For many centuries cement stucco has been traditionally used as a three-coat cement system. Within the last two decades, acrylic surfacing has become very popular as an alternative finish coat to the traditional cement stucco finish. Both of them are excellent finish materials. They are vapor-permeable and can be integrally colored without any difficulties but that is where the similarities end.

However, house owners and designers must select which finish material is the most appropriate for this very building, meets the quality requirements and matches desires of their client. This article contains a checklist of features comparing which you will be able to decide which material to prefer.

Texture

-        Cement stucco finish has practically an unlimited variety of textures to satisfy even the most refined taste.

-        Wide-range of texture choices is unfortunately not the strong side of acrylics.

Color

-        All in all acrylic finishes come in just about any imaginable color and can be matched to almost any desired shade. The consistency of color is very good, even in darker shades of acrylics.

-        Stucco finish works best in light pastel shades with some slight variation in color shades, while dark tones are not recommended. However, colored cement stucco can be fog-coated, which is a good method to improve the color consistency.

Application

-        Acrylics can be sensitive to environmental conditions because they dry from the outside. However, sometimes, especially in humid conditions, air circulation can be more important for drying than temperature.

-        When we say that cement stucco finish cures we mean drying. The cement plaster basecoat needs to be cured a minimum of seven days before applying acrylics or stucco but the longer the cure time is the better. 

Maintenance

On the whole, both stucco and acrylic finish require relatively low maintenance and can be painted when a color change is needed. Nevertheless, the life span of a stucco finish coat has proved to be several decades.

Eventually, both finishes possess strong points as well as weak points. Thus none of them can be the answer to all situations or projects. For the perfect result designers and house owners should look at the buildings with traditional stucco and those with acrylic finish before making the final decision. While contractors, dealers and manufacturers should pay attention to the desires of the building owners and designers and strive to pick the material that suits them. Contractors should learn to work with a variety of materials and not limit themselves to only what they feel is best for the customer.