Stucco on wood frame house

[Snakster66]

This is NOT another stucco vs vinyl debate. I wanted to try to get that straight out of the chute.

I know it is relatively rare, but apparently there exists homes in TV that are stucco, but not block. They are stucco on wood frame houses. I have come across a listing, in my continuing search, of just such a house.

So I am seeking information of anyone who owns or has owned one of these rarities and can give insight into pluses or minuses for these down there. I know here in PA, when we bought our current house 4 years ago, our agent was pretty adamant about avoiding stucco homes (most stuccoed over wood frame) as they are apparently notorious for issues up here.

Again….thats stucco on wood frame. I have no issues, or questions, about stucco on block. Or stick vs block construction per se, unless it is direct relation to the exterior.

If this devolves, I tried.

[gorillarick]

I had a stucco over wood frame for ten years before moving here (in Florida).
Wire mesh attached to studs thru sheathing. The stucco'ed over.
Never an issue, never a crack. Will need paint every 5 to 10 years.

benefit: if you want to fill holes, or even add something, it is easy to patch stucco and make it look like new.
Had a birdcage removed from my house. Filled a whole bunch of holes, and ground off sealant and stucco. Patched and couldn't tell it was ever there.

I would imagine with siding, trying to match it, fill holes, etc. would be very difficult without evidence.

Downsides: Like any wood frame home, not a good seal for insects and even termites (they'll get in from underneath).
Not such a good seal for moisture either (water damage) compared with stucco over block.

[village dreamer]

thats fake , its styrofoam with a skim coating of stucco . lots of mold issues.

[villagetinker]

OP, if the home you are looking at is less than 10 years old, your should be able to get the actual house plans. This will include the details of how the stucco is installed. I am sorry as I do not have firsthand experience with the design you are asking about, our house is stucco over concrete. As for painting, I believe Sherwin Williams is offering an extended warranty (20+ years ?) for painting done per their specifications. There are a few painting companies that offer this service, and in the next year or so that is what I will be doing.
I am not sure how much useful info you are going to get as it probably takes years for any problems to show up and the building specification may have changed in that time. I would suggest a phone call to some of the building inspectors to see what their experience has shown, I highly recommend Frank D'Angelo, he advertises on this site and we found him to be very good when we used him.

[BrianL99]

This is NOT another stucco vs vinyl debate. I wanted to try to get that straight out of the chute.

I know it is relatively rare, but apparently there exists homes in TV that are stucco, but not block. They are stucco on wood frame houses. I have come across a listing, in my continuing search, of just such a house.

So I am seeking information of anyone who owns or has owned one of these rarities and can give insight into pluses or minuses for these down there. I know here in PA, when we bought our current house 4 years ago, our agent was pretty adamant about avoiding stucco homes (most stuccoed over wood frame) as they are apparently notorious for issues up here.

Again….thats stucco on wood frame. I have no issues, or questions, about stucco on block. Or stick vs block construction per se, unless it is direct relation to the exterior.

If this devolves, I tried.


thats fake , its styrofoam with a skim coating of stucco . lots of mold issues.


I suspect it's EFIS or Dryvit, which are synthetic "stucco" products, usually backed by something like DensGlass sheathing.

DensGlass holds the highest "mold resistant" rating available under ASTM D3273. Vastly superior to most any other sheathing product. It is not "styrofoam".

[gorillarick]

The stucco over my studs (wire mesh and sheathing - black stuff), was about an inch thick.

I know, I drilled thru it many times to insert screws or anchors.
Softer than concrete, but about as easy to drill as a cinder block.

My surprise was there was about a 1/4" gap between the stucco and slab. I could feel the sheathing.
That's what I meant when I said not moisture/water proof, nor insect proof.

Termite guy told me the stucco cannot go all the way into the ground. Building code.
(no I did not have termites, but I had it inspected before I bought it, and before I sold it)

- - -
Now have a stucco over block in TV. Stucco goes below ground level. Go figur ?

[villageuser]

I am a REALTOR®. Moisture CAN get behind the stucco. I believe the extra money spent for a stucco/concrete block home vs a stucco/wood frame is well worth the cost. But, it’s a personal decision. Some people have higher risk tolerances than others.

[crash]

This is NOT another stucco vs vinyl debate. I wanted to try to get that straight out of the chute.

I know it is relatively rare, but apparently there exists homes in TV that are stucco, but not block. They are stucco on wood frame houses. I have come across a listing, in my continuing search, of just such a house.

So I am seeking information of anyone who owns or has owned one of these rarities and can give insight into pluses or minuses for these down there. I know here in PA, when we bought our current house 4 years ago, our agent was pretty adamant about avoiding stucco homes (most stuccoed over wood frame) as they are apparently notorious for issues up here.

Again….thats stucco on wood frame. I have no issues, or questions, about stucco on block. Or stick vs block construction per se, unless it is direct relation to the exterior.

If this devolves, I tried.

Never had a problem with them in California where most homes are built this way. Would imagine it would be like a siding house. Most of the stucco homes here look better than the vinyl siding homes in my opinion.

[Dlbonivich]

When I was a relocation realtor agent 10 years ago, any stucco house had to have a special inspection. If it EFS which was stucco over frame, the company would not buy the house. I guess in some parts of the country there were black mold and moisture issues with the product if not installed correctly.

[MikeN]

Several homes in our previous neighborhood had stucco on wood. The stucco was constantly cracking along the lines of where the exterior material seems meet requiring filling and repainting. There were expensive homes with expensive repairs needed every other year

[MandoMan]

I suspect it's EFIS or Dryvit, which are synthetic "stucco" products, usually backed by something like DensGlass sheathing.

DensGlass holds the highest "mold resistant" rating available under ASTM D3273. Vastly superior to most any other sheathing product. It is not "styrofoam".

Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems (EIFS), invented by the Dryvit company in 1969, made possible a lot of interesting “stucco” buildings with attractive molding details. It was originally spread over expanded polystyrene. It became very popular for businesses, as it allowed good insulation plus sealing out moisture. The problem was that a lot of builders failed to read or follow the instructions, water got under the nearly impermeable outer skin, then couldn't get out, resulting in serious mold problems. This staggered the industry, as many of these rotting buildings were under warranty. I believe this was especially a problem in southern Florida, forty years ago. Perhaps better building methods have helped, along with use of DensGlass insulation, but if so, the key concept is "Keep it dry!" in residential construction, whether stucco or EIFS, a major place water gets in is around the edges of window frames. The detailing there must follow the instructions carefully. water has a good chance of entering in climates where rain runs down walls a lot, like here, and lawn sprinklers hitting the walls is a problem.

"Real stucco" has for many decades been several coats of concrete spread over metal lath nailed or screwed to the wooden studs. this has been the preferred building coating in California for nearly a century. One feature is that the color (usually a pastel) is mixed in with the top coat of concrete, so it NEVER NEEDS PAINTING. In California, many stucco houses nearly a century old have never been painted. In the presence of humidity or rain, real stucco sucks up moisture a bit, then releases it when the moisture stops. But if you paint it, you seal the concrete, perhaps keeping moisture out, but also sealing moisture in. thus, humidity inside a house, say from cooking or showers and baths, gets into the walls but cant permeate out through the stucco. Careful use of exhaust fans can help. But people, with real stucco, don't think you need to paint it. If the concrete is stained, you don't need to. However, it may be that painters here are spraying the stucco with special stucco stains that don't seal the concrete.

[La lamy]

Never had a problem with them in California where most homes are built this way. Would imagine it would be like a siding house. Most of the stucco homes here look better than the vinyl siding homes in my opinion.

California is SO MUCH drier than Florida. That may be why this house treatment is better tolerated there. No expert here, just my intuition.

[HORNET]

Been done here in The Villages for many years, don’t know any Villages homes that way. Lived in Vegas for awhile, that is normal construction. Cement blocks covered with stucco is not recommended in the desert and siding doesn’t hold up. Village homes are built for the area, either block or siding! Why make things difficult.

[Snakster66]

Several homes in our previous neighborhood had stucco on wood. The stucco was constantly cracking along the lines of where the exterior material seems meet requiring filling and repainting. There were expensive homes with expensive repairs needed every other year

Thanks Mike, this is the type of direct knowledge I was hoping for. What you describe is what my wife fears about this....mixed(?)...construction. There are too many other great houses on the market to take a chance on something that might regular repair work.

Thank you to all who provided feedback.

[airstreamingypsy]

I'm guessing it's an older home, because there are few stick built homes around. Perhaps there are only a few because the stick built homes didn't do well in the Florida humidity and the only ones who liked them were termites.

[genobambino]

There are a lot of homes like that in the Spanish Springs neighborhoods, Chula Vista area, Delmar etc.

[Snakster66]

There are a lot of homes like that in the Spanish Springs neighborhoods, Chula Vista area, Delmar etc.
This one was between the sixes; below LSL.

[Snakster66]

I'm guessing it's an older home, because there are few stick built homes around. Perhaps there are only a few because the stick built homes didn't do well in the Florida humidity and the only ones who liked them were termites.

Built in 2006.

I assume you mean few stick built homes with stucco. All vinyl siding houses are wood frame construction and they're still being built.

[jjombrello]

The Villages offered wood frame with stucco up until about 1998 when they discontinued this construction. We built in 1998 and were seriously considering wood frame/stucco as it gave the additional interior space with good outside cover. When we came to build we were informed that the wood frame/stucco was no longer an option. I could be that there is more movement with a wood frame home which caused cracking to the stucco. I had a block/stucco home in Minnesota that cracked but was easily patched and was not a big problem. If you find a home built with wood frame/stucco, it has to be 25 plus years old.

[Wondering]

This is NOT another stucco vs vinyl debate. I wanted to try to get that straight out of the chute.

I know it is relatively rare, but apparently there exists homes in TV that are stucco, but not block. They are stucco on wood frame houses. I have come across a listing, in my continuing search, of just such a house.

So I am seeking information of anyone who owns or has owned one of these rarities and can give insight into pluses or minuses for these down there. I know here in PA, when we bought our current house 4 years ago, our agent was pretty adamant about avoiding stucco homes (most stuccoed over wood frame) as they are apparently notorious for issues up here.

Again….thats stucco on wood frame. I have no issues, or questions, about stucco on block. Or stick vs block construction per se, unless it is direct relation to the exterior.

If this devolves, I tried.
Even block homes with gables have stucco over wood. I have one of those homes - no issue. I put up a wall, on my lanai, for a summer kitchen, and put stucco over plywood - no issues -16 years later.

[Snakster66]

The Villages offered wood frame with stucco up until about 1998 when they discontinued this construction. We built in 1998 and were seriously considering wood frame/stucco as it gave the additional interior space with good outside cover. When we came to build we were informed that the wood frame/stucco was no longer an option. I could be that there is more movement with a wood frame home which caused cracking to the stucco. I had a block/stucco home in Minnesota that cracked but was easily patched and was not a big problem. If you find a home built with wood frame/stucco, it has to be 25 plus years old.

As stated above, it was built in 2006. Both MLS and county website indicate wood frame construction with stucco exterior.

[Don mcnutt]

This is NOT another stucco vs vinyl debate. I wanted to try to get that straight out of the chute.

I know it is relatively rare, but apparently there exists homes in TV that are stucco, but not block. They are stucco on wood frame houses. I have come across a listing, in my continuing search, of just such a house.

So I am seeking information of anyone who owns or has owned one of these rarities and can give insight into pluses or minuses for these down there. I know here in PA, when we bought our current house 4 years ago, our agent was pretty adamant about avoiding stucco homes (most stuccoed over wood frame) as they are apparently notorious for issues up here.

Again….thats stucco on wood frame. I have no issues, or questions, about stucco on block. Or stick vs block construction per se, unless it is direct relation to the exterior.

If this devolves, I tried.

Purchased Windancer condo pre construction with stucco on wood. Two years later stucco fell off- major law suit- condo owners won - Destin Fl-

[DAVES]

The Villages offered wood frame with stucco up until about 1998 when they discontinued this construction. We built in 1998 and were seriously considering wood frame/stucco as it gave the additional interior space with good outside cover. When we came to build we were informed that the wood frame/stucco was no longer an option. I could be that there is more movement with a wood frame home which caused cracking to the stucco. I had a block/stucco home in Minnesota that cracked but was easily patched and was not a big problem. If you find a home built with wood frame/stucco, it has to be 25 plus years old.

Far as movement in wood, it is the nature of the material. It absorbs and releases humidity. Our styled plastic doors are molded to imitate real wood doors. They were made allowing for the fact that wood moves. The panels were fitted into grooves cut into the rails and stiles. If, you could find a tree big enough to cut a single piece to use as a door, you would not. It would warp.
Perhaps like the old joke a broken clock shows the right time twice a day. Such a door might fit once a year.

[wamley]

Stucco can be installed on a wood, metal frame house. This just one example Exterior-Insulated Stucco | ROCKWOOL (https://www.rockwool.com/north-america/products-and-applications/exterior-wall-insulation/stucco-insulation/)

[Carla B]

We are the owners of a concrete block house that will soon be 16 years old. In 2016, the stucco on the gable over the garage swelled and bulged out. The culprit was an errant nail put in during the building of the house. The gables on this house (Lantana) were built of wood with stucco applied over the wood.. T&D's bill to remove the eyesore and put it right came to $2,000. Not a fan of stucco on wood.

[bobchap]

We lived in Melbourne Florida for 20 years in a wood frame home with stucco and never had any problems with the stucco or moisture problems. I would be willing to take my sideing off and stucco our home in the Villages. Not sure how much that would cost.