How To Paint Stucco: 5 Steps To Making It Look Like New Again
Stucco is popular in Canada because it has the ability to be painted to match the home’s exterior. It’s also a very low maintenance exterior surface with a lifetime of 50-plus years. The problem is that the paint doesn’t always last as long as the stucco.
When you’re looking to paint stucco, you need to make sure you’re doing it right. It’s not a job for the inexperienced, but there are a few things you need to know if you want to get the job done right.
Even with the best materials, the results can vary depending on certain factors. Few things can be controlled, but some things are out of your control. One thing you can at least control is the preparation before painting. Make sure that everything is cleaned and free of mold and mildew. The paint can actually start to peel and chip off, which makes the house look worn and old. Here are five easy steps to painting stucco and making it look new again.
Prepare the stucco
Warm to the subfloor for 2-3 hours. If in warm weather, remove the mildew from the basement flooring and install it on a hot day. If in a cooler climate, leave it outside, and if the weather is to be cold, allow the floor to acclimate to the temperature of your home. Stucco must be protected from heat, cold, and moisture. Once the heat has reached the surface, stucco can be sanded smooth using coarse sandpaper. If you use a manual sanding block, sand it to about 0.15 to 0.18 grit. Then use 120-grit for fine sanding and 200-grit for tougher sanding. Make final selection Remember that these are the two worst parts of stucco: it’s super-durable but easy to crack and break, and it’s super-expensive. While high-end stucco treatments can last 50-plus years, they also can cost a fortune.
Remove the old paint
First, cut the stucco away from the home’s exterior. With a power sander, try to remove as much of the old paint as possible. Next, sand with 100- to 400-grit sandpaper. If the paint has been water-impregnated, use 400-grit. Apply a light, even pressure to the area of stucco that has been painted and sand with a stiff, smooth motion. After the area is sanded, use a sander to remove any loose, dead, or faded paint from the entire exterior of the home. Read more from YEC—they’ve done a pretty good job.
Prime the stucco
The first step in painting stucco is to prime it before you start stuccoing. Prepping stucco involves removing all the old finish and priming the stucco. You must use stucco primer to do this. Prepping stucco requires two main steps. The first step is removing all the old paint with some form of stripping agent. Once that’s done, you will need to prime the stucco. The second step is applying two coats of stucco primer. The reason you have to prime stucco is that stucco is highly porous. So, the first thing that will happen is the paint will seep into the pores of the stucco, which will be transferred to the paint as it dries. Therefore, before stucco is finished, the stucco must be primed to prevent paint from seeping through.
Paint the stucco
Go ahead and use latex or oil-based exterior paint. Avoid water-based paints as they might turn the stucco green over time. Stucco is often called plaster because it’s literally made of drywall – an acrylic-based product. You can buy it ready to use or make your own Stucco Foundations and a more durable stucco product called Stucco Matte – which is usually formulated in the USA with a non-toxic UV stabilizer. You can also buy a stucco material like Tape Fabric Stucco – which has a very low rate of shrinkage and is ideal for creating a water-resistant seal that is strong enough to withstand high levels of water. You can even rent this stucco material. Make your own Stucco Making a Stucco Matte requires just one part stucco, three parts mineral oil, and one part white glue.
Clean up
A good stucco removal can be an expensive job, but if you have the right tools, it’s actually very easy. Sand off as much of the old paint as possible. You’ll want to wipe the sand off and rinse it off, but some of the stuccoes can be like cement. You can’t remove it with water, which means that you have to be careful not to damage the substrate. Before you paint, you can still see some of the sand in the cracks, so paint small patches of stucco. A handy tool to clean out the old paint and sand is the household caulking gun. Work your new paint Follow the instructions on the can for exterior stucco paint and apply the paint. Take care to wipe off the old paint that’s still visible and lightly sand the stucco with a palm sander or other sanding device. Paint one layer at a time.
Conclusion
The result is that the stucco will look like it belongs to a new home. The final product is all about getting a professional stucco contractor with an excellent safety record and a great reputation to do the stucco job. Have you recently repainted your stucco? How did it turn out? What advice would you give someone looking to do this job?
We provide a stucco painting service in Calgary. If you need any assistance please call us to get free quote.