Stucco condition

[Denray]

My son, 300 miles away, is looking at buying this house.

The photos show the siding too close to the flatwork, vents covered by deck, no casing beads, possible leak at roof to chimney. Anything else? The wall sure holds the water.

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[hausdok]

Looks like they didn't install any weep screeds. If I were him, I'd be looking at a different house.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Denray]

Seems like there is one all the way down on that side were the AC is? And probably elsewhere. They just poured a patio up high and close to it on the deck side.[?]

[John Kogel]

There is something not right with the stucco for it to be that absorbent, IMO. I see wet stucco fairly often but the top coat should shed water, not soak it up like that. He may want to look into having the stucco refinished professionally. JMO.

If there is a masonry chimney behind the stucco it won't be too badly damaged, or maybe it is time to pull the chimney down and go to a direct vent gas fireplace.

The heat pump is a plus, as long as it has life left in it. 15 years is the norm for the outdoor unit, but they can last longer, and they can be rebuilt.

I would hope there is no trouble in the crawlspace. Looks like a sturdy little house that needs some TLC.

[Marc]

Looking at the stucco makes me wonder what other work may have been done by mindless contractors or a DIYer.

Marc

[Tom Raymond]

Pic # 1 is a framed chase with a metal cap. It (the cap) is leaking as badly as the flashing at the roof.

Look closely at pic #2. There are two horizontal cracks on the right wall. From left to right about 1/3 of the way across and from right to left a few inches lower and more than 2/3 across.

Pic #3 the windows are leaking.

What does a stucco replacement cost these days?

[Scottpat]

No diverter flashing at that chimney. I would bet a dollar that that the chimney chase is nothing but mulch on the other side of the stucco. I think I would have to tell my child to pass on this bargain... []

[Denray]

Thank you, thank you very much. Pretty much what I was thinking. Really appreciate all your comments.

[kurt]

Yeah, mulch.

Not worth dinking around with.

A restucco in Chicago, on a house that size, would be about $15,000 entry level, maybe more depending on all the stuff one discovers when it's stripped.

[John Dirks Jr]

Yeah, mulch.

Thats good. I like that.