Stucco repair costs in Albuquerque

Albuquerque is dry. Since 1892 the city has averaged about 8.56 inches of precipitation a year, the National Weather Service says. Your stucco likes that. The ground under it may not.

New Mexico's Bureau of Geology says collapsible soils are common in the state. Their grains are loosely packed and barely touch. When enough water soaks in, the grains slip past each other, pack tighter, and the ground drops. These soils build up on valley margins below the foothills, and the bureau says they have made their presence known as people moved out of the irrigated valleys and added water to drier ground. Near Espanola, one collapse split and tilted the foundations of two homes. The water came from a septic tank, a leaking water line, and runoff from roads and roofs.

Your slab rides on that ground, and your stucco rides on the slab. On naturally dry soil, a new lawn, a slow leak or a downspout that empties at the foundation is the kind of water the bureau warns about.

Its advice for owners is to keep as much water as you can from seeping into the ground. That means xeriscaping near the foundation instead of watering lawns and shrubs there, and downspouts that carry rain away fast. Do that first, and a stucco repair has a steadier wall to hold.