When you invest in quality stucco for your home’s exterior, you’re investing in a beautiful, unique look for your abode. However, to fully maintain the strength and beauty of your stucco, you’ll need to understand how to properly care for and maintain it. To ensure you get the most bang for your buck, and that you can prevent costly repairs, here are five must-know tips for maintaining your home’s stucco exterior:
1. Clean Your Home’s Stucco Regularly
There are very few maintenance tips that will help you make the most out of your home’s stucco quite like those that involve cleaning. There are a lot of unique cleaning tips out there, so we will present the most effective and highly recommended ones today. Because stucco is a porous material, it can easily absorb water, dirt, dust, and other materials in its immediate environment. By cleaning your stucco siding two or three times a year, you ensure it will not sustain otherwise-avoidable damage. You want to spray off dirt, scrub stains, and rinse your stucco every single time that you clean it. Using detergent to clean stucco is also incredibly useful. You can use bleach solutions, dish soap, and TSP solutions to get the job done. However, you should avoid pressure washing your stucco, as it’s easy to damage your stucco doing so unless you have a professional stucco remediation specialist’s touch.
2. Repair Any Cracks You Find
No matter what time of the year it is, you need to repair any cracks you find in your stucco ASAP. Stucco can break over time due to pressure and other environmental factors. Be sure to inspect your stucco every few months so that you can catch cracks early on. Doing so will make your repair needs much simpler (and cheaper). If you live somewhere where heavy rains, earthquakes, or extreme heat is commonplace, you may want to check your stucco every month for cracks and other damages. You must check the state of your stucco immediately after any major incident (such as an earthquake). For minor cracks, you can use elastomeric paint to make repairs. For larger cracks, however, more specialized products (or a professional’s help) may be needed.
3. Never Procrastinate on Repairs
Whether you’re dealing with cracks or some other type of damage, procrastinating on your stucco repairs can lead to disaster. The longer you wait, the more likely devastating and expensive damages have to develop. Being sure to quickly tackle any holes, chips, cracks, or water damage that you notice ASAP is of utmost importance. Because these damages are often unsightly, you’ll have that extra bit of motivation to be proactive about repairs and maintenance to your stucco. Cracks and holes can cause mildew buildup as well, so those with allergies and sensitivities need to be especially on top of keeping their home’s stucco in tip-top shape. And always consider how any stucco maintenance you’re performing may affect your home’s windows.
4. Regularly Seal Your Stucco
As soon as you apply stucco (whether it be for a whole new coat or a minor repair), you need to seal that stucco immediately. Protecting the stucco from moisture is one of your top maintenance responsibilities, after all. Buying a clear masonry sealer is recommended, as it will both be strong enough to get the job done and will emphasize the already-existing beauty of your stucco. This clear masonry sealer is also known for easily penetrating the stucco pores, which can help you prevent water damage. If you use seals to protect and maintain your stucco, you’ll need to reapply some masonry sealer to the areas you’ve sealed every five years (otherwise the sealant may become ineffective).
5. Occasionally Repaint Your Stucco
While repainting your stucco is not about repairing it, it does help you maintain the beauty and charm of your stucco. After all, even the most high-quality stucco will have its color fade over the decades. Before applying any paint, you should always clean and prime the surface to ensure that the paint applies pleasantly, and so that the painting process does not cause any damage to the stucco. Lastly, if you want to avoid paint failure, you need to use the proper painting and prepping techniques that pros use when they paint your home (and its stucco).
Protect Your Home’s Stucco in 2022
With these five must-know maintenance tips, you can easily protect your home’s stucco exterior in 2022. Always approach these maintenance jobs with a steady hand, easy mind, and vigorous dedication to getting them done right. If you ever feel that a stucco maintenance or repair job may be out of your league, you should always contact a professional that can get the job done safely and effectively.
