Stucco Inspection and Moisture Testing for Portland Homes

When to get a stucco inspection

An inspection comes before the repair is decided. The Northwest Wall & Ceiling Bureau (NWCB) says “A comprehensive evaluation of the exterior plaster should be conducted by qualified persons prior to making any decisions for final scope of repairs.” Reasons to ask for one:

• You are buying a stucco or EIFS house. See buying a stucco house in Portland below.
• The finish is bubbling or blistering. Sika’s repair procedure: “Blistering or bubbling of stucco finish is often caused by water that has gotten behind the finish.”
• There are wide cracks, or a lot of them. NWCB: “excessive cracking or wide cracks could be an indication of some other problems within the structure or the plaster membrane and should be investigated by qualified persons.” For questions about cracks, Sika recommends “engaging a qualified engineering firm for further investigation.”
• Water is getting in around a window, door, vent or deck. These penetrations are where NWCB says incidental moisture gets past the stucco.
• It has simply been a while. Dryvit: “All building exteriors need to be cleaned and inspected periodically for damage and deterioration.” NWCB adds that sealants “should be inspected every few years and replaced at the first sign of failure”.

What opening the wall involves

Where water is suspected, an evaluation can mean opening a small part of the wall:

• At an EIFS crack, Dryvit’s procedure is to “cut an approximate 3 in x 3 in (76 mm x 76 mm) square into EIFS at crack location, down to the substrate” and “Verify that the substrate is undamaged and structurally sound.”
• When EIFS is cut out for repair, Sto’s guide notes that “the underlying substrate or water-resistive barrier can be examined”, and that if water has got into the wall assembly “a third-party envelope professional should be retained to evaluate conditions and make the necessary repair recommendations”.
• Around windows in cement stucco, NWCB notes that stucco “is sometimes removed from a building to determine if proper flashing was installed”, and that “It is possible to patch and restore the stucco membrane.”

The sources used for this site describe opening the wall. They do not set out what a surface moisture reading can or cannot prove, so this page does not make claims about one. Ask whoever evaluates your wall what each test they use can show.

EIFS houses

EIFS needs an inspector who knows it. NWCB’s advice to EIFS homeowners: “You should have your home inspected by a qualified EIFS inspector who is familiar with the systems and has some formal training with the products, system, and installation procedures.” It adds that “There is a significant difference between EIFS and stucco, and qualified inspectors understand this and inspect appropriately”, and sets realistic expectations: “An EIFS home can range from no problems to complete removal of the system. Most homes fall in the middle with some remedial repairs in specific areas of the home.” The EIFS repair page covers what happens next.

Keep the inspection and the repair separate if you want independence

NWCB’s advice on EIFS is that “Repairs should be made only by qualified individuals and have no ties with the EIFS inspector.” Oregon law draws a similar line for home inspections: a licensed business that provides home inspector services may not bid to repair a structure it inspected within the 12 months after the inspection (ORS 701.450).

A stucco evaluation arranged through this site is an assessment of the wall by a stucco contractor, made so a repair can be scoped. It is not an Oregon certified home inspection. If you want an assessment from someone with no stake in the repair, arrange one separately, and use the contractor’s evaluation for what it is.

Buying a stucco house in Portland

A general home inspection and a stucco evaluation are different things. Oregon requires home inspectors to be certified by the Construction Contractors Board (ORS 701.445). The certified home inspector’s standard of practice covers “Wall cladding, flashings, and trim”, but tells inspectors to probe where deterioration is suspected “except where probing would damage any finished surface”. The CCB also says a person who “inspects only one component such as roof inspectors” is not a certified home inspector.

So if the house you are buying has stucco or EIFS, a general home inspection may not open the wall. If the finish bubbles, cracks are wide, or windows show signs of water, ask for a stucco or EIFS evaluation before you commit to the purchase, and read the stucco water damage and stucco cracks pages first so you know what you are looking at. If the evaluation finds wet sheathing or framing behind the stucco, that is stucco remediation rather than a patch.

Whoever you hire, check the license first in the Oregon Construction Contractors Board’s license search.