IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE

So you are looking for a  company who is actually focused on QUALITY  to renovate your house with STUCCO or eifs system. Lets start with who we are and what we do. I guarantee you`ll save hundreds if not thousands of  $$$

HERE IS THE TRUTH

There is misunderstanding among home owners that you can have your stucco  system done CHEAP and  PROFESSIONALLY.Unfortunately , when it comes to stucco`ing your home, price and quality are trade-offs- in order to have more of one you need to sacrifice of the other- NO EXCEPTION

WE DO QUALITY STUCCO ONLY!!

WHAT THIS MEANS

I follow the "STUCCO BOOK" - this is manufacturer specifications. I do not substitute materials I do not reuse materials. I do not skip stages of installation ot eifs system or stucco.I do not use low quality materials. I do not rush stucco jobs just to finish and move on the next! I have worked with over 9 from the biggest  stucco companies in this trade from the 90`s and early 200`s and I can tell you that not one of them has demanded the eifs QUALITY of the work that I do for  myself. I`ve seen some of their GREEDY owners pushing people to work beyond any limits!! What could expect from such companies!!

I have seen HORRIBLE  jobs, people paying twice what they should for stucco, then having to remove all from walls because it was incorrectly installed! See the "STUCCO DISASTERS" section to see what I`m talking about!, Not everyone can initially afford the cost for QUALITY  eifs,stucco work , however, over the years I have found ways to work with these people to give them what they are looking for- this is very high quality work and very low price to can fit in most of budgets

HOW TO HIRE  STUCCO CONTRACTOR

During years of working stucco eifs  I developped system of questions to find the right guys and expose the bad ones. This system are actually very few questions to be asked and things to remember

1) There are 2 major portions to a stucco estimate 1-flat surface price, 2- Decorative mouldings and ornaments. For a flat surface stucco wall you are generally looking at $7-$13 per square foot , depending on thickness of material, type of system and difficulty of the work and walls and other,,If you decide to go with stucco contractor who give you a very low price per foot - you can expect raging from bubbling of the texture, uneven surfaces ugly markings, cracks, water leaks, missing materials-- this is almost GUARANTEED!Almoust every stage from the process has a way to be cheated something, Check out section " DISASTERS" for real examples

But don`t get the impression that just because a stucco company charges a very high price means it does good quality -- they might use the right materials and pay their workers the same, but use inexperienced stucco workers not skilled in the art of plastering. With companies like this you will end up with a wall that is strong, follows specifications, but is not aesthetically appealing. Usually commercial  stucco  jobs are supervised and companies forced to use strong and proper materials-- note that THERE IS NO QUALITY CONTROL ON BEAUTY, WALL STRAIGHTNESS, MARKINGS ect!!!!! 

 Residential eifs projects DO NOT HAVE INSPECTIONS AND SUPERVISIONS AT ALL!! -- You are in the hands of the contractor you hire! In most scenarios you get job with overly-thin materials, missing stucco components and poor finish quality, which may develop problems in as soon as a year, causing you to have to REDO you EIFS  stucco or start painfull and ugly repairs which in the end will result in total redo if you are very demanding. You need properly installed components, and a smooth, uniform stucco finish coat. With other contractors, having your job done like this is like buying the winning lottery ticket. When was the last time you had a winner? There are very few companies capable of delivering this, perhaps 4-5 out of 300.

You are lucky to have found one of the few who are capable of doing a QUALITY stucco job.

2) ASK your prospective stucco contractor for jobs they did 3 (usually older jobs already showed their deffects and problems) or more years ago, then GO AND SEE THEM IN PERSON.If they show you a brand new job -just finished dont buy it - new stucco jobs still did not show their problems!! , Do not skip this, put the extra effort in and go see the house. Ask the home owner if the contractor you were talking to is the one they used -- if they had a pleasant experience they will more than gladly share it with you and may even give you tips as to what to expect. This can save you thousands of DOLLAR$! Try to get 2-3 references.Make sure that the stucco job was done by this particular contractors-(there are  tricks here involved sometime!!)

I will be more than happy to provide as many references as you would like to investigate.

3) When at the reference stucco jobs, look at the finish coat for trowel markings or non-uniform areas. You will notice small circles/curves, and a "lumpy wall" -- this is particularly noticeable in the mornings and evening when the sun is at the "correct- paralel" angle to the wall. 97% from stucco contractors will tell you this is normal, and they`re right, it is normal -- for POOR QUALITY WORK. The imperfections in the stucco are there because the workers did not take time or did not have the skill to sand and level the surface prior to plastering it. The contractor saves money on the labor and materials side this way!

 We rasp and level the foam 3 times longer than my competitors (this is absolutely essential) with special ,my design tools - this also depends from foam thickness!!.  if you have bad carpentry  (or brick)and choose to go with thin foam  ,  no one can make you the stucco wall straight!!Straightness has its limits too Untill now this operation is done by hand only- there is no machine or any guided tooll invented that can automatically  rasp and send the walls!!

We plaster with the  long special tools required to do a QUALITY job and a way that only few know how to do.. While this takes me bit longer (example--let say any other company gives you 3 weeks to complete ,, my time for the same job will be 4 weeks), it is essential to give you a smooth, consistent, properly textured stucco finish coat -- which, in the end, is all you can see from your thousands of dollars of investment!

4) One of the worst thing can happen to your stucco  house is to be SUB-CONTRACTED to un-experienced workers or other smaller companies.Note that allot of small companies work only sub-contracting jobs from the bigger ones!!. This is a BAD practice from usually the biggest stucco companies.Commercial jobs are always more desirable than residential. So Mostly from them prefer always commercial jobs , but they never give away any small jobs that they do not want,, to others,, THOSE JOBS they usually SUB-CONTRACT to others giving them much lower price from the one they asked from you the owner and therefore taking the difference into their pockets doing nothing and the subcontractor giving you a cheap and usually bad job. If i had to do stucco at my house i would  write amendment to the contract about this issue and ask him to sign it!! 

5) Mouldings vary a lot in price -- cheap mouldings made on site or by people in their basements use an extremely thin cementums coating, or skip on the mesh which makes them stronger. They will crack and peal within months. Cheap stucco contractors  use cheap mouldings to save money!
My moulding suppliers are one of the largest and PROVEN, with certification from the major EIFS manufacturers!

Check the corners and joins of the stucco mouldings -- these imperfections will be just as blatant on the home you are looking at as yours.
Hopefully this revealing insight from an insider has opened your eyes to the state of the EIFS industry and construction and renovation in general. You now have a few tools to decide who you want to HIRE, and who you want to FIRE.

WARRANTY 

When hiring someone to do your EIFS stucco  other important question their WARRANTY (exactly what is included in the warranty!! ) - More you have, more likelly they are good and will deliver you if not BEATY with straight walls , at least strong and long lasting walls free of troubles . Since i developed this web site many  stucco competitors copied  very much my ideas  , but they are far behind what i can offer you

Mostly from all stucco eifs companies avoid giving you warranty  of substance. They will give you warranty on NOT IMPORTANT parts. JUST like a "BIG BALLON filled with air

Please read carefully and remember this: many competitors out there will NOT give you warranty of these VERY IMPORTANT conditions below :

1) EFFLORESCENCE ,,this it is NOT  normal stucco condition at all  ""Many described it as NORMAL CONDITION!! "" this is comming like white powder or color on top of your stucco- - this is very dangerous and bad , Many competitors WILL NOT GIVE YOU WARRANTY for this condition

MY WARRANTY COVERS EFFLORESCENCE IN WRITTEN!!

2) STUCCO FADING --  Many competitors will avoid giving you warranty  for this not important condition,, usually using very cheap materials. All the biggest suppliers  finish coat will fade a bit over 20 years, but any material on direct sun light will fade as well-, Good quality stucco finish fades very little - you can not even notice it over 20-25 year.  

MY WARRANTY COVERS ANY FADING IN WRITTEN!!

3) Pilling off finish or plaster-(falling off), bubbles in the middle of walls  --  Many stucco competitors will avoid even talking about it.. 

4)  CRACKS - THIS IS MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL!! This condition usually creates condition 1 and 3,, %99 from competitors  will never give you any warranty  for  stucco CRACKS  or MINOR CRACKS- THAT`S THE WAY THEY DESCRIBE THEM  - !!what is the definition of minor? - this is absolutelly not to happen!!. - water goes inside the stucco  walls and damage occur very quickly,when they occur you need to inform contractor immediatelly for repair  -IF IT IS WRITTEN IN THE WARRANTY!!

MY WARRANTY COVERS ANY CRACKS IN WRITTEN!!

After reading all this would like you not to get impression that stucco always has a problems - This is not true.In all my jobs  done in the past I did not have EVEN ONE repair- believe it or not!!. STUCCO EIFS system is VERY durable, money saving from cooling and heating,rises the value of your  older home considerably if EXECUTED PROPERLY!!