My office frequently gets questions from clients regarding why I use stucco so often on our homes and why I recommend true cement stucco rather than synthetic products. Real stucco offers an authentic old world appearance that lends itself well to the style of my homes. Over time, an uneven color palette and some staining develops and adds to the home’s charm and beauty. It’s virtually maintenance free and can be applied to areas such as dormers where stone or brick is not as feasible.
True stucco is a three-layer process that includes setting expansion joints to minimize and control cracking. While the synthetic stucco products on the market today are cheaper and faster to apply than traditional cement stucco, synthetic stucco or EIFS (exterior insulated finish systems) have inherent disadvantages that make me opt for true stucco. Like other home building short cuts that appear less expensive on the front end, fake stucco can actually cost much more than if the superior product had been installed from the beginning. The stucco we use on our homes is supplied by LaHabra Stucco . We typically use a custom stucco mix ratio from their color palette.
Some of our most commonly used LaHabra colors include Chablis, Fallbrook, Misty, Eggshell, Hialeah, Beaufort and Trabuco, or a mixture of two of these colors.
October 20th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
I love everything you do. My question,can you put the LaHabra Stucco over the synthetic stucco. I have a client that has that and we would like a different color.I like your textured better? Thank you, Janie
December 11th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Jack, we built our home about 10-12 years ago in Tyler, Texas. We came to talk to you and even went to the quarry to pick out our stone.
This is my question–We are going to build an outdoor fireplace and want to know if the stucco would be fine for the outside. We have Pennsylvania Blue flagstone in the court yard and Chicago brick on the walls and the inside of the Veranda. I just looked at the colors of stucco at the websight and wondered if you would assist me in picking out an appropriate color.
December 19th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
in 2000 i built a home copying many of your design themes including the stucco. I directed the subcontractor to imagine a wall originally of stone and then stucco over it. the result was great but can you apply this over insulation the way the fake stucco is applied. I am now planning another house and the cost of heating and cooling isn’t declining.
January 4th, 2010 at 10:18 am
Can you provide a photo of this so I can better assess what might be the right color?