Question: I was wondering if you would consider giving us an opinion on a stucco concern we have. We purchased our home in Steinbach in 2011. It was built in 2006.The front entrance of the home had an unsightly stucco stain when we purchased it. The stain has neither worsened nor improved since we moved into the home. I don’t know if it might have been caused by some type of roof water runoff, or if there could be an issue behind the stucco which has caused the stain.
We’ve been wondering about how to deal with the concern. Is there a possibility the stain was caused by a building construction issue? If so, how is that best addressed to rectify the situation. If a building construction concern is not an issue, then can the stucco stain be removed by cleaning? If cleaning is not an option, then how could it best be covered up?
By the way, we have always been very high on doing pre-purchase building inspections.
In this case, we did not because the agent was a relative and assured us an inspection wasn’t necessary in their opinion. We won’t make that mistake again. We realized later, it likely wasn’t our best interests they were looking after.
— Sincerely, with appreciation and best regards, Reg Reimer.
Answer: Determining the cause of an issue in your home could be something an experienced home inspector may be able to do, but can also be quite difficult for some areas like your stucco staining. In your case, differentiating between a serious defect and a cosmetic issue may be a better approach to figuring out the problem at hand.
Stains or discolouration are quite common on various types of masonry siding, especially stucco, due to the nature of the products. These are composed of natural stone, minerals, and other compounds that may vary widely in their colour and texture. Manufacturers strive to use similar materials in the composition of these products, to select components that are fairly homogeneous in nature. Unfortunately, inconsistencies in colour still occur. With stucco, which is typically mixed on site with several dry components, it may vary even further with different batches applied beside each other. To make matters more difficult, some stucco is coloured at the time of mixing, which can cause further inconsistencies in appearance.
Regardless, I applaud your curiosity about whether your stains are due to something deeper, in an attempt to nip it in the bud, before it causes more problems. Unfortunately, many of your questions in that regard are unanswerable. Firstly, without visually inspecting the area, it is nearly impossible to render an opinion on the cause or any cure. Secondly, since the stucco is comprised of up to three thin layers, which are applied over building paper or house wrap and exterior sheathing, any defects beneath will be hidden from view. To determine whether something sinister was done at the time of construction would require partial removal of the stucco or cutting holes to look into the wall cavity. Neither of those invasive measures is likely warranted in this case.
I can make the previous statement based off one you have in your inquiry. You said that the stained stucco area has neither worsened or improved in several years since your possession of the home. That tells me there may be no imminent danger in doing little about the issue. If you did see deterioration over time, even subtle changes in the colour or texture of the wall, then something may need to be done. In this case, you may be prudent to think of investigating this defect further, but that should be unnecessary. Without a site visit to look at the issue, first-hand, I cannot be certain of the lack of seriousness, but it appears to be a purely cosmetic issue.
So, if it is simply a cosmetic deficiency in the stucco, without any physical deterioration, is there any merit in trying to determine the cause? The answer is no, but I will pose a couple of possible scenarios.
First, the stain may be due to bleeding through of something underneath the top layers. This could be components in the stucco scratch coating, or more likely corrosion or something else on the stucco wire. These could have occurred due to excessive moisture during construction, with only that area of the wall being affected. It may not have seemed like an issue until the stucco splash coat was applied, but later bled through, causing the stain. Finally, it may have been due to something that spilled or splashed on the surface of the stucco after installation, and only in that one spot. That could have occurred during work done on the home after the siding was complete, or by the previous homeowner. Either way, you may never be able to determine the cause and should not lose any sleep over that lack of knowledge.
To answer your final questions, unless the stain is simply dirt that has washed into the surface of the stucco, you don’t want to try to fix it. Try cleaning the area with a floor brush and regular household cleaner. If it improves after drying, then further cleaning may help improve the look. Painting the stucco would solve the issue, but that is a bad idea. Once stucco is painted, then future painting every decade or so would be required. In this case, this really is a purely cosmetic issue, which may simply be an annoyance rather than a real problem, and should be treated as such.
Without personally looking at your stained stucco issue, it may not be possible to determine if there is some underlying cause, but the lack of deterioration tells me it is simply a superficial cosmetic problem. Because of that, taking any measures other than cleaning the area may be overkill, and living with the slight discolouration is all that is required.
Ari Marantz is the owner of Trained Eye Home Inspection Ltd. and the past president of the Canadian Association of Home & Property Inspectors — Manitoba (cahpi.mb.ca). Questions can be emailed to the address below. Ari can be reached at 204-291-5358 or check out his website at trainedeye.ca.
trainedeye@iname.com
