Territorial style home partway through a re-stucco, with bare lath on one section of wall

Re-Stucco and Stucco Restoration in Tucson

Your wall has patches on its patches, and every one of them shows. When repair has stopped being the honest answer, we can remove or resurface what has failed and give the whole elevation one new, even finish.

Get a Repair EstimateCall (520) 555-0171
  • We try to talk you out of it first
  • Bond tested before we resurface anything
  • Water problems fixed before the new finish
  • Corner to corner, so no seam shows
Fresh brown coat of stucco being floated across a full wall of a territorial style home

Re-stucco is what happens when repair runs out

We are a repair first company, so we start with the question most people selling re-stucco skip: do you actually need it? A faded wall does not. A wall with a few cracks does not. Those are usually better served by targeted repairs and a recoat, for a good deal less money.

Some walls really are past that point, though. Tap across a section and it sounds hollow for yards at a time. Old patches have multiplied until there is more repair than wall, each one a different color and texture. Water has rusted the lath along a whole elevation, or decades of paint and coatings have started peeling away in sheets and taking the finish with them. In older central Tucson neighborhoods, it is not unusual for cement stucco to carry a long history of well meant fixes.

At that stage, continuing to patch means paying for a series of small jobs on a wall that keeps finding new ways to fail. A one time, properly planned re-stucco can be the better use of your money. There are two main routes, resurfacing over the existing stucco where it is still bonded and sound, or tearing off down to the substrate where it is not. Which one you need depends on the wall, and you can often mix the two on the same house.

When a wall is ready for more than a repair

Widespread loss of bond

Large hollow areas, bulges and sections that move when pushed. New finish over loose stucco comes down with what is under it, so these areas get removed back to sound material or to the substrate.

Patchwork walls

Years of mismatched repairs, ridged edges and shiny caulk lines. If the stucco is sound beneath them, a new finish over a proper base coat can give you one continuous wall again without a full tear off.

Failed paint and coatings

Peeling or blistered film over a wall that can no longer dry. New stucco products will not bond to a failing coating, so it has to come off, or the surface has to be prepared with a system made for it.

How we decide what your wall needs

A full sounding of each elevation

We tap across the walls in a grid rather than just around the obvious damage, and mark what is hollow. This is usually what settles the question between resurfacing, removing and simply repairing.

The surface and its history

We look at whether the wall is bare stucco, painted or covered in an elastomeric coating, since that decides how anything new can bond. Painted surfaces take extra preparation or a mechanical key.

Water and movement checks

We check parapets, weep screeds, window details, soil lines and irrigation. Re-stucco is the one good chance to fix these details, and it would be a waste to reproduce them under a new finish.

Honest options side by side

Where it is realistic, we will lay out targeted repair, resurfacing and full removal side by side, so you can see what each one solves, what it leaves alone and why we lean the way we do.

Worn wall patched many times in mismatched colors, the kind of wall that is ready for re-stucco

How a re-stucco job runs

  1. Agree the scope, wall by wall

    You may not need every elevation done. We set out which walls get what, how they meet each other, and any permit or HOA question you may need to check first. Requirements depend on the scope and where you live.

  2. Protect the property

    Windows, doors, fixtures, plants and gravel get covered. Tear off is loud and dusty, so we plan the work with you and keep the mess contained as far as a job like this allows.

  3. Remove what has failed

    Hollow stucco and failed coatings come off. Where we go down to the substrate on a framed wall, new paper, lath, corner bead, weep screed and control joints go in, which also corrects old details that caused trouble.

  4. Prepare and build the base

    Sound existing stucco gets cleaned and given a bonding treatment, with mesh or lath where needed, then a new base coat. Stripped sections get scratch and brown coats. Everything is brought to one plane, so the old transitions do not telegraph through.

  5. Cure with the weather in mind

    Cement cures by holding water, not losing it. Summer heat and dry air can pull it out too fast and cause cracking, so we mist, shade and schedule around the sun, and plan around monsoon storms when they threaten fresh work.

  6. Apply one finish, corner to corner

    The finish coat runs continuously from one natural break to the next, in the texture and color you have chosen, with HOA colors confirmed in advance if that applies to you. Working this way avoids cold joints and lap marks on the wall.

Why it helps to ask a repair company about re-stucco

A company that mostly sells re-stucco tends to see re-stucco on every wall. We spend most of our time trying to save stucco, so if we tell you yours is done, we can show you why. We will tap the wall with you, point to the hollow sections, and explain what would happen if you patched instead. You should be able to follow the reasoning without taking our word for it.

We also treat a re-stucco as a chance to correct what caused the failure. Getting a beautiful new skin on a wall with a cracked parapet cap or a buried weep screed just restarts the clock. The details at the top and bottom of a wall are what decide how long the new finish lasts, and that is where we spend the extra attention.

And we keep the scope honest. If your south and west walls are finished while the north wall has years left, we will say so. You can do the worst walls now and plan the rest, as long as you understand how the new work will sit next to the old.

Wondering if your wall has run out of repairs?

Send us photos of the worst wall and tell us what has been done to it over the years. We will give you our honest first read.

Get a Repair Estimate Call (520) 555-0171

Re-stucco questions

Can you re-stucco over existing stucco?

Yes, if the existing stucco is still firmly bonded and the surface is properly prepared. Clean, unpainted, sound stucco is the best candidate. Painted or coated walls need extra preparation, and any hollow or loose areas have to come off first. New stucco over loose stucco fails along with it.

Does new stucco stick to old stucco?

It can, but not by itself. Old stucco is often dusty, dry and sometimes painted, and new material will not grab that surface reliably. Cleaning it, dampening it, and using a bonding agent or a mechanical key such as lath is what makes the bond last.

Is it better to re-stucco or paint a house?

If the stucco is sound and the problem is fading or chalking, paint or a recoat is usually the better value. Re-stucco is for walls with widespread hollow areas, heavy patching, or a surface too worn for a coating to fix. Paint will not reattach loose stucco, and it will not hide a patchwork for long.

How often should stucco be redone?

Rarely, if it is built and maintained properly. Well bonded cement stucco can go for decades without a full re-stucco, with crack repairs and a recoat along the way. There is no set schedule. In Tucson, the south and west walls and parapets usually show their age first.

How expensive is it to replace stucco?

It depends on the wall area, height and access, whether old stucco has to be torn off and hauled away or can stay, how much paper and lath needs replacing, the finish you choose, and any repairs to parapets or framing that turn up along the way. Resurfacing and full removal are very different jobs. We give you a written number for your walls after we have sounded them.

Is it better to repair or replace stucco?

Repair when the damage is local and the rest of the wall is bonded. Replace or resurface when hollow sections are widespread, the lath has rusted across an elevation, or you are repeatedly paying to patch the same wall. Often the best answer is both: repair the sound walls and redo the worst ones.

Where we re-stucco

We take on re-stucco and restoration work across Tucson, Oro Valley, Catalina Foothills, Marana, Sahuarita, Casas Adobes, Vail and Green Valley.

Areas we serve

Related stucco work

Square cut hole in a stucco wall with new wire lath fitted, ready for a patch

Stucco Patching and Hole Repair

Holes, impact damage, removed fixtures and failed old patches rebuilt in layers, then textured to blend with the wall around them.

Stucco crack routed open at a window corner, ready to be filled

Stucco Crack Repair

Hairline, window corner and settlement cracks diagnosed first, then routed, filled or rebuilt according to what is actually causing them.

Scratch coat of new stucco being applied over wire lath on a garden wall addition

New Stucco Installation

Three coat and one coat systems for additions, garden walls and exterior upgrades, tied properly into existing surfaces.

Worker on a low scaffold repairing the stucco wall of a small desert retail building

Commercial Stucco Repair

Repairs and recoats for retail, office, multifamily and HOA properties, scheduled around tenants with one written scope.

Find out if your wall needs re-stucco, or just repair

Tell us about the wall, what has been done to it, and what is bothering you. We will call you back to arrange a look, and you may find you need less than you thought.

Where is the damage, when did you first notice it, and does it change after rain? Photos can follow once we talk.

Our Privacy Policy explains how your request is handled and who it is shared with. Our Terms of Service apply.