I’m aware of all the litigation swirling around these products. But from what I understand, the problems have come with new construction.
I was called in today for a renovation consult on a brick four-plex that is under consideration for a condo conversion. The building is about a 100 years old, and at one time each of the four units had an open porch on the front facade. At some point they were enclosed, windows added, and other open spaces filled with brick. They did a poor job, and as a result the front looks muddled, and generally crappy.
The question came up about using a synthetic stucco over the front at least — and maybe the entire building — to spruce it up and enhance the building’s curb appeal.
Anybody have any experience with this stuff? Any advice, online sources of info?
Thanks.
Replies
If the existing brick is reasonably flat, sound, and the mortar joints are 1/4"-1/2" deep, it's pretty easy to cover with stucco. Base coat is fiber reinforced. If necessary, skim to flatten, and then apply a finish coat or one of the textured acrylic products (e.g. Dryvit Sandpebble). Any good stucco contractor can do it for you.
We had a similar situation with our '60s era house. The brick was cheap and let's just say the "craftsman" who laid it was not a detail oriented guy. After the stucco went up, people we'd never met came over to thank us!
Edited 2/25/2005 7:02 pm ET by TJK
Sounds like this is a dead-on similar situation to what we are up against. 1) Did a stucco contractor do the job, or did you do it yourself?2) Do you know speciically what brand of product was used for the fiber-reinforced base coat? Was it troweled on or sprayed?3) How long ago was it done? Any problems with moisture getting behind the stucco?Thanks.
"1) Did a stucco contractor do the job, or did you do it yourself?2) Do you know speciically what brand of product was used for the fiber-reinforced base coat? Was it troweled on or sprayed?3) How long ago was it done? Any problems with moisture getting behind the stucco?"We hired a contractor, and the cost was about a dollar per SF. The materials were all Dryvit brand, and everything was troweled (lots of mariachi music). No problems after one year. We live in an arid climate, so I don't think our experience would necessarily apply to someone in Florida or Seattle. I'm not sure I agree with the earlier post that claimed trapped moisture caused the stucco to delaminate. A lot of old brick is poorly fired and early 20th Century mortar might be substandard too. The stucco is only as good as the substrate, and if the bricks are crumbling it will come off eventually.Another thing to consider is the flashing. Make sure the sins of the past are corrected around doors, windows and chimneys, and kick outs are installed where water might try to get behind the stucco. Edited 2/26/2005 1:23 pm ET by TJK
Edited 2/26/2005 1:29 pm ET by TJK
are you talking about eifs, or just acrylic finish over conventional lath and brown coat ?
Definitely not EIFS.I am looking for an acrylic coating. Ideally, we would trowel something over the brick that would produce a relatively smooth surface, and then apply the acrylic stucco -- which I have heard can be sprayed. I am new to all this, and would be grateful for any advice -- both on techniques and products.
Nikki , Im a stucco guy, from minnesota ( I worked for the company that has done most of the repair work in areas like woodbury) I think you have a couple of good options. The home in that picture looks ike florida (just a guess) but here we have had real good luck with this process. I paper and lath the brick, just like it was a sheathing type and use concrete fasteners. leave caulk joints around windows and wall penetrations. use a real brown coat and finish with a acrylic product like dryvit. with the air space (behind the brick) I have done jobs like this 10 years ago that look like brand new. I have seen a lot of issues when the brick is not lathed. The paper is the way to go to make sure all openings can be flashed and sealed properly. The material he's talking about is a product called densglass it is a sheathing type that works well with stucco because it is very breathable product ( high perm). but is not what your looking for. The other option if your concerned is a product called house slicker and is a roll of plastic sreaded wheat used to create a air space between two layers of paper before you lath. Let me know if you need help or advice.
This house, built in 1913, (see photo) used to be brick. In the '40's it was converted to a hospital with a CMU addition attached to the right. Portions were stuccoed. (I've posted this before).
When the hospital was closed and the addition removed to convert the house back to single family in the 70's, the owner decided it was too much trouble to remove the small amount of stucco that had been used on the front porch enclosure (also removed) and just stuccoed the whole house.
What a waste.
And the beginning of todays ongoing problems.
For various reasons - sprinklers, rain, ground water, leaks, etc. - the underlying brick gained and retained moisture and, being permanently covered with stucco, was unable to dry out. The results are ugly. The finish coat of stucco is bubbling, expanding and cracking. Looks like a bad case of psoriasis. When the bubble finally pops, the top coat has turned to free flowing sand.
Scraping all the top coat that will come off, as well as the loose scratch and brown coats and applying the adhesive base coat and the acrylic sanded topcoat, a local brand similar to the Dryvit brand, lasts about two years and then the bubbling starts again.
The ONLY place where everything remains perfect was where I was able to remove the entire stucco application (it practically fell off) and attach a new substrate to the brick which allowed the brick to breath. This I covered with the single adhesive base coat and the sanded color coat. The substrate I used was the yellow fiberglass mat covered gypsum board that is primarily used in commercial construction over steel studs. The next time I have to do something like this I will use a straight cementious board such as Durock.
Bottom line: Be wary of applying stucco directly to brick. Perfectly sound brick firmly mortared can disintegrate over time. I don't remember if I posted photos of the mess last time.