Stucco Repair in Bloomington, MN

Stucco repair in Bloomington often begins with a moisture probe rather than a trowel. Most of the city's houses were built after World War II, and some of its stucco went up during the late-1980s-to-1999 period that produced Minnesota's widely reported stucco failures. On those homes the most serious damage tends to be inside the wall, where it cannot be seen from the yard. We find it, measure it and then plan a repair that fixes the cause.

A suburb that grew fast

Bloomington's population was 3,647 in 1940 and 9,902 in 1950, then jumped to 50,498 by 1960, a 410% increase in a decade, and reached 81,971 by 1970. The 2020 census counted 89,987 residents. Interstate 35W informally divides the city: West Bloomington is mostly residential with newer housing, while East Bloomington has more industry, destination retail and much of the less expensive housing. That spread means we see everything here, from 1950s homes with decades of patches to newer stucco houses that need a hard look at their flashing.

What went wrong across Minnesota

The City of Woodbury's 2003 position paper, updated in February 2011, is the clearest public record of the problem. It followed the 670 stucco homes in that city: about 26% showed visible moisture damage in 1999, and by 2011, 451 of them (67%) had failed and been repaired, on average 9.9 years after construction. The causes it lists apply to stucco houses throughout the metro:

• Leaks at windows
• Missing kick-out flashing where a roof edge meets a wall
• Improper flashing where decks attach to the house
• Soil or grade above the wood framing

A Bloomington house with any of these details deserves a closer look, whatever the surface looks like.

How invasive moisture testing works

Minnesota home inspector Reuben Saltzman describes the method: pairs of 3/16-inch holes are drilled through the stucco, and a probe reads the moisture content of the sheathing behind it. Dry, firm sheathing is a good sign. Wet, soft or missing sheathing calls for further investigation and repair. He calls probe testing the next-best option to opening the wall, because damage is often concealed while the house looks fine. We seal the holes afterward. Testing is usually done at the spots most likely to leak: below window corners, under roof-wall intersections and beside deck ledgers.

Buying or selling in Bloomington

Census estimates show 65.7% of Bloomington homes are owner-occupied, and 87.5% of residents lived in the same house a year earlier, so many sellers have owned their stucco home for a long time without ever testing it. For a buyer, testing during the inspection period can reveal problems before closing. For a seller, testing ahead of listing lets you fix and document issues on your own schedule rather than in the middle of negotiations. Since the test means drilling small holes in a house you do not own yet, ask the seller's agent about it early in the inspection period.

From results to a repair plan

If readings are dry, the job may be as simple as sealing cracks, renewing caulk and recoating. If readings are high, we open the stucco at the wet areas, replace rotted sheathing, correct the flashing that let water in, and rebuild the stucco system. Minnesota's Department of Labor and Industry fact sheet on re-siding says damaged sheathing must be replaced, with the city contacted about inspecting those repairs, a water-resistive barrier and flashing inspection is required, and kick-out flashing must be installed when re-siding. Larger remediation in Bloomington is planned around those inspections.

Bloomington stucco services

• Moisture probe testing for owners, buyers and sellers
• Remediation of wet or rotted sheathing
• Flashing corrections at windows, decks and roof lines
• Crack repair and recoating
• EIFS repair

Call (612) 482-6637 to schedule testing or a repair estimate.

Call (612) 482-6637