what is this exterior???

bought this building in 1998. owner said "stone stucco" was installed in like 1955 or 1960. what is this stuff? and is the cracking i'm seeing normal?
seems to be on a lot of areas. i have a couple places where it is broken away. what type of expert am i looking for to repair this, and how? there is, i believe, a wire mesh behind.
Thanks

 

Welcome to the forums Anthony!

I believe it's just stucco that has the brick/rock pattern drawn into while wet. I would think that most masons and plaster guys could do the job. The cracks are probably best addressed with caulking. All of the repairs would then need painting.... might mean a complete repaint would look best.

I'm sure you could do all the work yourself if so inclined.

 

marksr is right Looks like the problem around the bottom of at the downspout could be moisture /freeze/ thaw related This looks like it has all been painted. Maybe before it was painted the mortar joints were carved through a color coat to make them a different color. If you want to do this yourself there is a tool you need to make for free and it will take about five minutes to make it. Report here and I will tell you how to do it.

 

yes, thanks for the replies.
i bought the building 14 years ago. i had it painted with Pittsburgh Distinctive Elegance about 7 years ago. The cracks in the second picture shows some of what's going on in many areas. The busted section at the downspouts is due to a snow removal company hitting it with a blower. someone told me i'd have to notch out all the cracks and fill them, and that yes, eventually repaint it for the best look. but i don't want to have to keep redoing that (cost). i mean, how long should a high quality paint job last before seeing that cracking? someone mentioned some sort of a new elastic paint that could stretch better and keep it sealed, and from cracking? i just didn't know what this stuff was if i was going to look for someone that could fix it.

 

I would cut in some control/expansion joints before I apply any sealant or paint. The problem with any stucco is expansion and contraction and making sure you have allowed for it. The cracks are natures way of providing the relief that the material needs. Saw-cut a joint about the width of the 'mortar joints' at some key points (where they look the best or near existing cracks) and install sealant in these joints that is raked back to mimic the mortar joints. This will of course mean that you have some 'mortar joints' that run straight up the wall but you can paint the entire surface and attempt to hide them as much as possible.

Without some type of relief for the expansion and contraction the material will continue to crack. the control joints are designed to break the stucco into small enough panels to avoid the cracking. Elastomaric paint may mask the problem but you will be treating the symptom and not the disease.

 

This does not look like excessive cracking. It shows up worse because the larger block areas are relatively smooth and smooth stucco shows cracks worse than a texture. I don't think I would bother to saw cut it. The cracks are there and they do not run straight You will not get more cracking. Clean out the cracks and fill them with a good sealant.

The literature on the elastomeric paint will tell you it stretches 100 % (or some other high amount). That is true it stretches say 100 % of its thickness. That might, just might allow some of the tiny cracks to move beneath the paint.

I know the specs on how large the panels should be in stucco walls. I also know that there are millions of acres of stucco here in California with not a control or expansion joint in the whole building. Yes there are some cracks. The moisture resistant paper behind the lath, if done properly will keep moisture out of the stud cavity and allow what does get it to evaporate or drain. In my opinion a repaired crack looks worse than the crack.
Furthermore, there is some risk if you start saw cutting that you will cut right through the lath and paper thus introducing a much larger avenue for moisture to penetrate than the crack you have now, especially since there are the mortar joints in the wall which will allow the water to pool and find its way in.

Your original question was what kind of exterior you have. The answer is stucco. This was a very well done wall. I have done a lot of this kind of work cutting mortar joints in stucco and interior plaster. I know how this was done and I would treat it like I would any other stucco. Actually, I would not have painted it in the first place and avoided more headaches but you can't undo that so clean and caulk then paint and figure you will have to paint again in ten years. You now have a painted wall.

 

The quality of the paint has very little to do with the cracks in the substrate. The quality of the paint is more of a fading and/or peeling issue. 5-10 yrs is pretty much the norm for exterior paint..... but a lot depends on the environment the paint is subjected to.

Elastomeric paints will hide minor cracks and stretch enough to keep them sealed. It's best to repair/caulk any easily visible voids first, then prime as needed before applying the elastomeric.