) apparently because paint creates a vapor seal that prevents the stucco from “breathing”.
Well, we have a c.1924 house that breathes very well, in every imaginable direction, believe me. The old growth pine 1×8 boards that sheeth the exterior walls will probably last until they petrify and turn to stone.
Our stucco was already painted at least once, by a previous owner maybe 30+ years ago. I’d like to change the look of our house by painting it and no, there is no chance that the color will change by spending 5 figures to have a sandblasting crew come in and blow the old paint off and apply a colored layer of stucco mix.
I painted my FIL’s 1950’s stucco house last year and it looks 1000% better
So on older houses in northern climates with ample roof overhags, is painting stucco really that big of a no-no?
Replies
The key is that the stucco must be thoroughly dry before you paint it. In your case, that probably means waiting until July to paint.
Then ... spray it. Estimate your paint useage by measuring your square footage - and quadrupling it! Buy enough for half the job, then replace buckets one at a time as they empty ... this will let you blend the new batch with the old, and prevent your buying too much.
http://conproco.com/pdfs/ConproLastic_PDB.pdf
There is plenty of painted stucco in my area (chicago), some looks great and some is badly peeling. I'd recommend a good power washing and let it dry for a week before painting, lest you'll be painting over dirt and it will probably peel.
~ Ted W ~
Cheap Tools - BuildersTools.net
See my work - TedsCarpentry.com
That's a good suggestion. I never quite understood the no-paint rule unless it was mostly aimed at those notorious "modern" stucco buildings in wet climates that caused all the rot problems a decade or so ago. That I can understand. But here (like Chicago) stucco generally suggests 1920-1955 and very non-tight walls when it comes to air infiltration.
Normally, stucco unpainted can look good after 30 years. Stucco color is a "fired" cement pigment. So the colored stucco breathes so that moisture passing thru will not make it blister or peel.
But, a lot of houses have no eaves or rain gutters, so the stucco has streaks or mud stains on it. Hosing dirt off of windows instead of letting rain wash it off prevent streaks in the corner of windows.
But over the past years stucco lath installation were not done correctly. Stucco is totally dependant on its lath paper to weatherproof the home. So defective lathing practices require painting the stucco every 5 to 10 years.
Leaking around windows is common because the two industries do not communicate. There is a tracts of home in Los Angeles where aluminum windows with flashing were first installed, THEN the exterior shearwall was done. This resulted in thinner stucco and leaking windows. Painting of the stucco did stop most leaking.
Go to http://www.fogcoat.com/ its title is "Wanna Throw Away Money. Paint Your Stucco." A $15 25 lb bag of fogcoat will do 800 to 1000 sf. , whereas paint will do less than 300 sf.
Edited 1/26/2009 12:25 pm by Sungod
Thanks for the response but what I'm really looking for is no BS pesonal experience with the painting stucco issue on houses that are 60-100 years old, when stucco was king. I visited the fogcoat web site and, while the product itself may be good, the claims on the fogcoat vs. paint issue are BS. Their entire argument is based on having to repaint every few years. Our house was already painted at least once - at least 20 years ago - and the paint is fine. It isn't flaking anywhere. I just don't like the color.And the "any color you want" color pallet they show...LOL yea, it's any color you want as long as it's a really pale version of one of these four colors...I'm willing to concede that I may have a lot to learn on this subject, but that web is so full of marketing BS, I can't take it seriously.
My house is 50 years old and as far as I can tell the paint goes back to day 1. I repainted it 8 years ago and it still looks great, there are some areas that could use a touch up but I have had no problems at all using standard exterior latex paint with no additional modifiers. I do think the let it dry thoroughly advice is solid.
Definately latex, as it breaths with the stucco.~ Ted W ~
Cheap Tools - BuildersTools.netSee my work - TedsCarpentry.com