Stucco Repair in Logan, Utah and Cache Valley

Stucco is a hard coating of cement, sand and water laid over the wall. It lasts a long time, but it cracks. The house moves a little as the seasons change, the ground under it shifts, and the stucco itself shrinks as it cures. Most cracks are small and harmless. The ones that matter are the ones that let water in.

A crack is a path. Rain and snowmelt run into it, soak the layers behind, and freeze on cold nights. Frozen water takes up more room than liquid water, so the crack widens a little each winter. That is why a hairline crack in autumn can be a chunk missing by spring.

Small cracks are cleaned out and filled with a flexible patching or sealing material made for stucco, then painted. A rigid filler in a crack that moves will simply split again, so the material matters.

Chips and holes take more steps. Loose material is cut back to a solid edge and the area is cleaned of dust. The patch goes in with a fresh stucco mix or a patching compound, in layers where the hole is deep, and is allowed to cure between them. The last step is the texture. Stucco finishes vary a lot, from smooth to heavy swirls, and a patch that does not match shows up from the street. We work the surface to match the wall around it and talk through the paint before we start.

Paint is the other half. A patch in a faded wall will show unless the paint is blended, so we often paint a wider section, up to a corner or a break in the wall, so the repair does not stand out. Bring a photo and, if you have it, the paint color.

Stucco patches need to cure, and curing wants mild, not freezing, weather. At the Utah State University weather station in Logan, half of all years have their last spring freeze by about May 7 and their first fall freeze by about October 13. Between those dates, patches cure without a freeze to damage them, and paint goes on well.

The best plan is to seal cracks in late spring or early summer, before the next winter finds them. May is the wettest month at that station, with about two and a half inches of rain, and July is the driest, with about three quarters of an inch, so wait for a dry few days for the final paint. If you find a crack or a chip in winter, text us a photo. We can often tell you if it can wait.

The price depends on how many cracks or patches there are, how deep the damage goes, the texture to match, how much paint is needed to blend it, and how high the wall is. Every job gets a free quote with the full price before work starts. We work on homes and businesses across Cache Valley and Southeast Idaho; see the towns we serve.

Stucco repair is quoted on its own. Members of the Home Maintenance Membership get 10% off labor on work that is quoted separately, and the yearly inspection looks at the exterior walls.