STUCCO NEWS.NET

Hi Reggie,

Just came across your site and have a question I was hoping you might be able to answer and give me some guidance about next steps.

I live in NY (Long Island) and rebuilt my home within the last year. I tore it down to the foundation. I decided to Stucco the house, but before doing so I asked my contractor who was doing the work about cracking. He said that stucco has a tendency to crack over time and you'll need to stay after it which I accepted at face-value. As a background, the original house had been built in 1930 and the original stucco was still on the house. However, when we began the renovation it was apparent that the whole house was rotted and in most cases it was the stucco that was supporting the home.

In any event, we opted to tear it down (but leave the original foundation which was inspected and deemed to be fine) and rebuild it and use stucco on the outside. We opted for the Three-Coat Portland Cement Stucco. The Stucco work began in mid-November 2005 and was completed in Feb 2006 and my concern was whether the temperature would become an issue. I was told by the contractor as long as the temperature doesn't drop below 40 degrees he can work. He used heaters during the day in January but not at night. He also used the Tyvek Stucco Wrap.

In mid-January, I began to notice a few cracks running vertically in the Stucco and the contractor told me, "Well, I told you would get some cracks" and when I pressed him that I would not expect to see cracking so soon he said don't worry about it. Once you get through all the four seasons you can thoroseal it to which I explained that I'm paying $40k to have him put the color on so I don't need to paint. I did not press him after that. In April, I began to see some more cracking and I called the stucco supplier who sent someone out to take a look and he said you should only see a little bit as the weather warms up but also questioned whether the lathe was self-furring and installed appropriately. He also chipped away at a very small section to see the thickness of the cement which he said was adequate. So, I waited...

In November 2006, it was apparent that the cracking was happening all over the house.  Vertical Cracks were occurring almost 2 feet apartfrom just above the foundation and stretching to the roof so I called my contractor and told him. His answer was "I told you it would crack, the house is settling and it's normal. Just thoroseal it". He has refused to come back and acknowledge any responsibility. I then called an engineer who told me there is no evidence of any settling and he recommend a Stucco Contractor who he trusts to come by and take a look. His person looked at the house for about 90 minutes and concluded that the contractor probably  did not use self-furring lath, there was discoloration from frost, and based on pictures which I had taken during the construction indicated that  the lath was not installed horizontally and overlaid properly in many places which would be consistent with   cracking approximately every 2 feet. In addition, he felt that the mix was not mortar cement, but instead masonry cement. He claimed he was not interested in anything other than trying to help me out. He wasn't interested in selling me the job. In fact, all of his work is out in the Hampton's about 50 miles from me. His opinion was that this was bad workmanship and I need to chase the contractor and begin a lawsuit to recover the costs of tearing it down and re-doing it properly. He felt that I run a risk of water getting into those cracks and causing damage to the inside walls. My biggest immediate concern was that.

I subsequently called back the manufacturer's rep who initially saw the house in April. This time he told me there was something definitely wrong and provided me with a written report of possible causes including incorrect installation and failure to use self-furring lath and/or the appropriate cement mix. He conceded that the proper way to remedy this is to tear it down and redo-it, and the contractor should be held liable.

Besides having to spend alot of money to re-do this in the event I cannot recover money from the contractor, in your opinion do you feel I need to do this sooner rather than later because of potential water damage or is this a cosmetic issue which I can hold off on undertaking until I can afford to re-do it?

I 'd be interested to hear your thoughts and be more interested in your guidance on next steps.

The metal lath should be horizontal, not vertical, but this doesn't affect the finished product by a lot, as long as there is something behind the lath. In other words, if there is no sheathing and the lath is stretched between the studs, you would definately want horizontal lath.

The problem is the lath wasn't overlapped. The rule is that the lath should be overlapped at least an inch. We overlap about 3 inches. the mortar should key through the top sheet into the bottom sheet. Too many nails or nails too tight can cause this. I think the lath wasn't overlapped at all, or less than a 1/2".

Filling the cracks will probably just lead to the cracks coming back. Sure, a few cracks are normal, particularly on wood framing, but this is way too much.

On a positive note, there probably isn't water going into the house. There is house wrap underneath and water is absorbed into the basecoat.

It sounds like sloppy work due to lack of experience.

A permanent solution is to tear it all the way off and start over. You shouldn't have to worry about rot until this happens

Another solution is to paint with a rubbery paint like elastomeric. This has flexibility and will bridge the cracks. However, this ruins the natural look of the stucco, but is an economical solution. You may do a test patch to see if this works for a time. I think so.

I feel terrible this happened to you. The best thing I can do is to continue to publish and try to change the world.