“Does my house need gutters?”
We have all heard stories about someone who ignored the check engine light in their car.
Movies are absolutely amazing. They begin as screenplays that tell a specific story. Then, a production company gets ahold of it and creates the story they want to tell. Then, the director comes in and tells the story his or her way. Finally, we, the audience, consume the movie, and it may mean something totally different to each one of us. Case in point? Encanto. What a great movie! I couldn’t wait to talk about it with my family as soon as it was over. I so identified with Mirabel, the amazing protagonist who only wants to save Casita, but no one listens to her! I start going on and on about this amazing storyline, that is obviously an effort to validate those of us in the home restoration business. I am imagining that the writer’s parents must have been carpenters or roofers or painters. And why is everyone looking at me like that? Honey? Kids? What amazing music do you speak of? What was so funny in the movie? Come on, let’s review the facts here! Mirabel sees the family home, Casita, falling apart, and tries to tell Abuela. Abuela dismisses her… Is it because she doesn’t believe Mirabel? Nope! It’s because Abuela is scared that it might be true! Abuela doesn’t think about what catastrophe may come if she ignores Mirabel; she just wants everyone in the community to keep believing that Casita is in perfect shape and to maintain the illusion that the magic of Casita will endure forever. But it won’t, will it? Not if we ignore Michael… er, Mirabel. We all love our own little Casitas, and we absolutely want to believe that they will last forever. Let’s be honest, we all have a little Abuela in us too. Bruno represents our visual recognition of what is wrong with our Casita – be it cracks in the stone, wood rotting, or cracks in the stucco. And if someone in the house brings up the dripping gutter? We don’t talk about Bruno! The reality is that we can’t ignore Bruno just because it is bad news. We can’t disregard Mirabel just because she points out what is wrong and how to fix it. As a matter of fact, we should all seek out our own Mirabel – a restoration expert – to inspect our Casita to ensure there are no issues with the exterior envelope of the home that may lead to much larger problems down the road. Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t! And finally, thank you to the amazing writers, producers, directors, songwriters, cast, and crew who all collaborated to make this amazing ode to restoration that people of all ages love and learn all about how to take care of their homes!
Stucco has been around for literally thousands of years. There are amazing applications of it in Ancient Greek and Roman architecture. It Is a fantastic solution for a fiscally motivated builder. It is also one of the most commonly misused, misapplied, misdesigned (yup, that’s a word), and mismaintained* systems in the universe.[1] Congratulations, you have stucco on your home in Austin, Texas![2] Fun fact about stucco – it is permeable. No, not permissible… permeable. As in, it… lets… water… through. Installed properly, stucco exteriors are built using a multi-layer technique with multiple waterproofing layers, metal lath, and a minimum of three layers of stucco. It is then painted with an elastomeric[3] exterior paint. There is a layer that allows water to escape, and flashing at the bottom of the system helps the water escape completely. Shew, now that we got the dry stuff[4] out of the way let’s talk about what really happens with stucco! Most builders do not take all of the steps necessary to make stucco systems entirely waterproof. As a general rule of thumb, stucco is not a good choice for homes built in humid areas.[5] Significant damage can occur under the surface when water gets trapped behind stucco. So what do we [largely] depend on to protect our homes from water damage? A layer of elastomeric paint. Wait, what? Yup, probably one single coat of paint is what keeps the wood from rotting, the drywall from crumbling, and often mold from growing. Without proper maintenance, stucco can be the death of our savings accounts! So, how do we keep water damage from sneaking past a likely improperly installed [but no question likely beautiful] stucco system? You have to be proactive and inspect your stucco regularly. Can’t see some of those high walls or chimneys? Then call an expert in stucco to inspect it regularly for you. Not a fan of stalking?[6] Then make absolutely, positively sure that your stucco is painted at least every 10 years by a stucco professional. Painters are sweet, amazing, wonderful people… who are not trained in stucco and may not properly patch, repair, seal, and paint stucco to ensure the system is as durable and long-lasting as possible.
“It was a dark and stormy night”… wait, no, that’s not right. “It was the best of times, it was”… no, no, no. Man, these things are hard to write! “I see dead pe…,” wait, nooooo, I see patterns! That’s it! I see patterns where others look for holes in your roof. Leaks suck, and every leak lies. Left unchecked, they can do untold damage to the wood, drywall, even flooring. It’s nice when leaks are big giant holes that I can point to - “There it is!” More often than not, though, leaks are sneaky and hard to pinpoint. We all blame leaks on the roof, and often times, the roof is to blame. But the hardest leaks to find are often “system leaks.” These pesky intrusions are some combination of contributing factors that allow water to sneak past a carefully designed, properly installed, and sometimes even well maintained roofing system. Chimneys often leak because they are very rarely well maintained. Out of sight, out of mind! Stucco cracks, gaps in siding & trim, mortar gaps in brick or stone - all allow water into the house. Some evil builders even skipped the sheathing & underlayment behind the siding, so the smallest gap can send catastrophic amounts of water into the house. Do you have a second story roof that empties onto your first story roof? Are you missing gutters on that second story? Tons and tons of builders and gutter installers skip this absolutely necessary spot because they know you don’t know what they know… those gutters can be the most important gutters on your house! But, of course, it is much cheaper to skip that section. So what happens without those gutters?Waterfalls! Water falling shakes the roof and loosens nails, and eventually waterfalls can even carve their way through stone. What chance does your poor plywood roof decking have?Maybe you even have a vent on the first story, and water is coming off that second story roof and splashing past the vent flashing. Roof systems aren’t designed for water streaming from on high… or even from a downspout that empties straight onto the roof. So why am I revealing the secrets of my success? Why help the poor untrained roofing salesperson that has been kicked out of the nest with only the most basic understanding of a roof system? Because leaks suck, and I can’t fight the battle alone. I am happy to help folks find leaks, but I dream of a world with properly and completely installed gutter systems, well maintained chimneys, and well engineered roof systems.
