Stucco lasts longer when you tend to it with some regular maintenance. Some tips for your stucco-clad house:
1. You can scrub and sweep and swear at those chalky white marks on your stucco home, but that won’t get rid of the unsightly “efflorescence” that shows up when the sun dries everything off after one of our rare soaking rains or in spots where your sprinkler has sprayed water on your house over and over. Keep moisture away from your freshly primed and painted stucco. Move sprinklers away from the house or you’ll find yourself with the same problems despite the effort you made to prevent them.
2. Paint your stucco exterior with a good heavy knap roller and work the paint into every nook, cranny and pin hole of the stucco. Now is not the time to scrimp on the amount of paint you apply, keep your roller wet with paint and apply it liberally. You’ll see professional painters spray-painting homes, but that’s not a technique for amateurs.
3. Use elastomeric caulk, not paint, to fill in small cracks in your stucco walls. Elastomeric caulk is a better remedy because it has greater elasticity, so it will move with cracks if they widen, and it will help prevent water from seeping through the cracks.
4. Paint stucco at least every five to seven years to keep your stucco protected. Stucco alone is not waterproof, yet so many homeowners never or rarely repaint it. Use a 100%acrylic paint to ward off problems from water damage.
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