Exterior Painting : Stucco Painting Like A Pro in San Diego, CA

Stucco is one of the more visually stunning materials for use in construction of the exterior of a home but it can be rather tricky to paint at times and so people can sometimes shy away from using it as a result.

The thing is that if you have the knowledge going into it, exterior painting with a stucco exterior can be a bit less challenging and you can master it.

With this being the case let us now look at exterior painting and stucco painting like a pro in San Diego, CA.

1. Examine The Exterior Of The House For Any Cracks Or Places That Need To Be Patched

The exterior of your stucco home needs to be examined at great length to be sure that you aren’t missing anything that needs to be corrected, specifically the cracks in your stucco along with parts of the stucco that needs to be properly patched.

It’s important not to paint stucco if there are either cracks or places in need of patching, because then you’ll end up with a paint job that is basically uneven and will ultimately need to be done a second time.

Do yourself a favor and properly examine the exterior to see if there is anything that needs to be corrected.

2. Fix The Cracks And Patch Any Areas In Need Of Patching

Now that you’ve made a list of any cracks to fill and areas to patch, you actually need to take care of it — there is special caulking solution that is meant to fill the cracks in a stucco exterior and there are ways to take care of areas that should be patched.

Either way when you have finished fixing the cracks in your stucco exterior or patching the parts of the exterior that need it, you will need to give it time to set — you won’t be able to start painting it immediately.

3. Consider The Age Of The Stucco Before Painting It

Another way in which stucco is unlike other exterior material is that you can’t just make a home with a stucco exterior and then immediately paint it.

It used to be the case that this was universally not true, in that you had to wait at least a month if not two to paint a stucco exterior owing to the fact that you needed it to fully cure, so to speak, to paint it.

There are more newly developed kinds of stucco that do not have this rather unfortunate quality to it, and you will not have to wait all that long at all before you’ll be able to paint the stucco exterior.

4. Properly Measure Before Buying Paint

There’s no sense in getting either too much paint or too little paint when you are painting your stucco exterior.

There are numerous online tools you can use to calculate how much paint you are going to need to do the job right.

With the proper tool, you can get the right amount of paint and not end up with bucket after bucket that will go to waste.

5. Use Primer If Needed

For the most part, it is well expected that when you paint your stucco exterior you will need to first use a primer to prepare the stucco with a layer of primer.

There are some that say that you can get away with not using primer and if you think that it will work, go for it — but you might come to find that ultimately your stucco exterior will require primer prior to painting.

6. Pressure Wash And Then Let It Dry

This probably should have been one of the first tips but here it is — prior to starting the painting process you should properly pressure wash the stucco, and then thoroughly allow it to dry.

There are few things that clean stucco as well as pressure washing, but it is fundamentally important that you allow it to dry before painting.

With a clean surface and the right amount of paint, you’ll be able to get a great paint job on your stucco exterior.