Cementitious vs Acrylic stucco, Acrylic stucco is a term for Synthetic stucco
Acrylic Stucco or Traditional Cementitious Stucco Siding
Hello Everyone, in this simple explanation video, I try to explain the most common difference’s between these two stucco finishes.
Cementitious or Acrylic stucco, Acrylic stucco is a term for often used for Synthetic stucco which means the same thing.
Either finish coat can be applied over a cementitious base coat.
Cementitious color finishes are portland cement plaster mixed with colors and other additives such as plastics or lime, these color coat finishes are like a red brick as they keep their color forever, as the colors are integrated in the finish coat.
For this reason a brick will darken when wet and when dryer conditions occur (sunlight and or wind) will turn back to it’s original color.
There is a similar situation on a home when it rains and has a cementitious color finish it darken then lighten when dryer conditions occur, (Maintenance Free Walls)
O.K., now take Acrylic stucco finishes, Acrylic stucco and or Synthetic Stucco, (same product different names)
Acrylic finish coat stucco cost more, plus a primer is necessary for the finish coat, usually company that the acrylic stucco is purchased from has their own specific brand of primer they recommend prior to the finished acrylic stucco.This primer is rolled onto the surface of the cement base coat or what we call the brown coat.
Acrylic’s are harder to apply cost more but flex more than conventional cementitious color finishes, these product don’t darker when wet either as they are made of Acrylic paint, colors, sand and or other additives.
They usually cost about 3 time more than cementitious or traditional color finishes.(cementitious)
Lastly Acrylic stucco finish coats are mostly sand, thats right, you pay a premium for sand 🙂
Kirk Giordano Plastering Inc.
http://www.StuccoPlastering.com
Acrylic vs Cementitious stucco, Synthetic stucco
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https://youtu.be/xPvm5BUm5-8
Cementitious or Acrylic stucco, Acrylic stucco is a term for Synthetic stucco,
Acrylic and or Synthetic stucco or Cementitious stucco, acrylic stucco, acrylic plastering, Acrylic or Cementitious stucco, Synthetic stucco, Acrylic Stucco or Traditional Cementitious Stucco Siding
hey kirk, i'm rendering my back garden wall scratch and brown, what thickness should the scratch and brown each be
from the UK
Hi Mo Khan from the UK, typically the thickness over paper with wire is 7/8 for the finished product.
3/8 for the scratch,
3/8 for the brown coat, and a final
1/8 for the finish coat.
If you're going over cinder block make sure you add enough cement plaster so that when it rains the grout does not show through, usually 1/2 is enough, but if not sure go thicker.
Best wishes and have a Fantastic New Year! Kirk Giordano’s DIY plastering tips
thanks kirk
Hi Kirk, thanks for all the great tips & sharing your expertise! I'd sent you a message a week ago & was wondering if you had received it. Looking forward to more of your videos.
Thanks,
Steve H.
Hello Noreast Whips, thank you, man, I get a lot of e-mails, I may have received it but spaced it or it could have gone into the old spam column, try my personal at kirkgiordano@gmail.com
best wishes and thanks for watching.
kirk giordano plastering
we used that acrylic before in yellow and another in light yellow like a mustard looks real well and like 7 years down the line i have seen it up close it still looks the same clean no moss.But man it is very hard to use but lucky we live in a colder climate and it is a little easier as it wont dry as fast i find it easy to finish but hard to apply and clean of tools windows etc. but as you say we used a primer from the same company great video and finish done here well done
Hello again Mac Plastering, thank you, these darn acrylic's do require some time in, I hate getting beat up and estimating the weather.
Cheers, and have a Fantastic New Year! Kirk Giordano’s DIY plastering tips
I couldn't believe it when you first picked up the acrylic sample and flexed it and it cracked. It looks like you were a little surprised also. We use a lot of Senergy and Sto and I've never been able to crack their samples. Nice project for you though! Keep on trucking Kirk.
Evening Spencer kelly, I was sort of surprised too, I almost threw that sample away for screwing up my video,
but it was cold that morning and most acrylic's samples will snap in that kind of weather.
BTW, I just used senergy on a job that we are planning to post later this week.
Cheers, and have a Fantastic New Year! Kirk Giordano’s DIY plastering tips
Kirk you deserve all the likes you ROCK
Hello Darwin Dude, thank you,
Cheers,
Kirk giordano
kirk too bad that i live in montreal cause if i didn't & lived in your hood i would probably ask you for a job i love doing that stuff i used to do a lot of parging would be fun to learn something new. oh by the way great vids
@mario d.c Hello mario in Montreal Canada, thank you.
Thanks for the bone, we call what we do here plastering but I hear the term parging often.
Cheers
kirk giordano plastering
How much area covered before u put expansion joint mesh ?? I know that in corners nit rule of thumb on mesh joint ??
@o flores Hi Flores, as a rule if were going to use any mesh it is applied the day before so it has a chance to dry,
Cheers!
kirk giordano plastering
Hey Kirk, thanks for the video. I have been trying to figure out what to do on my outdoor kitchen, and I think you just answered the question for me. Since I have a bar, and people sit around it, and they kick it by accident, I am pretty sure the more flexible acrylic is the best option. This is a really small total area, so the cost difference is not really relevant. Also thanks for the info RE the primer. I have cement board and was going to use mesh tape and thinset over the joints. Is that the correct method? Thanks!
Great vids guys, by no means am I a stucco guy or even in the construction business, as a matter of fact I work on centrifuges. I just happened to have a small area on my house to do and even though I'm done I still watch your vids because they are informative and good content. Excellent channel!
Morning MyKHiller Hobbies, dude, thank you,
I like your style,
cheers,
kirk giordano plastering
What is the best paint to use after 10 years of aging would you use reg. latex, or would you use elastomeric … the property is 2 blocks off the ocean in Jaco Costa Rica…
Good Evening Balance dude, I also left you a phone message, i regards to your condo, I would call the same manufacturer of the original acrylic applied to this condo, and use their acrylic primer myself.
FYI, often with the original finishes they last almost forever, meaning sure all colors fade but the material will stay put,
Light pressure washing may bring it back to life if there's an accumulation of dust,dirt, and or other debe staining it, plus you would have to do this anyway if you were going to paint.
FYI, all of us here at the giordano plastering channel we wish to thank all our subscribers and those of you who accidentally stumble on our channel a happy and prosperous new year
kirk giordano plastering
Thanks you are a huge help!
Kirk, we're building a Tiny House and would like to keep the weight down as much as possible. Our structure is steel and Zip Panels. Is it possible to use acrylic stucco directly over the Zip panels which have the green waterproof membrane?
Howdy Bob Dude, no, the acrylic in this video are only a finish coat specifically designed to be applied to a stucco wall or brown coat.
You can however go with an EFIS system, "styrofoam" and just a quarter inch of stucco rather than the solid 1 inch.
If it were me I'd use the Dry-Vit plastering system.
Live long and plaster
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Hello Kirk. I live in Southern California and BMI is not available. Would you please recommend several high-quality acrylic stucco brands that would be similar to BMI. Thank you.
Good afternoon Tim, Stuco Flex a leader in the industry, dry-vit or Carsons.
if you don't need much check with Amazon, ofter their is free shipping.
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I've used both Merlex and STO Corp. acrylic stucco and have had good results with both. Merlex is in Orange.
STO is sold through various distributors i think riverside is where we go pick it up.
Good Evening Kevin, Carsons, BMI, dry-vit stucco-flex sto, are all good,
Live long and plaster
Kirk and Jason Giordano
Wasn't ,Cementitious a Roman Senator ?
Good afternoon Albert, no idea, but we have a few senators here that should have the name mud.
Live long and plaster
teaching repairing your number 1 investment your home
Hahaha… nice one…. lol
What materials can I use to glue foam to exterior block walls for synthetic stucco. The reason I ask is, my house is made of block wall and wanted the extra R value is insulation from the exterior wall. I live in Phoenix…
Good Evening Oscar Dude,, I would choose poly bond made by LaHabra sold at the professional material yards myself.
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Hello Kirk; Thank you again for sharing your expertise. Was just wondering,are elastomeric better yet than finishes the acrylic ? Thank you. Fred
Good Morning Fred dude, yes, this is the reason they cost so much more, type in stucco-flex acrylics
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Hell Kirk; thank you for your reply. You are the best,so knowledgeable and so willing to share your knowledge. Thank you ! Fred
Thank you very much for all your help,you are awesome !
Thanks again
Evening Grant dude, no worries
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Hi Kirk, love the videos
What would you do to recoat over existing 70 year old cementisous ? Primer then base coat, then finish?
Or just put a layer of foam and go all synthetic ?
Howdy old school, I would pressure wash then apply primer no basecoat you already have a base coat, then finish.
FYI, you cant install foam over a house that has a stucco finish on.
Too many reasons such as paper and foam won't adhere instead the concrete nails would detroy these materials.
Can you tear off the stucco then do synthetic or styrofoam, way to much work, when its' best to go over what you have.
Naturally, this takes experience, I have done this about 20 times myself.
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Thanks for the info, so you would clean, prime then skim coat a synthetic over the old style stucco? As for the existing stucco I could remove it all but roof peaks and Electrical masts are my obstacles.
I got some t1-11 siding on my moms house in florida.. There is some cracks and water damage near the bottom and some damage under the window with soggy drywall inside our Florida home where water comes in during heavy wind and rain. I watched a video called "to vent or not to vent" and it shed light onto some interesting ideas about airflow. I did a stucco job once and generally I like to do what I can and pro hire help as a last resort just to save money and learn new things. Does anyone recommend any particular advice for the type of stucco that would be good for me? I really like these videos even though I am just a mover/tinkerer/mostly a butt scratcher with ideas bigger than myself. Keep up the good work and I highly respect the hard work and respect you show to your fellow tradesfolk.
Morning Nik, attach weep or drip screed where necessary and you should not have an issue of dry rot.
Peace, love, and happiness to all
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Hi Kirk – we're doing a smooth float acrylic (dryvit) color coat down in San Jose. We've got some cracking in the brown coat and got some recommendations to do a fiber mesh layer over the entire brown coat. The mesh will be embedded in a dryvit genesis base coat. Is this necessary and will it prevent future cracking in the color coat? If we didn't do the fiber mesh, would the brown coat cracks show through the color coat?
Good evening Mark Lee, I have never had an issue with Dry-Vit cracking on my prior jobs, as Dry-Vit is one of the best Acrylics on the market.
I used it on my own home.
One can spend the extra cash to mesh an entire home, as yes it's better, but most folks don't have the extra 15k to spend for this luxury that may not make a difference, except for a better nights sleep.
FYI, If you have hydrated the base coat sufficiently and with enough time it should have cured properly thus new cracks should not occur.
Best wishes,
Mastering Plastering for the beginner’s to the experts
Thanks for the reply Kirk and appreciate all the videos you and your family spend the time in putting together. BTW – do you ever do any work in the southbay, San Jose/Saratoga area?
Damn Kirk. Anytime I search anything with the word “stucco” your videos come up. You got this shit sewed up on here.
Morning Bac, it does seem that way, was not intentional, but we accept this.
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Hey Kirk, what’s the most durable, life lasting stucco process, you recommend for a residential home ?
Morning Max, I'd recommend a base coat, with either a cementitious or acrylic stucco finish.
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another beautiful home….looking to get that same look on my home
Morning Joe, hire someone with time in and of course, you to can have whatever finish you desire.
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Hi Kirk,
I heard that the synthetic/acrylic stucco created nightmare problems during the 90's with moisture retention, resulting in interior frame rot and molding, and thousands in damage. Have they improved on this with the synthetic stucco or is this still a problem ?
Are cement stucco free of problems ?
They tried to apply EIFS (synthetic stucco over Styrofoam) with no drainage plane, so if it leaked, water got in but not out. I believe code now requires a drainage plane for EIFS. Traditional stucco over wood-frame should also have a drainage plane, but I've heard of problems from inadequate water barriers, too much perforation of the barriers and from not enough room under the stucco for drainage. I believe code now requires 2 layers of tar paper and staples only on stud lines in many places.
Another great and informative video. Thank you for sharing your expertise .
Morning Fred, thank you
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while this is true, to an extent, the real difference is that you shouldn't be putting in what i would call a "thin coat" of cementitious stucco without being on a rigid backing. frankly, i wouldn't call out the acrylic without a mesh and isolation system unless it was on a rigid backing. by rigid backing i mean a cast in place concrete wall, or maybe CMU with isolation. general good practice is a 2" stucco in a situation with flexible backing. you can try to just use pigmented on the surface, but the application is difficult, as there should not be a cold joint.
Morning Asa, I see you have been working with the Dry-Vit system too long, there are other uses for acrylics.
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You never mentioned that acrylic doesnt breath
Morning David, some acrylics do indeed breath.
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Awesome love the all the insight brother in Hawaii the industry standard is the acrylic finish so I love alot watching you do all the cementious finishes. Keep up the great work
Morning C & S Drywall, no worries it's our pleasure.
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What a wonderful speaker and teacher.
I've learned so much watching and listening. I'm almost ready to tackle my little home job. Thanks brother
Evening Chris, thank you, you can do it or learn by trying.
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Well I did it. Used grout to skim coat and figured I saved the "Family " about $1600 for the job. The hardest part was the prep work. I m happy and Thanks again.
You are good there no question about it, anyone that says different truly has no clue.
Evening Rhyme. man, I sho-nuff like your style. thank you. Bringing peace, love, and harmony back to the world of plastering. Sound Plastering tips for the DIY’er, apprentice plasterer or the Plastering experts
These videos are wonderful. Is it correct that acrylic is only the finish coat, the scratch and brown coats are cementious—probably a Quickrete fiberglass product or the like? I appreciate anyone who can respond. Mike
Kirk, does this BMI Acrylic Stucco work over previous painted cinder block exterior? I've been powerwashing my house (entirely built from cinder block) over and over in preparation for an Acrylic Stucco Render. Any suggestions?
Happy holidays Depp, of course, Now only will BMI acrylic stucco adhere to any surface as long as it's clean.
So will all the rest of the acrylic stuccos.
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anything that can go right over rigid foam board?
Hi there. Thank you for this informative video. Perhaps you can let me know if I can use this stucco product over foam? I’m in Canada and have spent 3 months carving out faux armour stone for my back yard. I’m terrified of using cement in case it cracks.
This is EIFS finish over stucco. Look up E.I.F.S. and it will show you what you are looking for.
Okay, this spawns another question- I am in the Houston area where the air is mostly 90 percent humidity, and where it rains a lot. Also, the ground here has a lot of clay, so buildings move a lot. Would the traditional finish be a good choice, or the acrylic be better for this environment? Mildew is also an issue here. We regularly power spray mildew off most buildings. What about this versus painting?Is painting ever a good option, or just something people do? -Steve from The American Garage
Painting is always a good option, and if your homes and buildings and always flexing, I would use a product out of Sherwin Williams called loxon xp. Its ideal for stucco.
Is there a difference in R value?
You are a motivator . ! Great everything
too bad you didn't answer the difference between Acrylic Stucco VS Traditional Stucco, Synthetic stucco Vs regular stucco and another term you introduced "cementitious."
Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
My pleasure!
I heard there is flexible stucco now that won’t crack. Is this true?
Hey Kirk. I had my house done in omega acrylic custom color finish. It’s awesome but is it normal if it gets scuffed for the primer to show underneath? I’m assuming cementitious finishes are deeper and more impervious. Just curious cuz it was done 5 years ago and I have the whole front of house to do now and not sure if I could go to cement finish now and then just paint to match acrylic.
@Kirk Giordano plastering Inc. Gotcha! Thanks for the reply. I Always go to you when I need answers.
@Orrphan Cool Beans Daddieo.