Why Stucco Cracks Here
Some cracking is normal and cosmetic — shrinkage in the first years after a coat, or fine crazing that never gets wider. What is not normal is a crack that runs diagonally from a window corner, one that has opened enough to catch a fingernail, or a patch that sounds hollow when tapped. Those are movement or moisture, and they need the cause dealt with before the finish goes back on. We tap the surrounding area to find how far the delamination actually runs, which is almost always further than the visible damage.
Matching an existing finish
The hardest part of a stucco repair is not the repair, it is making it disappear. Texture, aggregate size and the way the previous coat was floated all have to be matched, and a patch that is technically sound but visibly different is still a failed job to the person who lives there. We sample the texture on a small area first and adjust before committing to the whole elevation. Where a wall is too patched to blend, we will say so and price recoating the full plane rather than promising an invisible repair we cannot deliver.
Ceilings
Ceiling work splits into three kinds and they are priced very differently. Repairs to a damaged section — usually after a leak — mean cutting back to sound material, checking the leak is actually fixed, and rebuilding the substrate before any finish. Suspended and drop ceilings are a grid job, where the level and the layout of the grid decide whether the finished ceiling looks intentional. Acoustic tile is largely about handling and dust control, because the tiles mark easily and the room below has to be liveable afterwards.
Living in the House While We Work
Ceiling and stucco work is dusty, and that is the part clients remember. Floors get covered, openings get sealed, and debris is cleared at the end of every day rather than at the end of the job. Where the scope allows we sequence the work room by room so you keep the rest of the house.
What We Need to Quote It
Photographs of the damage and of the wall or ceiling as a whole, and, for a leak, whatever you know about when it happened and whether it has been fixed. The estimate comes back written and itemised, including the preparation, which is where most of the honest cost of this trade actually sits.
