We have received conflicting advice from painting contractors, and I'm hoping for some additional feedback from this forum.

We live in the California Bay Area (so no major temperature swings). We are planning to repaint our 1924 stucco house. The majority of the house is already painted, and we built an addition that has not been painted yet (just stucco). The new stucco has developed some minor hairline cracks, which we would like to cover.

One painter says that we should use an elastomeric paint as a base coat on the entire structure to address these cracks (and any others that might occur) and create a good seal.

A second painter says that we should just patch the offending cracks with elastomeric patching and use standard latex paint for all of the coats. He says there is a risk that moisture trapped in the walls would not be able to escape through the elastomeric and could result in rot.

So who is right? Do people recommend using elastomeric as a full coat?