Stucco Siding: How It's Built and What to Expect

What Stucco Siding Is

Traditional stucco is portland cement plaster: portland cement, sand, lime and water, mixed on site and troweled on wet. It hardens into one continuous surface, with no boards or seams for weather to work into.

How it goes on depends on the wall underneath:

• Concrete block. Stucco bonds straight to block, so it goes on in two coats, without lath or building paper. Most Florida homes are block. In Fort Lauderdale, for example, 98.6% of single-family homes on the 2026 Florida Department of Revenue tax roll have concrete or block walls.
• Wood frame. Stucco can't bond to plywood or OSB, so it goes on over a water-resistive barrier and metal lath, in three coats, with a weep screed at the bottom where water drains out. Frame walls show up on newer homes, additions, second stories and gable ends.

Stucco Layers at a Glance

The 7/8 inch for three-coat stucco over lath comes from ASTM C926, the standard the Florida Building Code points to for portland cement plaster. The code's Section R703.7 covers the rest: the lath, the barrier, the weep screed and the time each coat cures.

Three Kinds of Stucco Systems

Traditional three-coat stucco

The original method, and still the standard for frame walls. The scratch coat goes on first and is raked with grooves so the next coat grips. The brown coat builds the wall flat and true. The finish coat adds the color and texture, from smooth to sand to heavier troweled looks. Each coat is kept damp while it cures, which takes days, not hours, so a three-coat job runs a couple of weeks from lath to finish.

One-coat stucco

A one-coat system replaces the scratch and brown coats with a single fiber-reinforced base coat, about 3/8 inch thick, over the same barrier and lath, then a finish coat. These are proprietary products, installed under the maker's evaluation report rather than the general three-coat method. QUIKRETE's One Coat Fiberglass Reinforced Stucco, for example, goes on over wire fabric or metal lath at 3/8 inch. Our guide to 1-coat vs. 3-coat stucco compares the two.

EIFS (synthetic stucco)

EIFS, short for exterior insulation and finish system, looks like stucco but isn't cement plaster. The EIFS Industry Members Association describes it as an insulation board fastened to the wall, covered with a base coat reinforced with glass fiber mesh and a textured finish coat. Today's systems are "EIFS with drainage," with an air and water barrier and a drainage plane behind the foam, and EIMA calls that "the predominant EIFS system in use today."

EIFS repairs use different materials than cement stucco, so it helps to know which one a home has before any work starts. The original plans, the builder or a contractor who sees the wall can tell you.

How Stucco Holds Up in Florida

Stucco's strengths suit Florida:

• No rot and no termite food. Cement plaster doesn't rot, and termites can't eat it.
• Seamless. One continuous surface, with no laps or boards for wind-driven rain to get behind.
• Low upkeep. A wall with a colored finish coat doesn't need regular painting.

And it has two things to keep an eye on:

• Hairline cracks. Cement plaster is rigid, and small cracks come with it. The Stucco Manufacturers Association says the occasional hairline crack "is not detrimental, nor should it be considered a defect." Our guide to stucco crack repair products matches each kind of crack to a fix.
• The joints. Where stucco meets windows, doors and trim, the sealant does the work, and it wears out faster than the stucco. Checking those joints every year or two catches gaps early.

On frame walls, the barrier and the weep screed are what keep water that gets behind the stucco moving down and out. That's why a stucco job on a frame wall is only as good as the layers no one sees once it's finished.

Painted or Colored Stucco

New stucco can carry its color in the finish coat, so it never needs paint. Once a stucco wall has been painted, though, it stays a painted wall: new paint goes over the old. For painted stucco, painters use masonry paints made for it, often acrylic or elastomeric, which let the wall breathe and stretch a little over fine cracks.

Watch Stucco Go On

This video from QUIKRETE shows a stucco wall going up, coat by coat:

Video: "How to Install Stucco" by QUIKRETE on YouTube. Products and thicknesses vary by system; follow the Florida code and the product's instructions.

Before You Hire a Stucco Contractor

The price of stucco siding depends on the wall type, the square footage, the height and access, the system and the finish. The only way to know is to have the walls seen in person. Questions worth asking:

• Is the wall block or frame, and which system are you proposing: three-coat, one-coat or EIFS?
• On a frame wall, which water-resistive barrier and lath go under the stucco, and where does the weep screed go?
• Who pulls the permit, and when is the lath inspection?
• What finish and color are in the price, and is paint included?
• Is the scope and price in writing?

Your local Stucco HQ contractor sees the walls in person and puts a free quote in writing. See how a stucco installation job runs, start to finish.

Frequently asked questions