Almost daily, we hear or read: “I need you to come and look at my house, I have a stucco problem.” Let us try to help appropriately frame how to think about a potential problem and the necessary next steps to take by using a real-world example.
Below is a picture of a typical second floor balcony in the Heights neighborhood in Houston. At first glance, the red box shows seemingly nothing of consequence. To the owner’s eyes, this balcony looks like the same stucco walls on the rest of their home – which is exactly what we would see as well.
Now, let’s look at the next picture below.
This is the same area, at the same home. Notice the black stains on the wood beam and the complete wood rot that has occurred due to water intrusion. It is also a structural support beam that is damaged. For this repair, we must structurally support the home so that we may properly replace the beam.
The takeaway is hopefully self-explanatory. Coming to a homeowner’s home to try and assess potential stucco problems will not normally be helpful as much as we want to be accommodating. A proper invasive stucco inspection is first required. We simply cannot see behind the wall, which is where problems reside.
Once an inspection has been completed by one of our recommended stucco inspector professionals, and ICE Stucco Repair has provided a comprehensive repair proposal, then we are all in a better position to discuss both the issue and solution. A phone call at this point, with everyone looking at the inspection report and proposal will answer most remaining questions. It allows ICE to go step by step without missing anything.
When will we normally come to visit? After we have answered all of your preliminary questions you are ready to move forward. We will set up a site pre-construction meeting with our Project Manager. This is where we discuss how we will protect the property, where and how we will set our scaffolding, where our disposal bag will be placed, and what may be required of the homeowner to ensure a smooth project.
Understanding the process from pre-inspection to close-out is important.
The attention to detail is what sets ICE Stucco Repair apart from the rest!