Facade Stucco Is Back in Style – Discover How It Can Instantly Transform Your Home's Exterior
Façade stucco, made of polystyrene, gypsum or other materials, when glued to the façade of a building, can give it a special character. It includes, among others, façade mouldings or cornices, and even columns. With its help, you will achieve an effect reminiscent of a private manor house or villa, but it will also fit into more modern house designs.
The façade of a building determines its character and emphasizes the architectural style. It makes the house take on a different aesthetic. Sometimes it is enough to paint a building in a different color to refresh it and increase its aesthetic value.
When choosing a house design, we are very often guided by visual values. We choose a design that we simply like. As part of designing the façade of a building, many interesting arrangement procedures can be used. One of them is façade stucco. What is it and where is it used?
Facade stucco – what makes it stand out?
Decorated corners of a residential building, as well as a porch, windows or doors allow you to change the aesthetics of the entire house. Such an effect can be achieved thanks to external façade stuccowork. In many cases, it brings to mind interior façade stucco, used on ceilings and walls. It used to be very popular, and today it seems that it is back in favor.
Facade stucco for windows, doors or other architectural elements of a single-family house is a decorative element that is becoming increasingly popular among architects. It can provide an original look to homes. It includes various elements, collectively referred to as façade stuccowork. Among them, the following can be distinguished:
- façade cornices;
- façade mouldings, including around the window and under the windowsill;
- polystyrene facets;
- polystyrene rustication;
- façade pilasters;
- façade boards imitating wood;
- rustication strips for façade rustication;
- polystyrene columns;
- decorative brackets and decors;
- bosses above the windows;
- made-to-measure arches.
The most popular among the various types of façade stucco presented are skirting boards, which will quickly and comprehensively change the appearance of the walls of the building. There are no major restrictions on where they can be used. Most often, they decorate doors or windows. You can use window skirting boards or symmetrical or under-sill skirting boards.
Cornices are slightly different from skirting boards, but they are also classified as façade stucco. They have a decorative finish not only on the front part, but also on the side edges. They are made to standard dimensions of windows or other building elements. Above-window, intermediate and under-roof cornices are available.
Facade bevels are decorative elements that are placed between the wall and the soffit, which allows the height of the building to be optically increased. The term "rustication" refers to construction stucco, which is used at the corners of houses. It usually consists of smaller modules, glued to the wall in the right place.
Façade pilasters, on the other hand, are decorative elements used to decorate the main entrance to a house. They consist of a base, shafts and heads.
Facade boards imitating wood can be in the form of corbels, i.e. external stucco, installed directly under the roof soffit. They are supposed to resemble natural beams or rafters.
The columns are one of the oldest supports, used for centuries. If you are building a manor-style, single-family house, the use of façade stucco in the form of columns will allow you to give the desired character to the building.
Columns can adorn the entrance of your home, and you can acquire them in a variety of forms and styles. Putting them on a pedestal will increase the decorative effect. You can replace the columns with pilasters, which take up less space and are used on both sides of the door or on the façade.
Decorative brackets are installed as a safety feature, especially for long or wide elements. They will have a protective function, maintaining their aesthetic values. Bosses above the windows or placed above the door should be used in the central point of the polystyrene skirting boards.
Facade stucco – where can it be used?
Facade stucco is most often used to emphasize the architecture of manor-style houses or villa-style houses. This does not mean that it is not possible to install it anywhere else. Windows and doors in houses built in a different style can also be decorated with façade strips or columns.
They are more and more often found in modern arrangements, as an interesting decorative accent. It is enough to use window façade stucco in the form of a subtle cornice under the window to break a certain austerity and minimalism of modern private house architecture.
The types of façade stucco indicate where it can actually be used. These are the areas above and below the windows, above and around the doors, as well as around the ceilings of the house. The façade stucco of the rosettes around the round windows in the attic makes them look stylish and very aesthetic.
Facade stucco – installation
If you have polystyrene façade stucco at your disposal, installation is easier. It is glued to the façade of the house with a special glue, although the back surface of the installed elements must be primed beforehand. This increases the adhesion.
Installation work on façade stucco, in a single-storey house or a two-storey house, must be carried out when the weather conditions outside are right. Ideally, the air temperature should range from 5 to 35 degrees Celsius. These works cannot be carried out in rain and when air humidity is high.
Facade stucco – classic or modern?
Many elements classified as façade stucco can be maintained in various styles. So it is not the case that the only possible choice for you will be the classic version of the solution. Modern façade stucco, e.g. in the form of slats, has simple, minimalist forms. It is definitely different from the classic one, which is richly decorated. Choose which one will suit the façade of your house better with Custom Exterior expert team in Oregon.
Facade stucco – is it worth opting for it?
At first glance, façade stucco is simply a decorative element that allows you to highlight certain parts of the house and the architectural style in which it was built. The aesthetic function is not the only one that can be attributed to it. Such stucco allows you to protect the façade against the formation of unsightly stains.
Rustications or corners, on the other hand, protect the edges of the building, which are most vulnerable to mechanical damage. For this reason, the role of façade stucco is twofold – aesthetic and functional, which also makes it worth choosing, although of course only in some cases. It will not always match the style of the façade of a residential building or other object.
Each investor must answer the question for himself whether he likes exterior façade stucco. Its advantage is that it enlivens the space, is fashionable and can be used in many different cases, both in the construction and finishing of new buildings, as well as in the renovation of old ones. With the help of façade stucco, you can optically enlarge any space. It is a wall décor that comes in many designs, sizes and types, so you can adapt it to your individual requirements.
Published 6/24/25