Hole patching · Phoenix, AZ
Stucco Hole & Patch Repair
Ladder dings, old dish mounts, removed light fixtures, and holes a contractor left behind. We patch through the lath so the wall reads flat again.
The problem
Holes in stucco are usually somebody else's leftovers. A satellite dish came down. A light got moved, a hose bib got shifted, or a ladder went through the wall.
An open hole is a doorway. Water runs in behind the coat, and in older Phoenix neighborhoods wasps and roof rats will take a hole in a shaded wall and make it a home.
A real patch goes back through every layer: paper, wire, base coat, finish. Foam and caulk crammed in the opening looks fine for a month and falls out the first time the wall gets wet.
- Common causes
- Old dish mounts, moved fixtures, impact damage
- Patch depth
- Rebuilt through paper, wire, and base coat
- Best for
- Openings from a coin to about a foot across
- Finish
- Textured and feathered to the original wall
Our fix
What a proper hole patch involves
- 01
Square the opening
We cut the ragged edge back to clean lines. A square patch hides far better than a round blob because the eye follows straight edges.
- 02
Repair the weather barrier
New building paper gets shingled in behind the opening, lapped over the existing layer so water sheds down and out instead of behind it.
- 03
Tie in new lath
Fresh wire mesh goes in and gets lapped and tied to the existing lath. Without it the patch has nothing to key into and it will crack in a ring.
- 04
Build the base coat back
Base material fills to just under the surface around it. That leaves the finish coat room to land flush instead of sitting proud of the wall.
- 05
Texture and blend
We match the finish and feather it past the patch line. Then we color the area so the repair does not read as a bright square.
Why the wire matters more than the mud
Most failed patches we're called out to fix have the same story. Someone filled the hole with a bag mix straight against the sheathing and skipped the wire.
Stucco is not glue. It holds because it wraps around galvanized mesh and locks in mechanically. A patch with no lath is a plug sitting in a hole, and the first big temperature swing pops a ring crack right around it.
Tying new wire into old wire takes an extra half hour. That half hour is the difference between a patch you forget about and one you call somebody about next year.
Other repairs
Seeing more than one of these?
- Woodpecker Hole RepairGila woodpecker damage patched and the wall made unappealing to the next bird.
- Hairline Crack RepairThin spider cracks sealed and texture-matched before water finds its way in.
- Water Damage RepairMonsoon and leak damage traced to its source, then rebuilt from the weather barrier out.
Questions
What homeowners ask us
Send us a photo of the wall and we'll tell you what we're looking at before anyone drives out.
Anything from a nail hole to about a foot across is a straight patch. Past that, or when holes cluster on one wall, we re-coat the whole side so the color stays even.
Full services
The bigger jobs behind this repair
Ready when you are
Let's finish your exterior right.
New custom build, a full re-stucco, or a repair that needs to disappear into the wall? Send your plans or your address and get a straight, no-pressure bid.
Family-owned · Licensed & insured · Arizona ROC #356836 · Serving all of Arizona