Traditional stucco · Phoenix, AZ
Traditional Stucco
The three-coat cement system that covers about 80% of Arizona homes. Scratch coat, brown coat, and your finish coat, built to take the desert sun for decades.
The work
Cheap stucco cracks fast in the desert. Hot days and cool nights pull at a wall every 24 hours, and a thin or rushed coat splits within a year.
We build the classic three-coat way. A scratch coat keys into the lath, a thick brown coat gets straightened dead level, and a finish coat in your color and texture seals it all. Each layer cures before the next goes on.
Done right, traditional stucco is hard, fire-resistant, and good for decades. It is the system most Arizona builders still trust, for good reason.
- System
- Three coats: scratch, brown, finish
- Best for
- New builds, re-stucco, custom homes
- Finish
- Your color and texture
- Typical cost
- $5 to $9 per square foot
What's included
What a traditional stucco job includes
Scratch coat keyed into the lath
The first cement layer is raked with horizontal grooves so the next coat grabs hard and never pulls away.
Brown coat straightened level
We float a thick base coat, then pull a straightedge across it so the wall is flat and true before any finish goes on.
Custom finish coat
Santa Barbara, lace, sand, or smooth, in the color you pick. The texture is the part you see, so we match samples before we start.
Crack defense built in
Diamond mesh at every window and corner, expansion joints where the wall needs to move, and mesh embeds in high-stress spots.
Built for the desert, not a catalog
Arizona walls live a hard life. Summer afternoons hit 110, then drop 40 degrees overnight, and that swing works a crack open a little more each day.
We fight it at the build stage. Expansion joints give the wall room to move, diamond mesh ties the weak corners together, and a full-thickness brown coat keeps the surface from going brittle. Skip those steps to save a day and the wall tells on you within a season.
Questions
Good to know before you call
Got a question that isn't here? Call us and we'll give you a straight answer, no pressure.
A correctly built three-coat wall lasts 40 to 50 years with basic upkeep. The finish may want a fresh elastomeric paint every 7 to 10 years to keep its color and shed water.
Keep exploring
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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