LESLIE: Pete in California has some walls that are cracking up. What can we help you with?
PETE: Hi. I have a stucco house that’s about 15 years old and we want to have it painted – actually, I want it painted. But where the sun shines on those windows …
TOM: OK.
PETE: … there are diagonal cracks going out at the bottom of each corner and I was thinking about getting either a rasp or some type of plaster (ph) file and I don’t know if I should widen that up and put stucco over it again or is there a better type of product like a caulk that will accept paint that won’t shrink.
TOM: Well, alright. I would not try to patch those with more stucco. That crack area which is adjacent to the bottoms of windows or, really, any of the window corners or above the corners and doors, that’s pretty much where the wall moves; it’s expanding, it’s contracting, it’s shifting. So if you patch that with more stucco material, even if you widen out the crack, it’s going to crack again. I would simply suggest that you use an exterior-grade latex caulk that’s going to be paintable – not silicone but a latex caulk that’s going to be paintable –
PETE: OK.
TOM: – and just paint it. Because this way it’ll expand and contract with the house and it won’t open up again.
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