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Sealing stucco

eleeski | Posted in General Discussion on January 28, 2009 10:41am

One stucco wall is leaking on our beach house. It was not shear paneled. Just black paper with lots of staples attaching the wire to the studs. At the beach it is breezy and some damage to the black paper probably occured. When (if ever) it rains AND the wind blows a rare direction the wall leaks. Sealing the stucco helped (Thompsons) but we are scheduling a remodel in a while so we want to fix it better.

We want to take off the drywall and fix the leaks. Will it work to tigerfoam the inside of the black paper? Should we cut out the black paper and elastomeric the inside then tigerfoam? The stucco still looks good – we had a good stucco contractor as our stucco at 15 years looks better than many of the new jobs.

It will be at least a year until we do the job (waiting for pex to be accepted) so the stucco could deteriorate. Then we sould go in from the outside. If I have to take off the stucco, I will shear panel it and hope for a good stucco job.

Eric

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  1. sungod | Jan 29, 2009 06:16pm | #1

    A lot of houses by the beach leaks because the aluminum windows are rotting because of the salt air.
    Beach front home tend to leak a lot due to wind driven rains.

  2. Dave45 | Jan 29, 2009 08:08pm | #2

    Do you know where the leaks are? If they're around the doors and windows, the stucco may not be your problem. Cracked, broken, or missing stucco can usually be patched, caulked, primed and painted and be as good as new.

    1. eleeski | Jan 29, 2009 09:39pm | #3

      The Thompsons water seal really cut down on the leakage so I'm pretty sure the water is coming straight through the stucco. We also silicone sealed the windows in the area very carefully. The windows are vinyl and those windows have not failed. The roof is in pretty good shape also so I don't think it is coming from there. There are no pipes on that wall so it isn't the plumbing (like the other water damage to the interior walls).

      We eventually need to remodel the house (and repipe with something that will not fail while I am out of town creating a crisis for our tenants). Drywall will probably come off. I was hoping to deal with the stucco leaks from the inside. I am pretty sure the paper had problems as we had leaks from day one. But since it never rains in Southern California and the storm wind has to blow backwards to cause the leaks, the problem is a minor nuisance - not a crisis. The original builders are long gone so I have to deal with the issue. 

      Seal the paper with elastomeric? Or would just Tiger foam be enough sealant? Should I cut out the old paper or just repair it? Or just seal the studs and blocking to redirect the leaks back out? Or totally restucco? Or Thompsons every couple of years and just live with it...

      Thanks, Eric

      1. migraine | Jan 29, 2009 10:36pm | #4

        The first thing you need to know where the leaks are coming from and then address how to fix the leaks.  

        Most of the leaks I have repaired usually were some where else and leaks usually found there way through at the windows because this is where flashed incorrectly and/or puctures in the window flanges.  Not all, just most.

        As for the repairs, I would say repair from the outside, not inside because that is where the corrrection must take place.  sealing from the inside is still going to have a leak, it will still be there, you just won't "see' it.  If you even that lucky.  This is coming from someone that hates stucco work. I hate it, I hate, I hate it

        I have seen homes in socal where the people(owners and builders) swear the leak is at the window, then wall, then saturation of the stucco and/or paper, only to find the leak is under/in the tile roof. 

        One case in particular where the roofing company had many of the homes' roofing felt installed from the top down not the bottom up(class action lawsuit in laguna Niguel) among other problems. City inspector signed off and the city was saying they weren't even partially liable.

        As for you comment about the thompson's water seal.  It will help in stopping or slowing the penetration of water through the stucco, put it also the paper's job to help sheld the water down to weep holes at the base fo the stucco.  when that shedding water winds a punture in that paper, it can be sucked through by capilary action, just like you learned in science class

        Does your home have a facia that is flush/practically flush with the stucco, or is there an overhang/eave around the entire structure.  Knowing Socal,  I'd bet the first.  If it is, start looking for rotted facia boards/trim at the roof line/stucco line

        Edited 1/29/2009 2:45 pm by migraine

      2. Dave45 | Jan 30, 2009 12:21am | #5

        Here in the SF Bay area, 80+% of the houses are stucco over stucco wired paper stapled to the studs. Most of the stucco is painted which seals it unless it cracks or is broken. I've done beaucoup window replacements using new construction windows and have yet to see a flashing job I thought was ok. Tract house construction is all about speed over quality, right? - lolIn my experience, the only effective repair is from the outside. If you're really getting water through porus (unsealed) stucco, no amount of inside work is gonna do much good. You want the water to be stopped on the outside - not let get inside the walls where it can cause all kinds of problems.

  3. ruffmike | Jan 30, 2009 02:06am | #6

     Open the wall up (remove all drywall) and water test it with a strong hose or weak pressure washer. This is done regularly on new commercial jobs with a mock up.

     I agree with others that the solution is on the outside, inside work will not be a solution.

     Good chance you have an improper flashing job though and that can be an expensive fix.

                                Mike

        Small wheel turn by the fire and rod, big wheel turn by the grace of god.

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