Stucco contractors serving Barrio Viejo, AZ

Stucco work in Barrio Viejo

Barrio Viejo holds one of the most significant collections of Sonoran row adobe in the United States, much of it from the nineteenth century. These are not simply old houses. They are a specific construction system: thick adobe walls built to absorb and release moisture, finished historically with lime plaster or mud render that lets the wall breathe.

Which makes cement stucco the wrong answer here in a way that is not a matter of taste. Cement seals the face, moisture inside the wall cannot escape through it, and the adobe erodes at the base while the shell stays intact and hides it. A great deal of damage in this district was done by well-meant cement work in the mid twentieth century. Work here means breathable lime, compatible repair material and historic district review — and it is worth finding someone who has actually done it rather than someone willing to try.