Cracking stucco walls

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Q. Our house is older (built around 1888) and has exterior stucco walls. We were told that the stucco was put on over the original clapboard exterior way before we bought the house. Over the years we’ve painted the house about three times (one time my husband and I did it, the other times we hired a professional to do it). Every time it’s been painted, cracks in the stucco have been repaired. I’m not sure what product the painter used to fill them, but he told us they would probably reappear. Sure enough, they reappeared after a year or two. It’s now approximately five years since the last time we painted, and the cracks are becoming a lot more noticeable and paint is starting to chip off around some of them. Is there anything that can be done to fix this problem? Can another layer of stucco be applied? If so, would the new layer develop cracks in the same places? We considered re-siding, but didn’t really want to do that because there are some decorative cedar shakes and window moldings that we’d hate to lose. We’d appreciate your help.

A. As in most cases, water or movement, or both, are playing a part in why the cracks are appearing. It may be that the way the finishes were applied, if the materials cannot breathe behind and, over the years, our homes have been warmed and cooled more than in past generations, old systems have not been able to maintain the same stability. It may be that materials are getting wet from poor detailing and subsequent order of installation. For example, you may have water trickling backward from a rain gutter too high and too close to roofing materials, with no waterproofing strip or flashing at the roof edge. Gutters should be at least an inch to 1½ inches below the roof edge and must drain well. Sometimes there are too few downspouts or not enough slope. The worst culprit in bad detailing is having little or no overhang to get rainwater away from the exterior walls.

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