Stucco & Exterior Work in Valley Village
Valley Village stucco repair and re-stucco that starts with how water leaves the wall: an open weep screed, clear grade and dry framing behind it.
Water that slips behind stucco needs a way out, and on a Valley Village house that exit is the perforated metal strip along the bottom of the wall. Rain that gets past the plaster runs down the building paper and leaves through the holes in that strip. Plaster smeared over it, soil piled against it or a patio poured too high closes the exit, and the wall holds water. If the lot slopes toward the house, yard runoff adds more.
Opening the outlet
The first job is to find the screed and see whether it drains. We clear soil and mulch, look for plaster bridging its holes and check the metal for rust or crushed sections. Where a concrete walk or patio sits against the wall, a narrow gap is cut or a flashed edge is fitted so the outlet stays open. A screed that cannot be saved is cut out with a band of plaster above it and replaced, then the paper is lapped over its flange before new base coats go on.
Water arriving from above
Not all water starts at the bottom. A gutter that overflows at a corner, a window head with no flashing, or a roof edge that meets the wall without a kickout sends water behind the plaster higher up. It travels down the paper and arrives at the base, where it shows as stains and soft plaster. Each stain is followed upward to where the water got in, and that point is repaired too, so the base repair is not undone from above. Those upper fixes are written into the same scope as the base work.
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Fine, scattered cracks come from plaster shrinking. Movement below shows up as an angled crack running from a corner of an opening, a stepped line near the slab, or a door that has started rubbing. When we see those, the stem wall and floor get checked for level, and any structural repair is quoted ahead of the stucco.
When moisture has rotted the paper or framing across much of a wall, or the plaster has let go of its lath, the wall comes down to the studs and is rebuilt. A single damaged spot with dry, sound layers around it is patched and matched to the texture nearby, once the leak behind it is fixed.
The base gets the most attention on this kind of job. The screed is uncovered and cleared or replaced, plaster bridging the holes is cut back, and soil is lowered so the strip sits clear of the ground. The grade is then shaped to fall away from the house, and sprinkler heads are turned so they stop wetting the plaster.
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