Stucco Siding
Updated: Dec. 07, 2010
We are thinking about moving to an area in British Columbia that has few brick houses but many stucco siding houses. I was told that new acrylic stucco siding, as opposed to wood or aluminum siding, requires little maintenance. This sounds a little fishy to me. What is the truth?
From the Prairies west there are few brick-sided houses for two reasons: Firstly, brick structures are expensive to build and, secondly, stucco-sided houses are excellent for blocking wind, something that plagues Prairie winters. Unless you seriously damage the stucco siding, it requires little maintenance. Regardless what kind of siding you build with, periodic cleaning is required. Acrylic stucco is much easier to clean than concrete-based stucco but does not allow the wall to dry if water gets behind the stucco, which can cause damage in the wall in the damp coastal climate. The problem that you are likely to encounter on the West Coast is a buildup of moss, which you will have to clean off on a regular basis. When comparing stucco to aluminum or wood siding, there is one great difference: stucco will withstand abuse from a tree better than the others because it will not dent at all.
