Stucco can cause a lot of rot on houses. Bur it's not the stucco's fault. The culprit is what's behind the stucco. In this video, you'll learn three solutions to stucco rot regardless of your climate. It's not the stucco itself, its what's behind it and how it's installed!Stucco is actually a very durable assembly - it's essentially a sidewalk on the outside of your house, but it's very hard to keep water on the outside.However, as Matt Risinger mentions in the video, It's not about keeping water out, it's about letting water out. - David Nicastro, PE.Risinger walks through three different assembly options for stucco homes. A good, baseline assembly calls for house wrap with small gap technology. You'll see Risinger use Tyvek stucco wrap, which is standard house wrap with wrinkles. The 3D dimples maintain a drainage plane even after the stucco is installed.Remember, windows contribute the most amount of water behind the stucco. Be sure your windows are installed using the highest standards. The next level assembly is great for any climate. You can opt for a better house wrap (Risinger recommends a peel and stick, such as Delta Vent SA or Huber ZipWall, both of which are more airtight). This assembly adds a much larger air gap thanks to a polyethylene dimple mat with a filter, which allows for two air gaps - in front of waterproofing and right behind stucco. Finally, you need to add a vent on top and bottom to promote drying.The last assembly is for climate zones 1 to 3 only. You'll see a silver-faced material called AlumiFlash by Poly Wall. One added benefit of AlumiFlash is it can be exposed up to two years, which may very well happen on large custom-built homes. Another added bonus is the AlumiFlash adds additional waterproofing.In this assembly, you'd use two layers of asphalt impregnated tar paper to form your air gap. Any water that gets through the stucco will hit the tar paper and run down to the bottom. Why 2 layers? Stucco bonds to the top layer, which will then crinkle up to create a drainage plane.Watch the full video to see each assembly in detail.
