Estate House QTA

With rough weather conditions, your home will definitely experience cracks on the exterior.

Stucco cracks are very common in older homes and they allow a ton of moisture to seep into the home. You need to fix the crack in the stucco if you want to stop the water from getting into the siding of the home.

Leaving the problem as is would only make it worse in the long run, so getting down to fixing it is the best solution. Some cracks are smaller than others and the fixing method will differ for small and large stucco cracks. Using the wrong method in either case will result in a larger crack yielding a huge leak in the siding.

To begin, you will need a hammer, medium sized paint brush, putty knife, stucco compound, cold chisel and a hard brush.

There will be stucco behind the crack, so you need to use a chisel and a hammer to get it out. Place the cold chisel in the crack and using a hammer, slice it down. This would remove the stucco from the back of the crack. Now, make sure to clean out the crack so that it is ready to be repaired. There will be a lot of debris in the crack, so this is where you would need to use your hard brush. You can use both brushes alternatively to get the area free of any light or heavy debris.

Fixing Small Stucco Cracks

When we say small stucco cracks, they are usually about half an inch wide or less. As mentioned before, small and large cracks will have a different repair method, so make sure you know the extent of the crack. To start, open up your stucco tube and get it ready by opening the hole. Take the stucco tube and align the opening with the crack you are trying to fill up.

Simultaneously, squeeze the stucco tube and run it down the crack. Using the putty knife, you can even out the stucco so that it gets into all the cracks. If the stucco has dried up too quickly, add some water to your putty knife and smooth it out again. In most cases, stucco should take about five hours to dry up, but depending on the moisture level it could take longer.

Fixing Large Stucco Cracks

Estimate the amount of stucco compound you would need for the crack and mix it up using some stucco patching compound. A small bucket or pan would be enough to mix up some stucco for the job. Using the putty knife, swipe some compound and smoothly apply it to the crack. Again, the compound will take about five hours to dry off.

If you feel that one layer has not helped you can go back and add more stucco for a stronger finish. All your tools that have stucco on them could be cleaned using water and some soap.

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