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How To Easily Fix Hairline Cracks In Your Exterior Stucco

27 December 2017

Byron Gutierrez

Stucco can look great on the outside of your home. If you have a stucco exterior though, the one thing that you need to watch out for are hairline cracks on your stucco. A hairline crack is a very thin crack that looks more like a line draw with a marker than a serious gaping crack on the exterior of your home. Hairline cracks are one of the most common types of cracks on stucco homes and also the easiest to deal with.

Supplies

The supplies for fixing hairline cracks on your exterior stucco are pretty simple. The main supply that you need to purchase is caulking that has a silicone base. If you have an extreme rough stucco textured exterior though, you may want to go with a sanded caulk instead. You will also need a caulking gun so that you can use the caulk.

You are going to need to do a little cleaning as well, so make sure that you have access to a bucket, water, a rag and some environmentally friendly dish soap.

As always, be sure to protect yourself with gloves, a mask and protective eye wear.

Clean The Area

The first thing you need to do is clean the hairline crack. Any dirt on the cracked area could interfere with the success of the caulking material. Just wipe down the area with a wet rag or sponge to clean it up.

Open The Caulking

You need to open the caulking correctly. You are going to want to cut the tip of the caulking. You are going to want to cut it at an angle. Make the opening small; this will allow a small amount of caulking to come out and will provide you with the greatest level of control.

Load The Caulking Gun

Once you open the caulking, you need to load the caulking gun. Put the caulking inside of the gun to get it ready to go.

Apply The Caulking

Start at the top of the hairline crack, and squeeze out the caulking. Try to apply a consistent bead without any gaps across the length of the entire crack. After you apply the caulking to the crack, take your gloved finger and spread the caulking out so that the caulking covers the entire crack. Try to keep the caulking over the crack and off the rest of your exterior.

If there is excess caulking on any area, use the rag or sponge from earlier to clean it up. Be sure that you don't wipe away the caulking from crack.

Let the caulking dry, and come back and check and make sure that the caulking has dried properly. Then, apply a second layer of caulking to ensure that the crack is properly sealed.

If you feel that the repair stands out, you can paint over the top of the caulking with the same color as the outside of your home. If this isn't something you're comfortable doing on your own, reach out to professionals from a place like MR. STUCCO MAN.

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