The 6 Most Common Stucco Problems

Below is a guide outlining the five most common stucco problems you may see in your home!

The most common stucco problems include:

Air Voids
Caulk Scars
Scaffold Lines
Window and Corner Cracking
Filled in Texture
Stem Wall Was Stucco’d

Knowing about stucco defects will give you the ability to detect the flaws or “character marks,” similar to a jeweler when looking at a diamond.

The difference is that a magnifying glass is not needed to see the stucco flaws each time you come into or out of your home or office. For some, defects and variations are a source of irritation. We want prospective customers to be informed that all stucco looks different from various angles and the difficulty making a perfectly blended patch. This guide will show pictures and descriptions of the various types of exterior stucco and how the patches appear.

Stucco Air Voids

Most common for air voids is sprayed on synthetic stucco. The key is to back-roll on a heavy coat of paint.

Stucco Caulk Scars

We see this frequently. A homeowner or “painter” runs a bead of caulk on top of the stucco texture. We typically have to cut these out with a diamond saw.

Stucco Scaffold Lines

Once you start looking for scaffold lines, they are more common than you would expect. No amount of paint is going to get this to go away. If this result is unacceptable, then the other option would be to re-stucco the side of the house.

Window & Corner Cracking

Almost all homes have this. Cracks love to start in sharp corners. Fortunately, most of them can be repaired without too much trouble.

Filled In Texture

We don’t see this too often. There is so much paint on this stucco that the texture is starting to disappear.

Stem Wall Was Stucco’d

It is where the stucco is applied down the wall, over the foundation, and all the way to the dirt. In my opinion, the foundation of the house should not have a stucco texture put on it since the walls and foundation expand and contract at different rates. Stucco doesn’t stretch; it cracks. Different parts of a building moving at different speeds will cause the stucco to crack where the two surfaces meet. Of the few homes I’ve seen with the stucco on the foundation, all were cracked. We can repair it, but it’s coming back. It’s just a question of how long.