Stucco Installation & Application
New stucco applied in proper coats over a prepared substrate, built for freeze and thaw. Chicago, the North Shore and the western suburbs. Licensed and insured.
Stucco is a layered system, not a coating
A stucco wall that lasts is built in layers, each allowed to cure before the next goes on, over a substrate that can manage water. Rushing that sequence is why some walls start cracking within a couple of winters. The weather barrier, the lath, the coats and the details around windows and terminations all have to be right, because none of them can be corrected later without opening the wall back up.
What is included
- Substrate checked and prepared before anything is applied
- Weather-resistive barrier and lath installed correctly
- Applied in coats, each given proper cure time
- Detailing at windows, doors, terminations and transitions
- Finish coat in the texture and colour you approve on a sample
- Work scheduled around temperature so coats cure rather than freeze
- Landscaping, hardscaping and adjacent surfaces protected
How the work runs
1. Substrate and barrier
We confirm what is behind the finish and get the weather barrier and lath right, because this is the part nobody can inspect once the wall is closed.
2. Coats and cure
Applied in sequence with cure time between coats. We schedule around the forecast rather than pushing a coat on before a cold night.
3. Finish and sign-off
Texture and colour approved on a sample area first, then the finish coat, then a walkthrough with you across every elevation.
Installation questions we get asked
How long does a stucco installation take?
Longer than most people expect, because the coats need to cure rather than just dry. We will give you a realistic programme with the estimate and tell you where weather could move it.
Can you install stucco in the autumn?
Up to a point. Cement-based coats need temperatures above a minimum to cure properly, and applying them into a hard frost causes damage that shows up the following spring. We would rather schedule for the right window than take the booking.
Can I choose the texture and colour?
Yes, and you approve both on a sample area before we commit to the elevation. Texture in particular looks very different at wall scale than on a small board.
Will it crack?
Fine hairline cracking is normal in a cementitious material that moves with temperature. What proper installation prevents is the structural and water-path cracking that actually causes damage.
Do you install over existing stucco?
Sometimes, if what is there is sound. If it is not, resurfacing over a failing base just buys time. See Damaged Stucco Renewal & Resurfacing.
Photographs of our own stucco installations are being added to this page shortly. In the meantime, see our recent projects.
Planning a stucco installation?
Tell us about the building and what is behind the walls. We will walk it and put the scope and the schedule in writing — no charge and no obligation.