A door knob, a kicked ball or a hard impact can punch through the finish and leave the lath showing. That isn't a gap to fill, it's a section of wall to rebuild. We bring the repair back flush so the wall looks whole and the opening doesn't stay a way in for water.
What a punched-through hole looks like
You see a dark opening with the lath exposed, and the finish coat around it is usually cracked or chipped from the impact. Sometimes the edges are clean. Sometimes they are already crumbling. Once an impact goes through to the lath, the edges of the hole have lost some of their grip on the coats behind them, and an open hole leaves that exposed edge to the weather. We have real winters in Santa Fe, so a hole left open through the cold season can turn a small patch into a bigger rebuild.
Worth comparing with stucco delamination repair. Searching for stucco repair in Santa Fe? Our home page covers it.
More answers: Warning Signs You Need Stucco Repair · What Stucco Repair Costs and What Moves the Price
How we repair a hole
We start by cleaning out the cavity. A wire brush works the edges, and compressed air blows the dust and debris out of the lath so the new material has something clean to bond to. Then we press base-coat stucco through the lath. We leave that coat below the finished surface and scratch grooves into it while it is still soft, so the next coat has something to lock into. The base coat has to cure before we go further. After that we apply the next coat, then a finish coat, bringing the repair flush with the wall. We match the existing texture so the patch doesn't read as a scar.
What it costs
Professional repair of a stucco hole typically runs $225 to $400 per hole. We can give you that range on the phone, and we confirm the exact number once we see the job. Where the hole is matters. A clean hole on a flat stretch of wall is straightforward. One near a window frame, a corner or a soffit takes more care to prep and more time to texture so it matches. If the cavity behind the hole is bigger than the surface damage suggests, that adds work before the base coat goes in, and we tell you that before we start. Several holes on the same wall are priced per hole.
When to call
A hole in stucco won't improve on its own. We get calls on holes that are years old and calls the week after the damage happened, and the repair method is the same. What changes is how much of the surrounding wall needs attention. If something went through the finish, call us. We'll tell you whether it's a single-hole patch or whether the area around it needs more.
A Few of the Specifics
On a typical job, the work covers:
- For a small hole up to about 3/4 inch, brush and blow out loose material, fill the hole with polyurethane caulk, let it dry, and apply finish patch material to blend the texture.
- For impact damage, press and tap around the hole; remove any surrounding stucco that flexes, sounds hollow, crumbles, or is no longer sound.
Also Available
A call is the quickest way to describe it, no pressure, no obligation.