Project: Porch Column Rebuild with Moisture Barrier
This job is the clearest answer we have to a question homeowners ask constantly: what are you actually doing under there, and why does it cost what it costs?
Call (407) 456-2006 or (863) 398-3871, or get a free estimate.
Project evidence
The photos
The facts of the job
What this project was
- Porch columns failed at the base.Stucco columns at ground level take splash-back, irrigation and runoff, and water works upward once the finish goes.
- A weather-resistive barrier.The columns were wrapped in a weather-protection membrane, the layer that keeps water out of the structure if any gets past the stucco.
- Metal lath.The mesh that gives new stucco something to key into and hold onto.
- Toned to match the house.The columns rebuilt, finished smooth, and toned into the house so they read as original rather than replaced.
The problem
The front porch columns on a suburban home had failed at the base. Stucco columns take a particular beating: they sit at ground level where splash-back, irrigation and runoff all reach them, and they are the part of the porch people brush past and knock things into. When the finish at the bottom of a column goes, water gets into the base and works upward, and by the time it is obvious the column is no longer sound where it matters most.
Why we did not simply patch the bottom
A base patch on a column like this is a cosmetic act. The photographs show what we did instead: we took the failed material off and worked back to the structure.
That is the honest, unglamorous middle of this job, and it is the reason the finished result lasts.
Rebuilding the system, not the surface
The middle photographs are the ones worth studying, because they show the parts of a stucco column that nobody ever sees again once it is finished:
Anyone can trowel a bag of material onto the outside of a column. The barrier and the lath are what separate a repair built to last from one that fails early, and they are also, conveniently, the two things you can never inspect afterwards. Which is precisely why we photograph them.
- A weather-resistive barrier. The columns were wrapped in a weather-protection membrane, the layer that keeps water out of the structure if any ever gets past the stucco. On a column at ground level, exposed to splash and runoff, this is not optional.
- Metal lath. Over the barrier we installed lath, the mesh that gives the new stucco something to key into and hold onto. Stucco applied without a proper key is stucco that will come off again.
- Stucco in proper coats. Then the column was rebuilt, built out true, and floated to the correct profile.
The finish
The final photograph shows the porch complete: the columns rebuilt, finished smooth, and toned into the house so they read as original rather than replaced. The house looks like nothing happened to it, which is the entire objective.
Honest limitations
What this page does not claim
On the record
This page describes only what the photographs show. No city, customer, address, date or price is claimed.
What this job should tell you
If a contractor is quoting you for column or wall repair and cannot tell you what goes behind the stucco - whether there is a barrier, whether there is lath, how the new work keys to the old - then they are quoting you for a surface. Surfaces fail.
This is the standard behind our stucco repair work generally, and it is the same principle that governs stucco water damage repair: fix the system, not the symptom.
Get a free estimate
If your columns are cracking, spalling or crumbling at the base, that is the beginning of the problem rather than the end of it. Call (407) 456-2006 or (863) 398-3871, or get a free estimate. Insured, more than 15 years in Central Florida, and rated 4.8 stars across 48 Google reviews. Our on-site estimate is free. (A formal stucco inspection with moisture probes and a written report is a different, specialist service, averaging around $850.)