What Is Stucco?
Stucco is a cement-like product applied to the outside of a home in multiple layers about one inch thick. Its texture varies from smooth to textured, depending on how it’s applied. It can be used over masonry or wood frame. Traditionally, it’s made of cement, lime and sand.There are several newer stucco systems, including acrylic, insulated and crack suppression, that address cracking and other issues that can occur with stucco.
4. Greater Home Value
Once dry, stucco provides a concrete shell around your home. This hard, durable exterior has great curb appeal as well as these other value-increasing characteristics:
- Earthquake resistant
- Energy Efficient
- Fire resistant
- Low maintenance
- Rot resistant
- Sound dampening
When you have your home appraised, these characteristics can add thousands of dollars to its market value.
5. Improved Home Insurance Premiums
The characteristics listed above don’t just benefit you if you decide to sell. Because stucco homes can better withstand natural disasters like earthquakes and fires, last longer, and cost less to maintain than other kinds of siding, it may decrease your home insurance premiums.
Benefits of Finishing Your Home’s Exterior with Stucco
1. Aesthetics
Stucco’s layer application creates a heavily textured surface, ideal for modern and mission-style homes. But homeowners with different aesthetic tastes can also appreciate the range of textural options stucco offers, including:
- Coarse
- Pebbled
- Raked
- Smooth
- Swirled
You can choose between concentrated, rough texture, sweeping, or smooth application to best complement the style of your home.
Because contractors apply stucco seamlessly, it accents the architecture and other exterior elements of a home, such as the patio or eaves. This makes it a dynamic choice for traditional, modern, and edgy homes alike.
2. Custom Options
With any type of siding, your contractor and manufacturer partnerships determine your colour options. With stucco, however, contractors can mix pigment directly into the solution, allowing you to choose the perfect custom shade. And, while stucco doesn’t require painting over time, you can repaint it should you ever want to.
Some homeowners opt for synthetic siding instead of traditional stucco. This synthetic, known as EIFS, retains paint colour even better than traditional stucco. With proper installation, few people can tell the difference between EIFS and traditional stucco finishing.
3. Durability
Stucco is one of the most durable siding choices on the market. With the right application and maintenance, stucco can last over fifty years with little maintenance. This is due in part to the fact that stucco expands and contracts as the temperature changes, which reduces the risk of cracking or crumbling.