Stucco: Paint or Pigment?

[detroit]

I'm having a new house built. And it will be covered with stucco.
So my question relates to how the stucco should be colored.

I know that you can either mix some color agent in with the stucco,
like a dye. Or you can paint the stucco with a special paint. Apparently, you have to wait several weeks if you paint, so the stucco can cure first.

Ok, enough about me.... what's the best way to get the color I want?

Thanks much ( you guys rock!)

[Vector]

This has no bearing on your question, but given your username, it may affect things.

Where are you located? In the northern part of the US, stucco can be a real mistake on modern houses. The freeze/thaw cycles will rip it apart in a matter of years, unlike older houses, which were a lot less airtight, and allowed the moisture to evaporate out of the stucco more effectively.

Around MN, the only places you see stucco used in new-home construction is in small amounts in a decorative fashion, not as a full-house siding.

[detroit]

yeah, i've already decided on stucco -- i'm in california in an area where most houses are stucco.... so how to get that color?

[mjpliv]

My choice would be to dye the stucco. Then you have what amounts to a mainainence free finish. Paint is paint and will eventually chip, blister, peel or fade. I guess it all depends on the budget.

[detroit]

well I'm not really worried about the cost difference, I'm looking for the best solution, but it almost seems like it should be cheaper to do the dye because it eliminates the need to paint, saving that work.

you did raise a couple good points about the drawback to using paint, aside from cost.

One concern I have about dye is the fact that if I have do any patch work later, it will be harder to match the color if I have to mix it into the stucco. If I paint it, it will be easier to match the color.

I welcome any more ideas on this,

[Shanley]

Of course a patch is a patch be it paint or pigment...Most stucco producers have standard color selections which would make matching a patch later easy enough and almost any custom color you want (to pay for) making patching and matching later a little more difficult but not impossible...My vote would be pigment over paint

[Tom R]

No question, go with the pre-colored, it won't peel off, and any slight 'chips' later will still be colored.

[detroit]

well, i was about to say dye's are the best solution.
but i found this doc:

http://www.parex.com/stuccoma.pdf

it says that Elastomeric Acrylics are the way to go.
This is a finsh that has some elasticity, so it will conceal
hairline cracks that can occur in the base.

Using dye in the third coat is called a Cementitious Finish,
and apparently this coat is generally quite thin, which makes
it more vulnerable to cracking -- bad news. Also, since doing
it this way requires the third layer of stucco, it could be viewed
as more labor intensive.

i'd be interested to hear any other ideas about this.

[mjpliv]

We use these polymerized type stucco (parging) systems in Canada primarily because they work well in our weather extremes. Where you have access to a labour force who know what they are doing and a reasonably stable temperature/weather environment you should be fine with traditional materials. Last year I spent a couple of weeks in San Francisco and was amazed at the quality of the stucco work there.

[tyro]

are you using the eifs system if you are get the acrylic coloured to your liking

[tyro]

eifs exterior insulation finnish system

if your in detroit that probebly wath your getting i dont sugest the old system they crack

[Jrouche]

Pigment in the color coat definately. Look at a house with painted stucco and you will see many grey specks. This is where the sharp pointed leading edge of fresh stucco has been chipped or worn away. Anything can do it includiing kids bumping there "stuff" into the wall, enviromental events and age. JR

[brewster]

Pigment!

Stucco _will_ need to be resurfaced eventually no matter what. IF the surface is painted, tough luck, it will all need to be sandblasted off if the new coat is to last as long as the original. You can cover the paint with a binder but the top stucco coat will fall off much sooner.

Around here (NM) painting stucco is a last ditch effort to dress up a house before selling.

-Bruce

[rnlundquist]

We hired a contractor to replace the stucco on the back of our home. He has done an excellent job to date but his guys just put the wrong color of stucco on. They used the trim on the base and the base on the trim....

He is suggesting that he can paint it and that it shouldn't be a problem. I'm not buying it, especially based upon the info here. Please explain what the standard remedy would be in this case. It's his error, in my opinion he needs to sandblast the coat off or some something similar and replace. Please help...

[mjpliv]

Standard remedy - remove what you didn't order and replace it with what you wanted in the first place. The contractor acknowledges the error - he pays for the replacement - not the cheapest fix.

[brewster]

stucco sticks to stucco very well so in my opinion you wouldn't need to remove anything. I'm sure the contractor wants to paint since that will be easiest/cheapest. The hardline approach would be to demand a re-stucco, it all depends on how your contract is worded as to what "finish" is to be applied (stucco or paint)

[tyro]

if its an eifs system he sould re base wall and trim and re do the stucco at his cost plain and simple when you paint the the stucco you dont get the same look it will look like its been painted to a train i

[tyro]

you say his men mixeup the colours up when the install it maybe the contrator did usualy theres always more pails of wall colour then trim they must of screw up when the mix it and ship that way when it got there the applicator put on what they had more for the walls or you had the same amount for the trim and thats not likely