Stucco Crack & Damaged Area Repair
Cracks cut out and rebuilt, not filled over. Serving Chicago, the North Shore and the western suburbs. Licensed and insured.
A crack that keeps coming back was never repaired
Smearing filler along a crack and painting over it lasts about one winter. Water is already tracking down that line, and the freeze and thaw cycle opens it again from the inside. A repair that holds means opening the crack up, dealing with whatever is behind it, rebuilding the material and then matching the texture so the patch disappears.
What is included
- Assessment of the crack pattern to work out what is causing it
- Sounding the surrounding wall for hollow or delaminated areas
- Cracks opened out rather than skimmed over, back to sound material
- Damaged and loose stucco cut back to a solid edge
- Reinforcement where the repair needs to bridge movement
- Rebuilt in coats rather than one heavy fill
- Texture matched to the surrounding wall, with a sample area first
- Breathable coating over the repair so the wall can still dry outward
How the work runs
1. Diagnose the cause
Where a crack runs matters more than how long it is. Diagonals from window corners, horizontal lines at floor level and map cracking all mean different things.
2. Cut out and rebuild
Failed material comes out first. The area is rebuilt in coats and reinforced where it has to bridge movement, rather than filled in one pass.
3. Match and protect
Texture matched against the surrounding wall on a sample area you approve, then coated so the repair is protected and not visible from the street.
Crack repair questions we get asked
Are all stucco cracks a problem?
No. Fine hairline cracking is normal in a material that moves with temperature, and plenty of it is cosmetic. The ones worth acting on are cracks that are widening, that run diagonally from window and door corners, or that have staining below them — that last one means water is already getting through.
Can you just caulk it?
Caulk has its place at joints and transitions, but a bead of it along a crack in a stucco field is a cosmetic fix that traps water behind the repair. It also tends to read as a shiny line once it is painted. We would rather do it properly than leave you with a repair that fails visibly.
Will I be able to see the repair?
A well-matched repair is very hard to pick out once it is coated. On anything visible from the street we do a sample area first so you can approve the texture match before we carry on across the elevation.
Why did the last repair crack again in the same place?
Usually because the cause was never addressed. If the wall is still moving, or water is still getting in from a failed flashing or a blocked gutter above, a new patch will crack along the same line. Part of our assessment is finding out what is actually driving it.
When does a crack mean something structural?
Wide, stepped or steadily widening cracks, or ones with movement between the two sides, can point at something below the finish. We will tell you if what we are seeing is beyond a stucco repair rather than patching over it and taking your money.
How much of the wall will you need to touch?
As little as will hold. Isolated cracks are a localised repair. If sounding the wall turns up hollow areas around them, the repair area grows, and we will show you what we found before it does.
Photographs of our own crack and damaged-area repairs are being added to this page shortly. In the meantime, see our recent projects.
Send us a photo of the crack
We will tell you what we are looking at and whether it needs acting on now or can wait — no charge and no obligation.