i wasn’t sure where to put this, but i really need some opinions.
we are getting a house built, and all the decisions have been made except about the exterior finish. we wanted to add brick all around the house, and everyone was happy with that, until my mum decided to visit toronto. she saw houses there that are built with stucco. now she wants our house to have the same finish. we got the quotes for it, and there’s not much diff. in price (stucco actually costs a bit more!). now we are worried that we will have to clean and repaint the exterior every few years, but my mum thinks that won’t be necessary (snow can clean it? :pcg:)
anyways, which exterior do u think is better? does anyone have stucco exterior on their house? i really need to know how much trouble it is to maintain stucco and keep it looking good, because the last thing we want is to climb a 20 feet ladder every year to clean the walls!
stucco has issues, I would stay away. Most of the stucco that you see now is synthetic stucco It uses an insulated board plus mesh of fibreglass. water gets behind the insulation and just pools then you have moisture problems which eat away at the wood layer and frame.
we looked at stucco and brick when building our place and went with brick because of the issues with stucco.
miicha, choice between stucco or bricks is really subjective but people tend to go with the norm per their area/neighborhood. For example, in the west coast you rarely see a brick house. Over 95 100% of the houses built in California, Nevada, Arizona etc are of stucco finish (Spanish styles). In the East coast, stucco isn't that popular as compared to bricks. Structurally, they both can hold equally well. There is no issue with stucco in terms of water going behind on the structural wood frame. In terms of mainenance, stucco is no different than bricks. All you need to do is wash the exterior once in every five years or even less frequent. And you need to do that for bricks as well, perhaps more often. Stucco doesn't require painting coat over it if you choose colored finish coat. Almost all stucco is done in this manner these days that finish coat has color in it. You can choose colors just as you choose oaint colors. There is a better product availabe these days called acrylic finish. This is more durable and almost maintenace free.
What region are you in? Being somewhat expert in the field, I can answer any specific question you may have.
jaadugar, we r located at southwest ontario; waterloo to be specific. most houses here have brick or vinyl siding, but i have seen some houses here with stucco as well. we can make really beautiful colour combinations using stucco and stone, but we are really worried about the maintenance. i googled it and found diff. opinions (some people hate stucco while others love it). personally i love it's smooth look, but there's no point in getting it if we have to clean/repaint it every year or worry about the water damage.
between the brick and stucco, which one is more durable?
^ I would recommend to go with bricks for the region you live in.
Durability wise, they both are the same. Can generally last for about 50 years before you need major repairs.
Why in the world you would paint the stucco unless you don't like the color? As I mentioned earlier, stucco had color mixed in the finish coat and the color can last for 25+ years. No need to paint in unless you get tired of the color.