Stucco repair

[Dorymb]

Any thoughts on repairing/replacing stucco on early 1800s stone house? I'm all about historical accuracy, but also have a limited budget as this is just one of the issues plaguing our house. The person who supplies our lime for pointing is too busy. Another guy would use modern material. Not sure what that would be.

[V-Man]

Sure you could remove the stucco but it is messy and expensive. Is your stucco largely intact? Then repair probably makes the most economic sense. The modern guy would probably use a portland cement based stucco. But is your stucco lime based or portland based? If its portland, then repairing with portland makes sense. My early 1800s house has stucco but it wasn't originally stucco. The stucco was probably applied around the 1920-30s during as stucco renaissance that took place in the Virginia countryside when portland cement became widely available. The house originally had clapboard siding. But my stone foundation is all lime mortar. So whether you go with lime or portland depends on what your stucco is made of and I don't think you can assume it is lime or portland without confirming. The modern guys love portland because its much harder than lime, sets much quicker especially with accelerants and sticks better, especially with bonding agents. I had my entire (brick) chimney stucco removed and replaced last year and at least that is what my stucco guy told me. You can buy time by sealing cracks up to 1/4" with mor-flexx, which is a sanded caulk. You can probably undertake smaller repairs/patches and cracks on your own but matching the surrounding texture is where the pros leave the DIYers behind.