I want to preface this post by saying I live in a part of the country that seldom see stucco exterior. I’m looking at a home for a friend in Phoenix and observed some issues with the stucco on this home and trying to evaluate what I may be seeing. I’ve only been able to see from a distance, but looks like some patch work along horizontal and vertical lines along the homes exterior. Guessing these maybe joints/seams in underlying plywood sheathing or insulated foam board. These lines are consistent In spacing the horizontal lines are about 2 ft centers and uniform height around the exterior.
Is this maybe poor workmanship or signs of delayed maintenance? From my quick research maybe delamination from substrate?
jdeoliveira2
(John Paul de Oliveira, GB-2 #86934 / AB #44580)
2
It does look like an unworkmanlike installation. Close up pictures might help. Here in Abq. cracking, crazing is common on regular stucco. Look for a weep screed at the bottom, sufficient grade to siding clearance. The underlying mesh at the corners can not be seen, but those are typical problem areas, particularly the parapets.
Try sighting along the planar surface from the side. It can be startling to see how much the defects are hidden (full desert sun) or pop out depending upon the lighting. The house in the background? also appears to have a similar stucco pattern.
Expansion joints, or the lack thereof, can be a concern.
Try making a fist and lightly pounding on suspect areas, it will feel and sound as if there is a lack of adequate substrate adhesion, compared to secured fields.
Variations in color/shading and also texture are telltale signs of past repairs. Unable to determine that from the provided pictures due to the angle of the sunlight, it might be slight shadowing. The same picture an hour or two earlier/later would show something different
Steve, unless you have taken the prerequisite certification courses, I suggest you disclaim anything related to EIFS and stucco.
The installation requirements are critical for long-term service life, and they’re not always verifiable after installation; they can change with different manufacturers, with different (but similar) products from the same manufacturer, and with different versions of the same product that change over time from the same manufacturer. Accurate inspection requires research and there’s a ton of liability involved.
Ignore suggestions by others and don’t guess.
It’s not always one system but sometimes systems from different manufacturers are combined.
If you want to take on this specialized inspection, make sure you know what you’re getting into and charge premium money for it because most inspectors don’t know what they’re doing when they include it in a general home inspection. The people I know who know what they’re doing have expensive IR cameras, and have done their homework.
Ron Huffman teaches this for InterNACHI.
Just my 2 cents, that home appears to be Adobe.
Adobe is Spanish for mud-brick. Think of it a Spanish/Mexican American heritage. Materials, Earthen construction.
I added a edited pic. The block lines look typical/usual. It’s the second mud finish that perfects the wall. I consider this unit has a 1 coat system.
Scupper looks great.
Look for serpentine cracking as with any CMU wall assembly. Inspect for horizontal and vertical imperfection. InterNACHI Inspecting Adobe Homes.
