Exterior is the attraction of the home therefore choosing wise is a key.
Your home’s exterior is one of the first things a visitor, appraisal expert, or potential buyer sees there for you need to make sure you have it done the right way. But it’s more than just first impressions. Your siding choice also affects your energy bills, your home’s longevity, and more.
Many homeowners opt for a stucco finish for a distinct look and numerous benefits. Contractors lay stucco in layers over a wood or metal framework, called a lath. The cement, lime, and silica solution withstands the test of time on homes in many disparate climates. In fact, stucco is one of the most common exterior finishing choices. Here’s why.
1. Aesthetics
Stucco’s layer application creates a heavily textured surface, ideal for modern and mission-style homes. But homeowners with different aesthetic tastes can also appreciate the range of textural options stucco offers, including:
- Coarse
- Pebbled
- Raked
- Smooth
- Swirled
You can choose between concentrated, rough texture, sweeping, or smooth application to best complement the style of your home.
Because contractors apply stucco seamlessly, it accents the architecture and other exterior elements of a home, such as the patio or eaves. This makes it a dynamic choice for traditional, modern, and edgy homes alike.
2. Custom Options
With any type of siding, your contractor and manufacturer partnerships determine your colour options. With stucco, however, contractors can mix pigment directly into the solution, allowing you to choose the perfect custom shade. And, while stucco doesn’t require painting over time, you can repaint it should you ever want to.
Some homeowners opt for synthetic siding instead of traditional stucco. This synthetic, known as EIFS, retains paint colour even better than traditional stucco. With proper installation, few people can tell the difference between EIFS and traditional stucco finishing.
3. Durability
Stucco is one of the most durable siding choices on the market. With the right application and maintenance, stucco can last over fifty years with little maintenance. This is due in part to the fact that stucco expands and contracts as the temperature changes, which reduces the risk of cracking or crumbling.
4. Greater Home Value
Once dry, stucco provides a concrete shell around your home. This hard, durable exterior has great curb appeal as well as these other value-increasing characteristics:
- Earthquake resistant
- Energy Efficient
- Fire resistant
- Low maintenance
- Rot resistant
- Sound dampening
When you have your home appraised, these characteristics can add thousands of dollars to its market value.
5. Improved Home Insurance Premiums
The characteristics listed above don’t just benefit you if you decide to sell. Because stucco homes can better withstand natural disasters like earthquakes and fires, last longer, and cost less to maintain than other kinds of siding, it may decrease your home insurance premiums.
6. Increased Home Efficiency
Stucco finishing can also save you money month to month on your energy bills. Stucco has a high R-value, or insulation efficiency. This makes it easier to maintain a desired temperature in a stucco home than a home with another kind of exterior, no matter what the weather looks like.
While you should keep your stucco clear of snow to avoid any moisture damage, stucco reduces your heating bills in the winter by reducing heat transfer through your home’s walls.
7. Quick Installation
Siding is one of the biggest home renovations you could take on. Luckily, if you choose stucco siding, the process is fairly quick. Most applications take between one and two days—and that includes drying time. This minimizes the disruption to your home routine during the renovation process.
8. Resistance to Decay
Once a contractor performs the proper waterproofing, stucco is impervious to most kinds of decay. These include:
- Mildew
- Mold
- Rot
Unlike many other kinds of siding, with correct installation, stucco also does not flake or crumble over time. This makes it ideal for moist and humid climates, where other siding often succumbs to rot after only a few years.
9. Simple Maintenance
Even in extreme climates, stucco requires little maintenance. In warm, dry climates homeowners may not need to perform any maintenance except occasional power-washing to remove spots or stains. In wetter climates, homeowners must:
- Clear as much snow away from the walls as possible
- Direct all eavestroughs away from the walls
Some homeowners may choose to paint their stucco to change the look of their homes’ exterior, but this is not required.
10. Versatility
If you’re renovating an existing house, stucco is an obvious choice. This is because contractors can apply stucco over concrete masonry or wood framing. If you are replacing siding, it’s a fairly simple matter to put a lath in place and apply stucco over it. This versatile application, in addition to the visual options, makes stucco a wise choice for homes of many different styles.
Whether you’re building a new home from the ground up or looking to renovate your existing home, stucco finishing is a smart siding choice. Talk to your builder or a trusted siding contractor in Calgary about the advantages of installing stucco on your home’s exterior.
