Dan_Musicant wrote:
In replacing my roof, they tore out an 8 inch high swath of stucco, put
in the flashing, applied the asphalt composition shingles and applied a
new coat of stucco where they'd torn out the stucco. They told me it
should be primed. I asked when and they said to wait a month. It's been
about that long now and there's a few days of dry weather coming so I
figure I should prime it now. There's about 60 square feet of it. I
don't believe they put on two coats, like some roofing contractors said
they would do in their bids. I see some cracking, already. But my other
stucco is cracked in places. Well, the whole exterior needs a paint job
but right now I figure I should prime that new stucco work.

I have a lot of Zinsser Cover Stain, and it says on the can that you can
use it to prime masonry. I wonder if it would be a better idea to use
something else. How long can I leave the primed stucco before applying
exterior paint? I haven't decided on paint and colors for the house yet.

Comments, recommendations appreciated. If recommending a product, please
suggest how much I should get and where (I live near Home Depot).
Thanks!

Dan

The primer you select will tell you how long you can wait to paint.
Ours was two or three days, max. We have stucco on concrete block, about
40 years old. When it was painted, the stucco had lots of fine,
hairline cracks. Contractor used a brushable caulk to cover the cracks
- 4 years and they haven't reappeared. When I was reading up in prep
for our project, acryllic was said to be best for masonry because it
allows a little moisture to breathe out of the masonry and lessens
likelihood of blistering. Our contractor rinsed with bleach, then
pressure washed, as we had lots of peeling paint. One coat prime, one
coat semi. Porter Paint, not my choice but it is a good job and looks
good so far. The contractor had wanted to put on two coats, but condo
board said one. Fine job. Any good brand of paint should have a
product for masonry.