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Stucco consists of four significant application steps. The first application is the moisture barrier/water management system. The moisture barrier prevents moisture intrusion into the substrate and framing of the wall. Then lath is applied after the moisture barrier and is composed of either woven wire or expanded metal.
Woven wire (chicken wire) is typically used on stucco applications under 5/8-inch thickness, and expanded metal is applied for heavier systems from 5/8” to 1”, as well as synthetic stone. The lath supports the base coat; base coat application typically ranges from 3/8 of an inch to 1 inch. Most of the stucco applications on Toronto’s newer homes are 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick and are called HCS or hard coat stucco. Structural systems 5/8” to 1 inch are not usually necessary in Toronto; the building code in Toronto requires shear standards to be built into the structure (carpentry). The last application is the finish coat; this is the application you see: colour and texture. The most popular finish materials used in Toronto are usually synthetic as opposed to Portland-cement-based finishes. Huseyin Alanci Weston Stucco Ltd. Toronto's Top Stucco Contractor. www.westonstucco.com A qualified stucco applicator should do repair and maintenance of stucco or EIFS (synthetic stucco). Often, piecemeal repairs can look worse than the original damage; a good example is woodpecker holes. Woodpecker damage wreaks havoc on Toronto real estate. Some products can be applied over stucco and EIFS to repair and prevent further damage caused by woodpeckers. Cracking can be successfully remedied with a fibreglass mesh overlay and refinishing of the affected wall plane. Areas being repaired should be refinished from a corner to a corner, completely covering the wall plane that is affected by the repair.
Stucco should not be painted! Painting stucco seals the system and prevents it from releasing small amounts of moisture, which can cause bubbling under the finish coat as moisture tries to escape. Painting also causes a maintenance issue. Suppose you paint it once; you must repaint it later. Also, paint fills in the texture of the stucco. After a few years, the stucco will appear like plastic, and its character will disappear. Let the stucco age; it will fade evenly through the years, giving it character. Stucco should be refinished every fifteen to twenty years; finishes eventually wear and lose their protective element. The recoat can be a perfect time to change the colour of your home. Sealant application around windows, doors and all penetrations must be maintained! Water movement through these areas causes roughly eighty-five percent of stucco failures. This problem can be easily remedied by using a qualified factory-trained applicator to seal around all stucco penetrations. I hope this brief overview helps you understand the maintenance issues of a stucco home. Huseyin Alanci Weston Stucco Ltd. Toronto's Top Stucco Contractor. www.westonstucco.com A perception often encountered in the maintenance industry is that stucco cannot be installed or repaired in the winter months. Nothing could be further from the truth. Several maintenance issues should be addressed in the winter months. One of these issues is sealant application around windows, doors and other penetrations. Sealing these areas will prevent additional heating costs and moisture intrusion issues.
Windows and doors are major culprits causing loss of heat, and loss of heat equals loss of money. Windows and doors inherently lose heat in the winter and reduce the effectiveness of air conditioning in the summer, because these wall penetrations do not have the insulating value of an exterior wall. This problem is compounded if sealant between penetrations and stucco has not been applied or if the sealant is old and delaminating. Proper sealants (urethane and specially formulated silicone sealants) should be applied. These specialized sealants are formulated to withstand ultraviolet exposure from the sun and moisture intrusion. UV exposure can reduce latex and most silicone to waste in a very short time. Notice I use the term sealant instead of caulk. Painters use caulk to fill gaps, mainly for aesthetic reasons. A sealant is a barrier against weather intrusion and should be applied at all penetrations in the stucco. There are plenty of temperature breaks in the winters of Toronto. Sealants can be applied in mild weather and will begin saving heat and money as soon as they are used. The coming spring will bring driving rain that will inevitably cause water intrusion, causing mould, mildew and structural damage. Sealant application is a vital but often underestimated solution to heat loss and moisture intrusion. Weston Stucco can resolve the problem of a lack of sealant or improperly installed sealants. We will apply sealant using the most up-to-date installation techniques and the best products available. |
Weston Stucco Toronto Blog!AuthorHuseyin Alanci / Administrator Archives
January 2016
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