Asked on Apr 04, 2012

Any ideas on how to texture existing exterior painted block walls here in Orlando FL?

Steve
by Steve
Blocks are painted and in good shape but I want to add lite texture to simulate the stucco look.
  47 answers
  • Trina M Trina M on Apr 04, 2012
    I really would like to know too. I'm not a big fan of the prison wall look. :P
  • Peace Painting Co., Inc. Peace Painting Co., Inc. on Apr 04, 2012
    Steve, no paint is thick or textured enough to make a noticeable difference. All I know to do is call a stucco company and look at the many finishes they offer. I know of no homeowner fix unless you wanted to buy the stucco and roll it on yourself. Best, Charles
  • Steve Steve on Apr 04, 2012
    Thanks for the answers, but I'm still hoping for more ideas. I'm now looking at DAP ALL-PURPOSE STUCCO PATCH...thinking 1st to fill joints and small holes and let dry...then trowel 1/8" (or thinner) patch mix over all area...then paint after it dries. What do you think about this idea???
  • Peace Painting Co., Inc. Peace Painting Co., Inc. on Apr 04, 2012
    Great idea! You will probably need to apply two thin coats of patch over the joints to make sure they don't show through. The recommend paint for stucco is two coats of elastomeric, a thick waterproofing paint. CP
  • Steve Steve on Apr 05, 2012
    Thanks CP... I'm still looking for specifice product folks may know of designed to apply directly over painted block wall creating a lite stucco appearance...agree w/ Trina, the plain block-wall-look needs a face-lift !!! ANY MORE IDEAS OUT THERE ???
  • AA Marble & Granite, LLC AA Marble & Granite, LLC on Apr 05, 2012
    You could do outside, what I did inside. You are on the right path. I would get the concrete patch (available alongside the Dri-dex interior patch in the paint dept) in a plastic tub and trowel it on. Let it dry and paint it. You will need to do the whole wall yourself because it is like a signature. No two people will trowel it on the same. Test it on a concrete block if you need, but you don't, just start troweling and it will fill the cracks and be just fine, you'll see. It is an amazing look!
  • We've added stucco over to a number of basement walls over the years. There is a 'stucco" pre-mix we used a couple of times but I can't remember the name. The problem here may be that the walls were pre-painted. Scrape the walls first and clean with some TSP water mix. I wouldn't use the DAP stuff for this. You can use the pre-blended mortar mix and mix up batches in a 5-gallon bucket. Use the regular dry time bags. You probably also want to add Admix (an adhesion additive) to the mix to help with bonding. Fill your joints in first with the same mix. Make certain the mix is well blended and you can use a drill with a metal joint compound mixer on the end of it. You should mix it to the consistency of mashed potatoes. You can also add some wall paint into the mix to tint the stucco mix. Works pretty well actually. Use a spray bottle to lightly wet the portion of wall you are working on. This all is fairly labor intensive but easy enough to do. Hand trowel the mix onto the wall with about a 2' to 3' plastering motion. Use thin coats and don't worry about voids. Between coats, you can lightly go over the stucco with a sponge trowel in a light circular motion to fill in any voids. The cool thing about stucco is it's your wall so you get to make it look the way you wants. You can also throw some mix from the trowel straight at the wall to rough it up a bit. Find a local masonry supplier and visit their store for supplies and advice. They also have the adhesion additives (Admix) in qt & gallon bottles. The big boxes will be light in this. Have fun!
    • Amy Amy on Sep 11, 2020

      Can you share more on what you did to scrape the painted block to prep the walls?

  • Peace Painting Co., Inc. Peace Painting Co., Inc. on Apr 05, 2012
    Also, your local Sher-Wms paint store carries H&C concrete products with numerous texture applications. They can advise you on application. CP
  • Sharon A Sharon A on Apr 05, 2012
    Check with your local Painting Store...there are products that have a 'sand' base in them that will give a slight stucco look to them.
  • Steve Steve on Apr 06, 2012
    Thanks soooo much for all the replies/input/ideas. I've completed a test area and it looks/seems to be working good: 1st cleaned wall with 50% bleach solution and power-washed, 2nd applied Dap Phenomenal Brands Pre-Mixed Stucco Patch from HomeDepot ($20/gal) on mortar joints/holes, 3rd applied thin coat of Dap All-Purpose Stucco Patch, again from HomeDepot ($15 for 25lb bag of powdered mix). This somewhat simple process to me is still very labor intensive and costly...but...no comparison to applying metal lathe/conventional stuccoing. I wish the builder would have applied 1/4" concrete/stucco mix to all exterior raw block-walls initially like he did on the front of house !!! PLEASE let me know what you think of my procedure and/or other possible SPECIFIC PRODUCTS you think might better do the trick stuccoing over painted block walls... thanks again for all your ideas... Steve :)
  • Peace Painting Co., Inc. Peace Painting Co., Inc. on Apr 06, 2012
    Post a pic if you can Steve. What an improvement it will be. CP
  • Steve Steve on Apr 07, 2012
    On the right side of pic no fill of joints, just powder mix applied...on the left, joints pre-filled (as discribed in previous post) then thin powder stucco mix applied...next I need to work on pattern...but for this test I was looking at coverage/adhesion. Please let me know what You-All think...and, thanks again for all of HomeTalk folk's feed-back... Steve :)
  • Steve Steve on Apr 07, 2012
    Hope you can see details in my pic... Steve :)
  • Peace Painting Co., Inc. Peace Painting Co., Inc. on Apr 07, 2012
    You will probably need more joint filling. You want the joints to be completely filled before any texturing starts. You're on to something there, it's going to look really nice. Chas.
  • Steve Steve on Apr 08, 2012
    Thanks Chas...I agree...now that the test area showed good adhesion over the painted blocks I now plan to: 1. clean and powerwash all blocks; 2. fill tooled joints/holes w/ 2coats of pre-mixed stucco patch (instead of 1coat like I did on some of test area); 3. trowel on (using a mason's sponge trowel) a bit thicker 1/8'' texturing coat of powder mix. This process for me is still a bit pricy and very-labor-intensive, but I think the cost/effort will pay-off with 'sweet-lookin-finished' walls. I will shoot before and after pics and post-em to let folks know how it went. Thanks again to alllllll U-folks out there for your help!!! And for all you new folks who may come across this thread, let me know what you think, and any ideas you have to stucco over existing painted block walls... Steve :-)
  • Hi Steve - as you are prepping.....get some TSP and sprinkle some in your cleaning mix...wear rubber gloves.....bleach alone will only knock down any existing mold....it won't kill it off as TSP combined will. It's not as important as you have a cinderblock house and I don't think mold can live under the stucco mix like it can under paint. Not sure it would ever be a problem with your project...but better safe than sorry. You can get TSP in the paint department of lowes or depot
  • Steve Steve on Apr 09, 2012
    Thanks HandyAndy... do I just add TSP to my 50/50 bleach solution??? You folks here on HomeTalk are great (just like I heard spoke of on the radio where I first heard of this great site) !!!
  • Trina M Trina M on Apr 09, 2012
    Steve, After I'm done with the interior renovations in my money pit... I mean fixer upper... I'm going to use the same techniques you did on my block walls. It's looking good. Make sure to post some before and after photos. :)
  • Steve Steve on Apr 10, 2012
    I know Trina what U-mean on 'money-pit' term...and the time invovled, WoOoOoW...I'm making slow progress though...will post pics and let U-all know how the process went... Just bought two sponge trowels last night for applying dry-mix stucco finish coat. Thinking it will take me a few weeks but will continue checking back to see others comments... 'Keep UrTools Sharp -N- Ur Determination Strong' all-U HomeTalk Geniuses ... Steve :-)
  • Steve Steve on Apr 15, 2012
    Here's an up-date... I have a hiccup in my plan stuccoing over painted block exterior walls. I'm not happy with the adhesion of 'Dap All-Purpose Stucco Patch' from HomeDepot @$15 for 25lb bag of powdered mix. Power-washed it off my test area (it came off too easy for my comfort level of adhesion)!!! I now plan to use 'Dap Phenomenal Brands Pre-Mixed Stucco Patch' from HomeDepot @$20/gal for the final 1/8'' thick stucco-look texture. This Pre-Mixed stuff is what I'm using to fill tooled joints/holes and has super adhesion (held tight when testing it's adhesion using power-washer 3000psi approx. 12" from surface). I'll keep U-all up-dated with pics and results as I slowly make progress. Thanks again for all you HomeTalk folks across the country... Steve :)
  • Steve Steve on Apr 20, 2012
    I'm back again...still working on applying Pre-Mixed Stucco Patch...it takes a lot of time to apply but I'm happy with the results...please see before and after pics. Will need to apply a 2nd thin coat...then on to applying thin stucco texture using same Dap product. Thanks again to all of the ideas you all have posted... Steve :-)
  • Peace Painting Co., Inc. Peace Painting Co., Inc. on Apr 20, 2012
    yeah Steve, clearly you are on the track. CP
  • Pam Pam on Apr 20, 2012
    Add some sand to your paint before painting. Mix well and paint.
  • Steve Steve on Apr 21, 2012
    Thanks Pam... I have never done that... does that effect long-term adhesion??? I've applied silica sand, portland, & masonry cement mix to new block walls as a texture which worked out very well... any ideas out there on adding sand to paint as a means to add texture??? I'm always open to learning more on proven construction practices... Steve :)
  • Pam Pam on Apr 22, 2012
    I've added the sand directly to the paint, mixed well, and painted on for texture on craft woodwork for out side. I have not noticed that it affects the adhesion over the long haul.
  • Steve Steve on May 19, 2012
    I'm back to give an up-date to all of you following this thread... it's been a slow and labor intensive process... I'm trying to upload my latest pics but can't get latest adobe flash player to work... please let me know if you have any ideas how to post my latest stucco pics... Steve
  • Peace Painting Co., Inc. Peace Painting Co., Inc. on May 19, 2012
    Sounds like a battle with both adobes, hehe
  • Steve Steve on May 19, 2012
    Got U on that one CP (it was pain 4-sure)... I'll try this again...fingers crossed... Making slooooow progress... results I feel are 'GREAT' ... bunch more to do on texturing and then final painting... let me know what Ya think...Pics are in progression... thanks...Steve :)
  • Peace Painting Co., Inc. Peace Painting Co., Inc. on May 19, 2012
    What a transformation. That's a job for a crew of people. A labor of love that you will enjoy the fruit of from now on. It's looking good so far.
    • Steve Steve on Jan 23, 2023

      Today's date: 1-23-23

      Howdy Chas, we've not chatted in a while but wanted to let you, & alllllll the folks here on HomeTalk (including my buddy Eric) that the stucco finish I applied in 2012 has held up very well.


      I've done nothing to the exterior walls of my home since stuccoing & painting described in this thread... i.e., that's over 10yrs ago, & the adhesion is still GREAT (except where storm damage caused a roof leak & some texture separation occurred).


      Pictures below do show stress cracks in some areas of block wall (it's normal for Central Florida), & between patio chairs the discoloring is stucco lifting do to storm water damage.


      But otherwise I'd say the house held-up well after 10yrs -if you look near the beginning of this thread to see old pics for comparison. And HEY... I'd love to hear comments or suggestions from allll you HomeTalk folks.

      God bless you'allllllll & thanks again for alllllll your encouragement, Steve : )))

  • Steve Steve on May 20, 2012
    Thanks Chas...I'm still laughing from your joke on 'problems with both of my adobes' !!! Here's the latest up-date on my successful steps of procedures: To fully hide the block mortar joints I applied 2 coats of Dap Pre-Mixed Stucco Patch using 2" putty knife. Then mixed 1gal of exterior primmer + 1gal Dap Pre-Mixed Stucco Patch + 1gal pool filter sand and applied 3rd coat over mortar joints (feathering all edges 2" from joint) using 6" tape knife. Then for the final texturing applied the same 1+1+1 mix using small sponge trowel. For a uniform textured look I learned to always apply working from a wet edge. The mix sets up fairly fast when applied and if you over-work-it when its too dry the look suffers. Lots of work, but the look...'WOW' !!!!! I'm still applying texture to remaining exterior walls, then I'll paint. ((will post more pics as I go)...Please post any ideas or comments or questions... I've learned sooooo much from all-U-HomeTalk-Folks... Thanks Steve :)
  • Trina M Trina M on May 20, 2012
    Awesome transformation! Thanks for the updates. It's inspiring. I'm definitely going to do the same with my prison-like block walls. :)
  • Steve Steve on May 23, 2012
    Thanks Trina... (and all U-HomeTalk folks). Transforming a disfigured block wall is a lot of work but do-able for the 'do-it-yourselfer'. The secret to me is the Dap Pre-Mixed Stucco Patch, what a tough product (@ HomeDepot). My approach for filling the block joints was like taping drywall (minus the tape) and using the Dap Pre-Mixed Stucco Patch like a drywall joint compound. I love being able to share with all of you what I learned on this project. Next I want to pour decorative concrete around house perimeter and then landscape. I'll be looking for advise from U-HomeTalk-Folks for this (my next project) soooooon !!! Thanks again for all your help on the success of applying a stucco texture to a painted exterior block wall... Steve :)
  • Dana Richardson Dana Richardson on May 08, 2013
    Steve this was a very helpful post thank you so much. I live in Orlando Florida and my house has the wood lap look (filled in vertical cement block seams, but horizontal seams left). After prepping my wall by first using a sandpaper pad on a grinding wheel, then a wire brush to remove the existing paint/primer from the cement, finally pressure washing. I followed your advice exactly applied DAP Stucco patch, first coat I applied with the 2" putty knife. Allowed to dry (it does shrink a bit). Then 2'nd coat applied with the 6" drywall tape knife. 3'rd coat I feathered it out further with the 6" tape knife. Last coat I mixed 1 Gal Primer, 1 Gal pool sand and 1 Gal DAP stucco patch. I bought a 16" trowel to apply as it was easier than using the 6" tape knife. The mixture was a little runny but stuck fine. Finished it off by running a sponge over it. As Steve said overworking it hurts the texture. The sponge made the texture really pop. Came out great!
  • Steve Steve on May 13, 2013
    Good looking finish Dana...as you know, this takes a lot of work but after a year, my exterior walls look like the day I finished (approx. a year now). Hope these posts continue to help many more folks beautify their homes -without breaking the bank. To all you viewers who are thinking about tackling such a project, please feel free to post comments and I'll try to help all I can :-))) Steve
    • Alicia Alicia on Oct 27, 2022

      Did your process stand the test of the time? I can't find any process more recent and am considering attempting yours on our painted concrete block house in Central FL.

  • Nick Nick on Jun 28, 2013
    This is amazing glad I found this site. I was thinking of using this technique to fill seams but then use my drywall hopper to spray some texture? Any thoughts? I am also from Orlando Florida
  • Steve Steve on Jun 30, 2013
    Hey Nick...after cleaning, filling mortar joints, and cracks, it seems like a good idea using a drywall texturing gun to give uniform final finish to your exterior walls. Let me know how it turns out and post some pics (before and after).
  • Lynn Rinehart Lynn Rinehart on Jul 24, 2013
    I just finished using a texture gun with stucco mix and the walls turned out great, it took 2 days to spray, then another 3 days to paint. This was done after I pressured washed it down to the block, then filled all the cracks in. I told neighbors I was glueing my house back together.
  • Steve Steve on Jul 25, 2013
    Good to hear @Lynn Rinehart ...I was wondering what exact mixtures you used to fill the cracks and then spray texture??? Would love to see some before, during and after pics too :-)))
  • Lynn Rinehart Lynn Rinehart on Jul 29, 2013
    I added the powder stucco, thin set mortor untill it looked like pancake batter
  • Steve Steve on Jul 30, 2013
    Looks good Lynn... :) WOW, the work you must have went through to remove ALL-THAT-OLD-PAINT !!! I have a 3000psi power washer, and while using it to clean my blocks the mortar would disintegrate sometimes before removing paint, so I gave up on trying to remove all the paint. One major goal I had on my project was to hide the mortar joints, I see you kept that look and it turned out great. I hope our posted ideas and pics will help others out there with their exterior face-lift :)))
  • Margaret Margaret on Jul 18, 2014
    Has anyone tried adding a colorant to the 1+1+1 mixture of primer, Dap premixed stucco patch and sand in order to eliminate the painting step?
  • Steve Steve on Jul 19, 2014
    Hi Margaret... very good question. Two years ago when I textured my home, I also considered adding paint to my texturing-mixture to save the painting step, but I was concerned about adhesion (I then had old painted exterior block walls). I also was concerned about moisture getting into & behind the new textured surface, & over time, this moisture forcing the newly applied texture-mixture to pop-off. I understood then, that a good primmer has adhesion characteristics that (in my view then) would give long-term durability & adhesion. I'm "Sooooo-Happy-To-Report" to all of you who have followed my posting over these 2years (& to you Margaret)... that today... "OVER-2-YRS" later, my textured exterior (previously painted old block walls) are without "Any Blistering, or Peeling, or Popping" !!! I hope my experience, & my mixture-concoction, & steps texturing old-painted-block-walls will not only help beautify your home... BUT, enrich your neighborhood too : )))
    • Margaret Margaret on Jul 20, 2014
      Thank you Steve. I also have painted block walls that I would like to cover. The climate in Virginia is very different than Florida and I'm concerned with adhesion problems due to freezing temperatures. I have looked into different ad mixes for concrete and stucco. Sherwin Williams carries a few. They also have concrete colorant that I was interested in exploring. Does anyone have experience using these in their premixed stucco patch mixture?
  • Lewis J Fockler Lewis J Fockler on Jan 15, 2016
    Hey Steve, did i just hear that you added primer to the spray texture,? i am thinking of bidding an inside block wall that has been previously painted. and i would like to hear of someone trying this,, i want to bid soon, so im looking for your help,,
    • Steve Steve on Jan 15, 2016
      @Lewis J Fockler Heay Lewis... I had to re-read my posted steps of what I'd done... I couldn't remember -LOL. Couldn't believe it's been over 3yrs !!! By the way, my home's exterior is holding up GREAT..! (no signs of mix popping off) & yes Lewis, I added exterior white primer to my mix... (look back at my post on May 20, 2012 & read the mix proportions I used) I also used a tape knife & sponge trowel to achieve texture look I wanted -(no sprayer). Hope this helps Lewis... please post some before & after pics if Ya get the bid. It'd be kool2 see how it turns out...! Steve, in Orlando FL
  • Steve Steve on Jan 15, 2016
    Heay Lewis... Sorry, I didn't put my reply in the correct spot on here... (my senior moment) -LOL Steve, in Orlando FL
  • Lewis J Fockler Lewis J Fockler on Jan 15, 2016
    Thank you Steve,, this site is a great idea,, i was thinking of starting one here on the coast,, and adding job bids that you speak directly to the contractor,,
  • John John on Aug 04, 2022
    1. fill mortar joints as already described. Paint entire surface with primer for using floor leveler cement undiluted. Go to local masonry stucco store. Buy senergy Alpha Dry Base coat. Watch u-tube videos. Install thin coat. Then buy same product for the finish texture coat, several textures and colors available. Apply thin coat with trowel, float with plastic float per video for texture desired. I used base coat over previous painted 40 years ago basement interior block wall. $32.33 / 60 lb bag covers 80 SF. Did not do a texture coat just wanted smooth finish.
    • Alicia Alicia on Oct 27, 2022

      Is filling the joints with DAP premixed stucco patch still the go to method? Found this site after searching for how to cover our Central, FL painted block house.

  • Mogie Mogie on Nov 04, 2022

    Painting the block will only change the color not the look or texture.