Stucco Guy

Stucco is the name of the game in these parts.  By 'these parts' I mean the hot, dry areas of the American Southwest.  Darned few homes in Phoenix, Tucson or here in LHC have non-stucco siding.  Why?  Because it's attractive, versatile, durable, fire-resistant and a good insulator.  My home has stucco siding and, except for the driveway, is surrounded by concrete block walls and terracing with a stucco finish that matches the house.

The longest and most visible stretch of my stucco wall had several unsightly cracks when I bought the place.  I tried filling the cracks with a couple different patching products but that didn't work.  The color wasn't right and the patching material came loose from the wall within a few months.  I tried calking the smaller cracks, which made them less visible but it wasn't a great color match either.

Lots of wall.  Lots of cracks.

Our mailbox, like the wall, is stucco-finished concrete block.  A few weeks ago, Ann, our sweet little old (87) neighbor lady backed her car into the mailbox.  Whoopee, more cracks!  I had Roger (the floor tile guy) take a look at the mailbox; he suggested I call Mark, the stucco guy.  I did.  And, I'm glad I did.  Mark knows his stuff, does great work at a very reasonable price; mailbox looks like new and the repair cost was minimal: $110 vs $750 to replace it in kind.  Ann paid for it.

Murphy's Law: the ugliest bit of damage will always be

 in the most prominent, visible location.

You're looking at it.

I asked Mark to take a look at the wall cracks, asked if he could do a fix that lasted awhile and matched the existing color.  Yep, sure enough he could.  He finished the job yesterday and it's a vast improvement.  If you live in LHC and need stucco repair work, Mark's the go-to guy.  He's unlicensed so doesn't advertise.  Putting private phone numbers in blogs is unwise; I have his number if you need it..  

All done and looking good!