Maybe a past patch dried to a different color than the wall around it. Maybe the texture has worn differently from one wall to the next. Santa Fe has real winters and hot summers (climate zone 4B), so exterior finishes go through a lot of swings, and a fresh coat put on without matching the aged finish tends to look like exactly that, a fresh coat. We resurface whole walls and match finishes so the repair stops showing.
Signs that resurfacing or a recoat might be the call
One section of wall is a different shade than the rest. A repair patch from a few years back has dried to a slightly different color. Or the texture across a whole elevation has gone patchy, and pressure washing did not bring it back. Those are the situations where a recoat makes more sense than spot repairs. If the stucco is holding together, with no delamination, no water getting behind it and no crumbling, you have a surface problem, not a structural one. In that case you should be paying for a new finish coat, not for lath or flashing work the wall does not need.
Many projects also need stucco remediation and wall rebuilding. Shopping for stucco repair in Santa Fe? Our home page has more.
Before you book: Insurance Claims for Stucco Repair: What to Document · Warning Signs You Need Stucco Repair
What we look for before we quote
We check that the stucco is still bonded and look for soft spots or areas letting go from behind. If we find delamination, we will tell you a recoat will not fix it and explain what will. If the wall is solid, we measure the surface area and look at what is already on it: old patches, mismatched texture, trim and window details.
How the work goes
We start by cleaning the wall with a pressure washer, so the new material goes onto a clean surface. If the job calls for primer, we let it dry for at least 24 hours before anything goes over it. The finish coat goes on with a stainless-steel trowel. We scrape it to an even thickness, then float it to match the texture of the surrounding wall. Where we are blending into an older patch, the match comes down to that float and scrape, and we work it by hand until the profile lines up. We pull the masking off before the finish dries, touch up the edges with a small brush, and let the finish dry.
What the price depends on
Stucco resurfacing and recoating typically runs $3.50 to $4.50 per square foot. Call us and we can talk through that range on the phone; the exact figure is settled once we have looked at the wall. The condition of the surface when we arrive moves it, along with how many old repairs we have to blend in and how much masking and edge work your house needs. A single elevation that needs a clean recoat is straightforward. A wall with patches of different ages, mismatched textures, and detail around windows and trim takes more hand work, and the quote reflects that.
How long the job takes
We give you a timeline with the quote. The part we cannot rush is the primer, when the job needs it, since the finish coat has to wait on it. Walls with a lot of window trim or other details take longer to mask and need more care along the edges, so a plain wall and a busy one of the same size will not take the same time.
What's Involved
For work like this, a few parts of the job:
- Where the existing stucco is undamaged and mesh is not required, skim it with leveling/base coat to fill the existing texture, then allow the coat to dry.
- Make a mock-up and check the proposed finish against the existing texture before proceeding; matching the existing finish may be difficult.
Also Available
Phone us and describe the job, and nobody will push you.