Hello - I am a homeowner in the San Jose, CA area with a question on a proposed stucco repair and any advice would be appreciated.

2+ year old 3-coat color-integrated cement stucco installation is badly cracked. Mostly many hairline cracks running horizontally and vertically, but also some wider diagonal cracks from penetrations. Original installer said he�s never seen anything like it, and says it�s clear that our house has excessive structural movement.

I hired a civil engineer and a �forensic� construction person to check it out, as well as several other stucco contractors that I bribed into taking a look at it. The end result was that there is no sign the house is exhibiting excessive movement, and although the stucco looks unappealing, it seems to be a serviceable installation with a repair for the most impacted walls which would consist of 1) fill in the larger cracks with a flexible bonding agent, 2) cover all the cracks with mesh/bonding agent and 3) cover with another color-coat.

The question is: an acrylic color coat would work best as it is more flexible than a cement color coat. However, then I would have to get the whole house done as it sounds like acrylic and cement color coats just won�t mesh with each other in appearance. Opinions seem to vary on sticking with cement for the additional color coat. Some felt a few more cracks would appear with concrete than acrylic, but the mesh/bonding agent would still absorb most of the stucco movement telegraphing through. A couple of people thought acrylic was really the only way to go. And for appearances sake we prefer the mottled look of concrete.

I know there is a near religious argument going on about whether stucco should be always/never painted, but we would prefer to leave the stucco unpainted if at all possible.

Any opinions or experiences anyone has would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,