Just talked to my neighbor about finishing our stucco

My neighbor Bob stopped by while I was mixing stucco for the back wall of my house in Tucson. He said I should just plaster over the old stuff instead of chipping it all off like I planned. Told me he patched his own place 12 years ago and it still looks solid. Now I'm wondering if I'm overcomplicating this whole job. Has anyone else just layered new stucco over old?

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3 Comments

sammartinez3mo ago

Check if your old stucco's got wire mesh behind it first.

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richard_young803mo ago

Ha yeah that's good advice for sure. But honestly even if you don't have wire mesh, you might still be in luck if the lath is expanded metal instead. That stuff holds up way better than chicken wire in my experience. Only way to know for sure is to poke a small hole in a corner and take a peek though.

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wells.christopher3mo ago

Poke a small hole first to check what's underneath before you commit to anything. If you've got expanded metal lath under that old stucco, you're in better shape than if it's just chicken wire or nothing at all.

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