Is it stucco? How to patch it?


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Old 11-11-05, 12:17 AM
DykeItYourself
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Red face Is it stucco? How to patch it?

Live from the mid-atlantic! Our 1 1/2 story Malabu-style stick house with slab & block basement was built in 1979 on a slope. Purchased it in July 2002, having been neglected for 10 years by prior owners. DID NOT HAVE GUTTERS/DOWN SPOUTS/DRAIN DIVERTERS from the start. Installed G/DS/DD fall of 03. The lack of gutters plus hard surfaces on three sides created an 18" splash zone against the stucco?morter?cement? skin that is over the block in a stucco "style". It looks good on this house, but I don't know what it is or how to repair it.
Details: Some significant cracks have formed at the corners and the steps (PT lumber butted to the wall and attached to a small front PT deck [porch]). Some cracks are from water penetration alone, others are from settling and/or frost heave, but have been made worse by rain splash.
There are various size pockets of loose S?M?C? skin scattered through the spash zone, some close to the band board and others closer to the ground. So far, we have not found any above the splash zone. These range from 4" to 12" in diameter. Smaller cracks follow the morter trails between the block, and range from hair line to 1/4 inch in width. These cracks can be handled with a good acrilic silicon caulk, but my delimia is the rotted skin we've removed.
1.] There does not seem to be any lath, screen or net under the mystery morter, only clean, unpainted cinder block.
2.] There seems to be one thick 3/8" coat of S?M?C? on the block, not layers; standard cement/ mortar color; gritty texture; sound after cleaning out the water damaged .
3.] The sine-wave surface pattern may be from a medium tooth ceramic grout tool, not a traditional stucco pattern.
4.] The material is not tinted, but painted with a thick paint; either cement paint or waterproofing paint. There is only 2 layers of paint, peeling badly and therefore lost its protective qualities.
....how do I figgure out WHAT this stuff is and HOW to repair the bald spots and deeper cracks, the ones that are 1+" wide/deep and run down into the morter between the block?
I have 5 dry days in the mid 60's to finish this clean out [1/3 done] and patch job [zero done] before it gets cold and damp.
Thanks for the help. I'll chill until I hear from you.
I never doubt. I never look back.
 

Last edited by DykeItYourself; 11-11-05 at 06:37 AM. Reason: More Info
  #2  
Old 11-11-05, 09:00 AM
Join Date: Mar 2005
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Is it stucco? How to patch it?

Without knowing your area and climate it is difficult to get a good picture. Having lived in the Tidewater area and traveled around, you should not have much of a freezing problem if you are within 50 to 100 miles of the coast.

Before doing any patching you should go over the entire area to look for areas of poor attachment to the block. You can do this by tapping with a hammer or other metal tool see if the sound changes. This will give you an idea whether to patch or just do the entire area. If you have a general lack of bond, it may be easier to remove all the "stucco".

You do not have cinder block. You have concrete block and they may be either normal weight ot lightweight. They usually have a different texture, hence different bonding properties. If all the damaged areas cleaned up very cleanly, there could be a general poor bond condition that could extend to the other areas. This is the rerason to check the undamaged areas.

The cause could be from settlement, but you would be able to see major cracks inside the basement areas. You said the cracks were made by water penetration, but cracks usually permit water penetration. The fact you have badly peeled paint indicates the existance of moisture and inability of the paint to release the moisture. Oil paint is a sure-fire way to get peeling on masonry. A second coat makes it worse. The trapping of the moisture by the paint can cause large areas of stucco to peel off.

You probably have a sand cement stucco coating used to provide a uniform atchitectural surface. The bond probably was not good enough to overcome the pressure build-up. If you want to go the patch route, you can mix up a sand cement mixture simlar to your stucco, but use a latex additive (Acryl 60 or equivalent) to increase the bond and tensile strength. You can also paint he block surface with a slightly diluted mixture of the additive.

Weather should not be too much of a problem if the temperatures are in the 30 to 60 degree range.

Dick
 
 

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