DON’T PATCH OR PAINT YOUR STUCCO… EVER.

Patching and painting is often prescribed as a repair option for stucco damage. What your contractor or painter may not tell you is that while it can cover up damage temporarily it is not a long term solution for stucco damage in Colorado’s Climate. Let’s talk about the two primary reasons stucco fails in Colorado.

Reason #1 – Poor Construction and Workmanship

We’ve been repairing and remodeling homes in Colorado for more than 25 years. And here is a hard truth we’ve learned….

Much of the construction methods are not getting better,they’re getting worse. For many contractors, speed and budget are more important than quality and longevity.

Every year we see many stucco homes and buildings fail before they even reach ten years old. Very simply, they use cheap, fast, and low-quality materials. In the winter and fall, they are often installing in freezing conditions with unskilled labor.

Reason #2 – Our Unique Freeze/Thaw Climate

You’ve probably noticed that when it rains or snow melts your stucco absorbs water and then drains and evaporates it out. This is normal and the way the system was designed to work. This design works great in most climates… except here in Colorado.

In Colorado, we experience extreme winter freeze and thaw cycles. This repeating process destroys stucco because the water does not have a chance to evaporate and drain out of the stucco before freezing temperatures arrive. Freeze and thaw cycles are the primary cause of stucco damage in Colorado. The result of this damage is deep cracks spreading across the face of your stucco or in many cases, the stucco begins to crumble and come apart by delamination.

Most of your stucco failures happen from the inside-out!

We all know that when water freezes, it expands. This is why simply putting a patch on top or painting over stucco problems does not work! Water will find its way behind the patch or paint and “push” out the repair. These methods are “concealment” or “band-aid” fixes. In as little as one winter season, you will see those original failures come back.

Don’t Patch! Don’t Patch! Don’t Patch!

Stucco cracks happen, but in our Colorado climate they go deeper and wider causing the system to fracture.When cracks spread across the face of your walls it can start to look like a “road map”. Sometimes whole sections of the stucco can separate exposing the grey base coat.

Just caulking or patching over these failures WON”T WORK! Patching over these problems actually makes the problem worse. The damage will return and the appearance of the stucco cannot simply be fixed anymore.

Don’t Paint Your Stucco!

Painters make all kinds of promises that their low-cost elastomeric paint will solve your stucco problems. That is simply untrue. In fact, most paint manufacturers offer NO WARRANTIES when applied to stucco.

Remember… Your stucco was not designed to be painted!

Worse yet, many of these elasto or rubberized paints can seal in water and not let the stucco breathe or evaporate.When water does get in around windows, doors, trim, and other openings, it can go through freeze and thaw cycles and destroy the stucco underneath. We regularly see these paints fail in one to two years.

Finally, at our high Colorado altitude, we have an intense UV index. UV breaks down the polymers in elastomeric paints and the material hardens and cracks.

Don’t take our word for it. Read the fine print. Most paint manufacturers provide NO WARRANTY when applied to stucco.

Save Your Money – Protect Your Home – Fix it Right

Once you’ve painted your stucco, you’ll have to paint forever. The average homeowner paints every six to seven years. And as more layers of paint are applied, your home starts losing its original stucco characteristics. We are a different kind of stucco restoration company. We follow a precise system of identifying, repairing, restoring, and protecting stucco. We go to the very source of the problems and failures instead of just trying to hide or cover them up.

Building owners and homeowners call us regularly after they have had their stucco “fixed” two or three times by other self-proclaimed stucco contractors. Few stucco repair men or painters have formal training in stucco cladding or building science.

Please don’t waste your hard earned money with bad stucco repairs, just to have them come back. We believe most property owners want to preserve and protect both their home and their investment value. Bad painting and patching jobs devalue homes and can often stop a sale dead in its tracks.

Want to Know More?

We provide a comprehensive inspection and detailed report of your stucco absolutely free of charge. From there, we can help fix your stucco expertly, beautifully, guaranteed.

Love Your Stucco is one of the few Colorado stucco companies that can provide a true Certified Manufacturer Warranty and Lifetime Workmanship Guarantee. Let us transform your stucco into something beautiful that you can trust.

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