I (29F) am buying my first house in southern Ohio. I’m looking at a nice 1925 bungalow that’s been recently flipped and has a 15 year tax abatement, which means all work was permitted and inspected by the city. The first floor of the house is stucco with a concrete foundation that sits several feet above grade. They removed the stucco porch and replaced it with wood and covered the front facade with what looks like vinyl wainscoting.
I know stucco, especially EIFS from the 70s-00s, has a risk of deep water damage and cracking. I can inspect for visual cracks but I have no way of knowing if the Portland cement stucco they would’ve used in 1925 has been patched or coated with EIFS or when it would’ve been done. I plan to ask the seller if they did any work to the stucco or had it inspected, but that won’t tell me anything about prior owners. Plus, if I was flipping houses I wouldn’t inspect stucco unless I had to so I’d have plausible deniability.
I will definitely do a standard home inspection and likely have a structural engineer inspect as well because of the age of the house. Is that sufficient? The seller is unlikely to allow an invasive stucco inspections even if I was willing to pay for one (I’d rather not because they’re expensive).
Thoughts? Is stucco too big a risk to take without a stucco inspection? Should I eliminate the house from my prospects because of the stucco?
My realtor hates stucco and told me from the beginning that she’d never recommend anyone buy a stucco house but she’s protective and would avoid every risk if she could. So now that I’ve done my research I’d like to hear other opinions so I can make an informed decision.
This question came up the other day about a house in Texas, as a Floridian, I was surprised. I’m in SWFL and nearly every house is block exterior walls with stucco. There is nothing wrong with stucco. Now if that house in particular has damages or crappy stucco, sure that can be a problem. But stucco in general is fine.
Stucco is eh. Florida is rainy yes, but Ohio is cold. Cold is way worse for Stucco. Fl stucco and OH stucco is apples and bananas. Is the house in an area with cookie cutter, same builder, same plans properties? If Yes, the easy answer is to drive around and look at houses that look like they were converted back from Stucco. Or call local stucco contractors, see if they’ve done work in that development. Look around windows of the property, note any discoloration, cracks what have ya’s. All that being said, I would always get a stucco inspection and include it with the offer. If the hassle and the budget don’t match, I’d skip the stuccos.
@Arun
All the houses are different but there are several with stucco. What would a stucco conversion look like? All the windows in the house have been replaced so I don’t think I’ll see any indication of water damage but I’ll look. It probably is best to just do the stucco inspection. If they don’t accept my offer because of it, so be it.
@Drew
You’d look around the windows inside and out. The four corners. Water damage and or cracks. You can even do the ‘open close’ test. (You open the windows. You close the window. Was it effortless?). ‘Stucco conversion’ is a game of ‘One of these things is not like the other’ so if the houses around it have similar structure and layout, a few have newer looking stucco, or vinyl siding, or noticeable stucco repairs around windows and door, it could indicate an issue from when they were built or how long they’ve lasted.
You discretely poke something thin and strong, like a screwdriver, underneath the outside window sills. Or just ask the seller to have a stucco inspection done.
Real stucco isn’t the same as the pre-2010ish EIFS. The stucco home in Southern CA that my dad was born into in 1929 is one of the most well-built homes I’ve ever been in. Crappy subdivision houses in my area in the Midwest that were built in the 1990s with EIFS that you…