Stucco repair costs in Miami

Much of Florida builds its one-story houses from concrete block. If your Miami house is block, the stucco goes right onto the masonry with no lath behind it. The Florida Building Code asks for at least two coats over masonry, against three over metal lath on a framed wall. So on a block house, a crack in the wall is a crack in a cement skin, with masonry underneath.

Miami-Dade and Broward are the only two counties in the code's High-Velocity Hurricane Zone. The county's code office says part of its job is making sure those provisions are not weakened. If a patch turns into rebuilding part of a wall, plan on that stricter book applying.

Who signs off depends on your address. Each city in Miami-Dade has its own building official. The City of Miami's post-storm permit plan lists nonstructural, cosmetic stucco repair as work that needs no permit. In unincorporated Miami-Dade, the county says exterior repairs like new siding do need one. Ask your city before the crew shows up.

Then there's the rain. The National Weather Service runs South Florida's wet season from May 15 to October 15, and Miami averages almost 45 inches in that stretch alone. Showers and storms build nearly every day, and fresh stucco and paint need dry hours to cure. Winter and early spring are the easy months to book a re-coat.