Choosing Stucco Colors | Toronto

Choosing Stucco Colors | Toronto

There is always quite a stir over colours in stucco in Toronto. The designers, architects and owners want the colours that will make the project sell more quickly, add appeal, match existing schemes and make an aesthetically beautiful project.

The contractor warns that heavily pigmented colours are expensive, troublesome and susceptible to problems. What is the answer? It is, of course, complicated, and pros and cons must be weighed. Let’s start with the most asked questions about stucco and colour:

1. Pigments are expensive, and when you get over a Kilo, the price goes up. This is true. Typically, manufacturers allow one pound of pigment in a sack of stucco in Toronto with no extra charge. Blue and Green are the exceptions as they are more expensive colours. Pigment is by far the highest cost raw material in stucco in Toronto by weight.

When custom homes want that rich earth tone with four pounds of colour, it can be as much as twenty dollars extra per sack. Remember, though, if we are talking about a high-end custom home, then the homeowner should get what they want for an exterior colour. A huge custom home might use 100 sacks of stucco, and even at $20, this is only $2000 more.

2. The contractor says he has a hard time making stucco in Toronto, even and consistent with heavily pigmented colours. This is also true. However, keep in mind what texture is wanted. A lace texture or sand finish is very unsightly with mottled colour. In this case, the wall would certainly have to be fogged to even out the colour. In smooth finish applications, colour mottling is typically required. With darker colours, we see movement and character in the stucco. It becomes a benefit and part of the artistic beauty of the finish.

Toronto, ON -  PP-5223

3. Are some colours so dark that a fog coat cannot be produced for that colour? This is a common assumption, and most stucco manufacturers have specified limits on making fog coat with over 4lbs of pigment. The reason is that fog coat comes in a 25lb bag. Suppose there are 5 lbs of colour in the bag, which constitutes 20% of the bag by weight. We cannot remove that much cement and other ingredients from the bag to accommodate this much colour.

Similarly, we cannot produce heavily pigmented pre-mix stucco for the same reason. We never want to put so much colour in the bag that it threatens the integrity of the product. We should be able to produce a fogcoat that can even out colour variances using dark pigments. The solution then is to make a fog-coat in base and colour and let the contractor mix it in the field.

4. Are colours more “problematic” when they are dark? Yes, stucco is certainly not paint. It is not logical to expect stucco to react as paint does. Weather plays a huge part in how stucco looks, and the more pigment involved, the more the weather and other variables can affect colour. Efflorescence is more noticeable in darker colours. It is not because there is a higher presence of salts; it is that salts are white by nature and show much more on darker walls.

5.       My contractor has asked me not to use the dark colour I want for my home. What should I do? It is your home, and as the owner or builder, you should have what you want. But… Go in with your eyes open! He doesn’t want to do it because he has experience that many things can go wrong, and he knows that he will be blamed for the problems. My advice is to:

a.      Always do a mock-up and agree on the colour before starting the job

b.      Discuss mottling, efflorescence, extra cost and find the tolerances and expectations of both parties and put it in writing!

c.       Discuss what to do in the event of freak storms, repairs resulting from damage by other trades and who will pay for these issues.

d.      Weigh the pros and cons very carefully when choosing colour.

Remember, stucco is by nature a natural product. All the raw materials are from the earth, and it is almost always hand-applied. This is the beauty of the product. We don’t have to redo it every few years like paint. Stucco has an extremely long life cycle. So, like any natural product or handmade material, specific allowances must be made for the very nature of the product. Life is a give and take, so go for that dark colour on a smooth wall!

​Enjoy the beauty of the staining and mottling the same way you would admire your handmade antiques with all of their beautiful imperfections! Take so go for that dark colour on a smooth wall! Enjoy the beauty of the staining and mottling the same way you would admire your handmade antiques with all of their beautiful imperfections!