Stucco & Exterior Walls in Tarzana
Window and door flashing, sloped sills and sealant joints come first on Tarzana stucco walls, so the plaster closes around openings that shed water.
Every window and door is a hole cut through the wall's water barrier, which makes openings a common place for a Tarzana stucco wall to leak. Head flashing, a sloped sill and a sealant joint with a backer behind it all have to be right before the plaster closes around them. Diagonal cracks from a window corner often begin as stress and then let water in.
Flashing at the head and sill
Water finds the top of a window first. A head flashing lapped under the paper above and over the paper below sends that water onto the face of the wall. At the sill, the rough opening slopes outward with a membrane carried up the jambs. When a frame is replaced, the old flashing is judged on its own merits, because a new window set in tired flashing leaks the way the old one did. Plaster stops short of the frame at a casing bead so the sealant joint can move.
Sealant is a maintenance item
Sealant joints move, harden and split, so they are treated as parts that wear. Between plaster and window frame the joint is built over a backer, which lets the bead stretch as the frame shifts. A failed line is cut out completely, the groove is cleaned and primed and fresh sealant is tooled in. Caulk laid over old caulk is not a repair. Garage door jambs, hose bibs, light fixtures and dryer vent hoods get the same attention, since each one is a penetration held shut by a ring of sealant.
Stucco & Exterior in Tarzana: common questions
In wildfire terms the build is cement plaster over corrosion-resistant lath, on paper over sheathing, with the covering run to the roof line. That settles the wall surface. Windows, vents and eaves are judged on their own, so a sound wall can be let down by a plastic vent or an open rafter bay.
A patch suits hairline cracks and plaster that rings solid. A strip suits a wall where the paper is breached, the framing is wet or a large area sounds hollow. Whichever applies, the first move is a small opening that shows the real layers, because the face of the plaster cannot answer the question alone.
Close it by letting the screed breathe and the grade fall away. Soil, mulch, a raised patio slab or pavers hiding the flange are cleared back. The lowest plaster course is then checked for cracks and re-skimmed, giving water a clean line to drip off before it reaches the foundation.
Stucco & Exterior in other cities
More work we do in Tarzana
Plan your project in Tarzana
Tell us about the house and the stucco & exterior work. We reply about a walk-through and a written scope.