# Oil on Stucco...do I need to prime?



## Pete Martin the Painter (Nov 8, 2012)

I am doing a stucco job and I am almost positive there is oil on it. Do I have to prine?
There is new stucco in the picture, which has not been primed yet.









Sent from my SM-A600U using Tapatalk


----------



## cocomonkeynuts (Apr 14, 2017)

Pete Martin the Painter said:


> I am doing a stucco job and I am almost positive there is oil on it. Do I have to prine?
> There is new stucco in the picture, which has not been primed yet.
> 
> Sent from my SM-A600U using Tapatalk



Oil on stucco? I would feel comfortable with mooreguard going over that but I would probably spec a primer anyway.


----------



## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

Oil on stucco. I've heard it all now.


----------



## Pete Martin the Painter (Nov 8, 2012)

Theoriginalpacman said:


> Oil on stucco. I've heard it all now.


Yeah,
I tried to rub some off with both rubbing alcohol and denatured. But, nothing came off the rag at all. So, I have to assume it is oil. The last home owners are the ones that had it done. So, cannot blame the current owners.

Sent from my SM-A600U using Tapatalk


----------



## CApainter (Jun 29, 2007)

Theoriginalpacman said:


> Oil on stucco. I've heard it all now.



I used to use, almost exclusively, an oil base stucco surface conditioner from Hoffman paints. The stuff worked great! You probably never heard of it because it was back in the eighties. You might have been around two years old or something.


----------



## MikeCalifornia (Aug 26, 2012)

That looks like raw stucco. Painted stucco would not stain like that.


----------



## jennifertemple (Oct 30, 2011)

MikeCalifornia said:


> That looks like raw stucco. Painted stucco would not stain like that.


Maybe that's the "new" stucco he's talking about.


----------



## MikeCalifornia (Aug 26, 2012)

jennifertemple said:


> Maybe that's the "new" stucco he's talking about.



Yep, skipped ahead.


----------



## Fman (Aug 20, 2011)

I've had a few people tell me, "You can't paint stucco." I ask them who told 'em that and, invariably, a stucco guy told them that. I wonder how prevalent painting stucco was, back in the day, before latex paint became popular and stucco guys got so gossipy? I just can't fathom putting oil on stucco but, I'm sure it happened.


----------



## Brushman4 (Oct 18, 2014)

Back in the early 80s we were priming and painting a new cooler addition on the Vienna Sausage plant at Elston & Fullerton, it was a large extension of the plant consisting of double-thick cinder block walls with insulation in between. The job was specced out for Carbit's Oil-Based waterproofing block filler as the prime coat. This was the first and only time I've ever used an oil-based block filler.
The Vienna plant has since moved to the south side of the city, and Carbit is still selling specialty industrial paints in Chicago.

Oh and so you know Vienna's Beef Hot Dogs are the standard by which all hot dogs are measured, and remember no Ketchup on a hot dog!!!


----------



## Woodco (Nov 19, 2016)

If it were me, I probably wouldnt prime (assuming I would be using a top quality paint), but I would run the situation by the client, and see if they wanted to shell out for a primer, or waive the risk. My train of thought is that even if it is oil, the outside elements have etched the surface, and I paint right over gutters, boxes, etc, that were once powder coated or oil finishes, and they have always held up just fine. Granted, if they are newer boxes or gutters, I will at least scuff, if not prime.

Also, stucco is a pretty rough surface, so theres a lot more for paint to grab on to. Oil outside is a lot different than inside oil on smooth trim. 

If I were to do anything, I'd just spray a quick light coat of 123 or something

Oh, if you're planning on using elastomeric, that stuff will stick to anything....


----------



## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

CApainter said:


> Theoriginalpacman said:
> 
> 
> > Oil on stucco. I've heard it all now.
> ...


I was working for SW in the late 80's. That's probably why I never heard of it. They didn't sell the good stuff back then and did a pretty good job of insulating their employees from knowing what good stuff other companies had that worked better. Kind of like what they do today.


----------



## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

Is it a color coat of stucco? That wouldn't come off with lacquer thinner or denatured either. If it is just clean and paint it.


----------



## Wichita-Falls-Paint (Sep 27, 2019)

*Re*

I would prime, if it were me.


----------



## Pete Martin the Painter (Nov 8, 2012)

Theoriginalpacman said:


> Is it a color coat of stucco? That wouldn't come off with lacquer thinner or denatured either. If it is just clean and paint it.


Not sure what you mean by color coat...does stucco come in colors? There is not a whole lot of this stuff in New England.

Sent from my SM-A600U using Tapatalk


----------



## Pete Martin the Painter (Nov 8, 2012)

Wichita-Falls-Paint said:


> I would prime, if it were me.


Called by Ben Moore rep and he told me that I would be fine without priming. So, I am going to go with that.

Sent from my SM-A600U using Tapatalk


----------



## Fman (Aug 20, 2011)

Pete Martin the Painter said:


> Not sure what you mean by color coat...does stucco come in colors? There is not a whole lot of this stuff in New England.
> 
> Sent from my SM-A600U using Tapatalk


There's a ton of it in the midwest. What I was getting at in my post about stucco guys saying you can't paint stucco, is that they make money re-dashing existing stucco since no builders have built old time stucco houses since Dryvit came along. Stucco guys can *tint* the mix and apply a fresh coat of stucco if someone wants a color change. My house is stucco and several years ago I powerwashed it, primed and painted it and I think it protects it protects it better too. I wasn't about to pay for- or mess around with a re-dash by me.


----------



## Woodco (Nov 19, 2016)

Pete Martin the Painter said:


> Not sure what you mean by color coat...does stucco come in colors? There is not a whole lot of this stuff in New England.
> 
> Sent from my SM-A600U using Tapatalk


I've always seen it called Dryvit. It usually has a different texture. Its a lot like sand and paint mixed half and half and trowelled on. It also has a very porous look up close. 

Google dryvit for pictures of the surfaces. It has a different look than paint.


----------



## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

Woodco said:


> Pete Martin the Painter said:
> 
> 
> > Not sure what you mean by color coat...does stucco come in colors? There is not a whole lot of this stuff in New England.
> ...


Dryvit is the largest brand. Most stucco manufacturers have a version of it. There is such a thing as colored stucco as well. It is much more expensive than the grey stucco, so they just put a thin coat if it on. Not so common now because it had a tendency to start flaking off after a period of time and was a pita to fix.


----------



## kmp (Jan 30, 2011)

Years ago cement stucco would be tinted by adding a color powder, just like concrete, but was limited in color selection. When I lived in AZ. regular stucco that was painted was all there was. Real or synthetic it all needs paint sooner or later.


----------



## Lightningboy65 (Mar 12, 2018)

There was a builder in my area in the 1930's-50's that liked building Frank Lloyd Wright style houses. He incorporated stucco into most of his designs, and the stucco contained pea sized stone to give texture. I know this stucco was painted soon after the stucco cured. In that time period it would have been oil paint(I assume), and on most of these homes the stucco is still in good shape with nothing more than regular maintenance. So I guess the oil paint worked on these homes. Any thoughts???


----------



## Redux (Oct 27, 2018)

Lightningboy65 said:


> There was a builder in my area in the 1930's-50's that liked building Frank Lloyd Wright style houses. He incorporated stucco into most of his designs, and the stucco contained pea sized stone to give texture. I know this stucco was painted soon after the stucco cured. In that time period it would have been oil paint(I assume), and on most of these homes the stucco is still in good shape with nothing more than regular maintenance. So I guess the oil paint worked on these homes. Any thoughts???


Cured is the key word..otherwise high pH will result in saponification if coated with oil. Oil paint also affects the stucco’s ability to breathe. Casein or Casein/Portland blends with a drying oil as a binder probably would have been a more common period treatment after curing, or just a straight up Portland Cement paint w/out drying oils over uncured stucco. Not a stucco expert so I could stand to be corrected.


----------



## Redux (Oct 27, 2018)

My neighbor has an arts & crafts bungalow with a coarse pea gravel type stucco that was finished in a gloss oil enamel. They hired someone to repaint it 4 years ago, priming is with 123 followed by Moorlife flat acrylic. I was almost certain it would peel, yet it still looks really good with no peeling or failure.


----------

