How To Prep Stucco for Painting

Justin Shultz • April 6, 2015

We get questions all the time from Colorado residential homeowners that don’t know much about how to prep stucco for painting. Maybe it’s because there are so few stucco homes in Colorado! At Peak Pro Painting we want to ease your concerns about prepping your stucco house to ensure a quality, long-lasting paint job. Follow these easy steps to prep your stucco home for painting.

Step 1. Prepare a Clean Surface:

The first step in getting your stucco home ready to be painted is to make sure you thoroughly power wash the surface. Colorado homes get filthy through the years to begin with but stucco gets even dirtier than your typical wood siding home. All those cracks and crevices hide the dirt so it is important to take the time to get a clean surface.

Step 2. Caulk Cracks in Your Home’s Siding

Secondly, let’s talk about the cracks all over the house. Some may be larger than others. Most painters here in Colorado might want to fill those cracks with an acrylic caulking but that is a HUGE MISTAKE. I repeat, DO NOT USE SMOOTH CAULKING ON STUCCO. Smooth caulking does not look attractive on rough textured stucco surfaces. My recommendation is to use a textured caulking or textured elastomeric patches. This one tip will save you the heartache of having a home that looks like there are spider webs all over the home.

3. Apply a Patch to Damaged Areas

Lastly, we need to patch larger areas that have been damaged. Stucco patch is easy to mix and apply. If there is only a few of these areas, you can purchase pre-made stucco patch. But for homes that have several areas of stucco damage, you can buy stucco patch you can mix yourself. You just add it with water til you get a thick consistency that isn’t too dry. Then, apply stucco patch with a rubber float found in any paint store. The KEY to making sure stucco patch doesn’t crumble in a year is to allow it to FULLY dry before applying paint. You’ll be able to see the edges drying first and as long as there are no more dark spots it is ready to be painted.