Stucco & Exterior Walls in Santa Monica
A Santa Monica stucco wall is planned around daily use: scuffs, sprinklers and wet-dry cycles. Fernhill Builders builds for the long run.
Once the scaffold comes down, a Santa Monica stucco wall gets bumped by bikes and ladders, soaked by sprinklers and, where the air carries salt, worked on by that salt. The finished work has to take all of it without chalking, cracking or letting water behind the plaster. Fernhill Builders plans the wall around those daily demands, from the finish coat you can touch to the metal edge at the bottom.
The face you live with
The finish coat takes the abuse, so its texture and color matter beyond looks. A lightly troweled or float finish hides scuffs better than a glassy smooth one. Color mixed through the coat keeps a chip from showing a pale scar, while a painted wall wants a breathable masonry coating that lets vapor leave. Hose bibs and sprinkler heads near the wall are worth moving or shielding, because water that strikes plaster day after day finds its way into hairline cracks and starts working on what lies behind.
The edges that stay dry
Trim accessories in zinc or vinyl hold up where the air carries salt, and galvanized lath behind the plaster resists the same corrosion. The bottom edge of the wall ends in a screed with open space beneath it, so water can leave. Window and door perimeters get sealant joints sized to flex, since a wall moves a little every day as it warms and cools. Each of these details is listed in the scope by location, which makes the daily work of the wall easy to follow.
Stucco & Exterior in Santa Monica: common questions
Two builds qualify: cement plaster troweled over galvanized mesh, and fiber cement boards nailed to framing. Each resists flame because neither burns. What decides whether the wall behaves as ignition resistant is the detailing at its openings, so the scope covers vent screens, eave closure and the clear strip at the foot of the wall.
Hollow-sounding plaster and cracks that run corner to corner point toward stripping, since the bond has let go. Hairline cracks across an otherwise tight wall point toward patching and blending. A tap test along the wall and a look at the paper behind a small opening settle it, and the scope lists whichever route fits.
A screed is the slotted metal strip that ends the plaster at the bottom. It needs clearance above soil and paving so moisture can drain, which sometimes means lowering a planter bed or trimming back a concrete edge. Where the wall meets earth, a bare strip of noncombustible material is left in front of it.
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More work we do in Santa Monica
Plan your project in Santa Monica
Tell us about the house and the stucco & exterior work. We reply about a walk-through and a written scope.