Tag Archives: Stucco

Stucco myths and facts

May 4, 2016

In our work as forensic architects and engineers, we are regularly involved in litigation over stucco failures, including hotels and high-rise condo complexes. (For this article, ‘stucco’ refers to traditional portland cement plaster direct-applied to a masonry substrate, rather than using lath.)

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Screen Your Stucco: The importance of effective water-resistive barriers

May 11, 2015

When addressing moisture management it is important to recognize and accept one simple and indisputable reality: water gets into buildings. No matter how tightly a building is constructed or how well it is insulated, moisture will inevitably find a way into the building.

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Getting Along With Stucco: Sometimes it just needs space

February 26, 2015

There are two maxims about stucco application over wood-framed structures: first, it will crack, and second, owners will not do much about it. Water intrusion through stucco claddings is so common in Florida, re-skinning buildings here after five or 15 years is commonplace.

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Improving stucco durability using moist-curing

January 6, 2013

Observations of numerous building envelope failures in stucco (i.e. portland cement plaster) indicate it may lack durability when correct installation practices are not performed. One of the most common problems is cracked stucco and with the trend of using the material as a cladding, the situation will get worse.

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Plaster and the California Missions

January 5, 2013

As the most viewable buildings of their era still standing, the California Missions are not only state history made corporeal, but also one of the major reasons stucco is so common in the Southwest.

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