Watching industries evolve, expand or wither out has always fascinated me. I believe things do not just happen: events, action, lack of promotion or even complacency occur and this can shift trends. I have been in the stucco business for almost half a century and the changes are nothing less than mind boggling. We tend to believe what we want to hear. I believe that what I did for decades was acceptable but I could be in denial about the real cause of some problems. Not being progressive and unwilling to accept changes in today’s explanation of how stucco works may be true. However, I offer the following perspective as a seasoned veteran in plastering and past project manager for a forensic architecture firm. I live in a house that according to building science experts should have failed decades ago. Yet, the old cement stucco is doing very well and my framing is dry. I know this because I remodeled.
I have heard rumors that conventional stucco over framing cannot work, because we put holes into the building paper to attach the lath and these are conduits for moisture intrusion. When I asked why it worked for decades and only recently became a problem, I am told it is because we build differently today. We are more air tight. While I see changes in the way we build, is this really the issue or just marketing? Are we solving problems that do not exist?