9 Reasons To Choose A Stucco Finish For Your Home

Up to this day, some Greek and Roman structures finished with stucco are still standing. Talk about the durability of house finishes, and stucco can’t miss on the list. Yet that’s not the end of it.

Stucco has several advantages you don’t want to miss, which are important if you’re building a new home or renovating your current one. Here are nine good reasons to choose a stucco finish for your home:

1. Durability

It pays to add more weight to this point. When choosing a siding for your house, you don’t want a material that’ll crumble within ten or so years. Instead, you want something that lasts you a lifetime, perhaps 50-plus years. Stucco offers just that.

When installed professionally, a stucco finish can indeed outlive you. And that’s the thing you ought to consider above all else; professional installation. You understand that every building material has specific requirements for installation. If you get it right, you’ll live for years without any need for repair. But if you install it shoddily, you might spend the rest of your life doing minor repairs now and then, which can cause you a hefty amount.

It boils down to the quality of workmanship of the contractor you choose. Hence, go for one that has vast professional experience in working with the material. Visit here for one example of such a contractor that has been beautifying Colorado Springs homes for decades. With the right contractor, you’re sure that they’ll do a high-quality finish that’ll stand the test of time.

2. Good-Looking

With stucco, you aren’t limited to a single design or texture as you can tweak the finishes in numerous attractive ways. Here are some of the options you have:

• Traditional: Install the cement-sand–lime-water mixture over a layer of mesh wrapped around the wall.
• Synthetic: Use acrylic resins to make a paste that looks like paint, but with the texture of traditional stucco.
• Sand: Finish the stucco to a texture similar to that of fine sand.
• Dash: That rough look on exterior walls.
• Worm/Swirl/Putz: Use large aggregates so the trowel leaves random indentations as the workers pull it across the surface.
• Smooth: This style is perhaps the most popular among modern homeowners. It supports painting in different colors.
• Cat face: Large smooth sections interspersed with smaller rough spots.

With all these choices and several others, you can uniquely finish your home to stand out from the rest. On the other hand, you can use stucco to make your house ingeniously blend with those in the neighborhood.

3. Fire-Resistant

Of late, you’ve heard about wildfires that raze down homes and leave the owners with unimaginable losses. One of the risk factors for fire destruction is the kind of material used for the siding.

Fortunately, stucco adequately shields the structural components and interior from fire. Even if you have wooden framing for your house, stucco adds about a one-hour fire rating to the wall. This gives you enough time to try to control the fire before it wreaks havoc.

4. Insulating Properties

Stucco has excellent insulating properties. Note that it’s usually applied in three or so layers. As such, it’s capable of restricting heat transfer across its thickness.

In the winter months, it prevents the outside lower temperatures from accessing the interior of your house. This means you won’t incur high energy bills in a bid to keep your home warm. In summer, it shields your house’s interior from excessively heating up. Thus, you don’t consume a lot of electricity to cool the home.

5. Undemanding Maintenance

By virtue of the fact that your home’s exterior is exposed to most weather elements, you’ll need to maintain the siding once in a while. Wind and rain stores debris on the surface of the wall, making it look dirty and weather-beaten. Luckily, stucco isn’t difficult to clean. All you need is a light pressure washer. Sprinkle the exterior surface with water until all dirt washes down. Voila!

If the finishing develops cracks, you can quickly fix them with elastomeric sealant and a little paint. But make a point of calling an expert to assess any cracks larger than ⅛”.

6. Sound-proofing

Noise from traffic, neighbors, and other industrial activities can be very irritating if not suppressed. While there are sophisticated methods to sound-proof your home, a multi-layered stucco finish helps a bit. The denser and thicker it is, the better it is in blocking outside noise. This way, you can have a peaceful indoor environment. Also, when bedtime comes, you won’t struggle to fall asleep.

7. Affordable

Indeed, stucco isn’t the cheapest siding material. But even so, it’s a relatively affordable option. At least it’s not in the league of high-end siding like stone veneer. You can go with stucco if you desire to stick within a reasonable budget.

8. Quick Installation

As long as you have experienced workers at the site, you don’t have to worry about undue delays in finishing your house. As mentioned, installing stucco is pretty straightforward. A day is enough for one wall, assuming that about three expert operatives are working on it. You can employ more workers if you need to increase the pace.

9. No Rotting Or Termite Damage

You understand that some siding options, like wood, are prone to termite infestation and rotting. Fortunately, that’s not the case with stucco. Termites don’t eat it, neither does it rot. That’s an added advantage for you as you won’t have to worry about those stubborn little creatures destroying your investment. But if yours is too porous, you might have to deal with water damage and the growth of molds.

Final Words

Stucco is an excellent finishing material for your home. You now have nine concrete reasons to use it. If you decide to go with it, ensure that you choose a reliable contractor with first-class construction skills. That’s the only way you’ll reap most of the benefits highlighted above. If the contractor you choose does the job shabbily, the stucco finishing may not last as long as it ought to. So, shop until you find the best one around your area of residence.