Should stucco walls breathe or be sealed with paint.
Either way, it’s okay to seal your walls with paint.
Humans, animals, whales, plants, etc. need to breathe.
A house does not need to breathe, although the lime plasters used for thousands of years in the UK do indeed allow these walls to breathe.
If your walls on the home are leaking, it’s okay to seal the walls. All the major paint companies sell now and have been selling elastomeric waterproofing paints since about the 1950s.
Elastomeric coating is an above-grade exterior wall or roof coating that is approximately 10 times thicker than paint. It forms an incredibly thick yet flexible coating that helps waterproof the exterior of a structure. Think of these primers and paint as a thin coat of rubber.
To me, this question, “should stucco walls breathe or be sealed with paint,” is a no-brainer.
If your stucco walls are leaking, you either remove the stucco and re-lath then stucco or option, 2 purchase the best paint and qualified painting contractor or DIY, however applying any of the Elastomeric coatings takes knowledge.
Once applied properly, no rainwater can penetrate if a wall is sealed; thus, the walls are safe from wood rot.
Keep in mind stucco needs maintenance like all exterior finishes. After many seasons cracks can occur, wood shrinks. This allows rainwater in, especially around the higher windows and or eves.
Thus, most painting systems should be maintained or re-painted every ten to fifteen years, then your walls will last forever.
With a weep screed, the moister is transferred out harmlessly.
25 years ago, I was called into an apartment complex where all the lower tenants were evacuated at the owner’s expense as the rain was caused much hell. I noticed cracks high up and realized it was painted with quality paint,
I laid on my back, took a nail, penetrated the drip screed, and did this in a few areas.
The water peed out like 5 men who had just drunk a keg of beer.
The painter had also sealed the weep, so the walls held water.
Shit does indeed happen.
Was this was a great painter or an ignorant one?
Cost to Owner about 30K
Note: I placed a drip screed at the bottom as the water will continue and need to drain.
I’ll explain it differently. This stucco was originally considered a maintenance-free finish, which means like a brick when it’s wet, it darkens but never loses its color. 😉
Weep screeds are placed at the bottoms to allow the rainwater into and absorb in the stucco and be harmlessly reverted out as the rains dry up. Thus like a brick, it never needs painting.
What failed?
The areas around the post and or windows, no doubt was not sealed as properly as necessary. Thus they expanded, which caused the stucco to get hairline gaps in those areas.
Rainwater then entered, and over many years the wood swelled and caused the stucco to hairline crack, which interns allowed the rainwater to enter.
Wet wood rots and metals rust, and we humans age too—the drag of time.
It is best to seal or paint the stucco when this happens?
You betcha; I recommend that they primer and paint every ten years to protect all the wood and stucco which times causes to the hairline, thus stopping any water penetrations once more.
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