Stucco repair costs in Dallas-Fort Worth

The Blackland Prairie's dark clay runs from north of Dallas deep into Central Texas. It swells when it gets wet and shrinks when it dries, and in a dry spell it opens large, deep cracks. If your slab sits on it, it rides that movement. Stucco is a thin, hard shell on the frame, so when the house shifts, the stucco can crack with it. A crack that reopens after a patch can be the ground talking, not the stucco.

Hail is the other North Texas problem. On April 11, 2016, one supercell set the Fort Worth weather office's record with a 5.25-inch stone, and about 80% of homes in Wylie were hit. Big hail chips and punches stucco, so the walls can take damage in the same storm that takes the roof.

Summer heat sets the calendar. In Dallas-Fort Worth the first 100-degree day comes on average around July 1 and the last around August 27, and 2011 logged 71 of them. Fresh stucco needs to cure slowly, so spring and fall are kinder months for a full re-coat.

The metroplex is still growing fast, and its fastest-growing counties are out at the edges. If your house is one of the new ones out there, dig out the builder's paperwork before you pay for crack repair.