Should I tint or paint my stucco finish?

by: Laurel Rae Harmon2/24/2016

To Paint or no to paint?  That is the Question.

Whether or not to paint or tint the finish coat of EIFS is a question asked fairly frequently. There are some simple guidelines to follow if you are debating whether to tint or paint stucco finish. The factors involved include the desired color and the texture.

Reasons to Paint

If the desired color is very dark or in a shade of green or red, it is often difficult to make tint that will be a correct match. Dark colors are also prone to fading. Tinted stucco that is dark color may require a lot of pigment which alters the finish to the point that the aggregates in the finish do not properly absorb the color. Also, colors that are in the green or red family often require a lot of yellow pigment which makes tinting stucco finish red or green difficult. Sometime a clear base stucco finish can be used in lieu of tint base stucco but that is not always a solution. When tinting finish is not advisable it is often recommended that the finish be painted instead. Painting stucco finish with and exterior acrylic paint is fairly easy and can be sprayed on with a paint sprayer. However, if you have a fine or smooth sand finish it may reduce the visibility of the texture when painted.

Reasons to Tint

Stucco finish is beautiful and lasts for many years. But over time due to weathering and impact, your finish my get small cracks, flake, or slightly erode. If you have painted your finish coat and your finish has flaked a little bit, the white of the finish underneath the paint will show making your stucco look old and worn. If your stucco is tinted and has worn a little, it will still look fantastic.

Color Matching

At Cross Country Supply, we are able to make most Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore, TIQUE, or other stucco manufacturers colors. The color matching lab can match samples if a clean sample that is approximately 3”x3” (about the size of a tennis ball) is provided. We cannot match colors from a picture. Due to lighting conditions and the photo print paper, cell phone or computer screen, determining colors from a picture is not accurate and cannot be done with desired results.

Mixing your Stucco Tint

Your tint will come in a separate tint cup that you will add to your 5-gallon bucket of finish. Add one tint cup per 5 gallon container, making sure all the tint is out of the cup. Mix with a drill mixer until thoroughly mixed. If you have extra buckets of finish at the end of the job that you haven’t added tint to, you can use the finish for the next job, just order different tints!

A suggestion!

If you either tint or paint, it is best to keep the information of the make, name, and color code for the color you have chosen. This way, if you need to add an addition to your structure, touch up a spot that is a bit worn from years of exposure to the elements, or need to repair a spot from accidental damage such as tornado, tree, or high impact, it will be easy to order the product that you need without having to send out samples for color matching.