What's Included
The stucco repair process for Sanlando Springs homes
Finding the water behind cracked stucco
The National Park Service's guidance on stucco repair, Preservation Brief 22, traces most stucco deterioration to water getting into the structure, and it names the area around chimneys as one of the ways in. Water that reaches the backing rusts metal lath and nails, rots wood lath and eventually lets the stucco lose its bond and pull away.
For that reason the brief puts the building repairs first, such as roof, gutter, downspout and flashing work, and the stucco repair after. We follow the same order on your Sanlando Springs chimney. The water path is found and priced before the finish, so the new stucco is not asked to hold back a leak it cannot stop.
Why the top of the chimney matters
Horizontal surfaces such as the tops of chimneys are particularly vulnerable to water, Preservation Brief 22 notes, and they sometimes need a change to their original design, like added flashing, to correct the problem. On a masonry chimney that top surface is the crown.
In section R1003.9.1, the Florida Building Code, Residential, describes a masonry chimney cap of concrete, metal or stone that slopes to shed water, carries a drip edge and has a caulked bond break where it meets each flue liner. If the crown on your Sanlando Springs chimney is flat, cracked or missing its drip edge, our team prices that fix on its own line ahead of the stucco.
Why caulk is the wrong fix for stucco cracks
Caulking a crack is quick, which is why so many stucco chimneys carry lines of it. Preservation Brief 22 calls commercially available caulking compounds unsuitable for patching hairline cracks, because their texture differs from stucco, they weather differently and they attract more dirt, so the repair ends up easy to spot.
We do not run caulk over cracks on your Sanlando Springs chimney. Where a crack is still moving, a flexible material can have a place, chosen and textured for stucco and used only after the crack has been assessed. Everywhere else the answer is a slurry, a coating or a proper patch.
What cracks chimney stucco
Preservation Brief 22 lists the usual causes of stucco deterioration. Ground settlement, leaking gutters and downspouts, intrusive vegetation, splash-back from the ground and vibration from traffic or construction can all crack stucco and let water in, and inexpert earlier repairs can add to the damage.
Some of those causes sit well away from the chimney face. Our specialists look at the gutters, the planting beds and the ground around your Sanlando Springs chimney as well as the stucco itself, because repairing the finish while a downspout keeps soaking its base only resets the clock.
