Stucco is a durable and great-looking exterior finish, but it isn't invincible. Ideally, stucco should be painted every five to ten years. It's important to paint and perform other stucco maintenance on the right schedule to keep your home looking great and to prevent hairline cracks from growing larger.

Do you have to repaint stucco?

While stucco is a very durable surface, it will need to be repainted periodically – but not often. ... As soon as you see paint starting to peel off stucco, it's critical to apply fresh paint to ward off moisture or structural damage to masonry.

What happens if you don't paint stucco?

You can't put stucco over paint – Once paint is on your stucco, no stucco can go over it. The stucco will not bond to the paint and will crack and fall away. That means if any repairs require a new stucco coat, you'll have to have a professional sand blast the paint off and then re-stucco – which is going to cost you!