A stucco wall in West Palm Beach can be a hundred years old or a few months old, and the two do not repair the same way. J. Perry & Sons works across that whole range, following the methods on our stucco services page and adjusting them to what your wall is actually made of. Homeowners will find the house-specific detail on residential stucco in West Palm Beach. Property managers, condo boards and GCs should go to commercial stucco in West Palm Beach. Everything else we build in the city is listed on our West Palm Beach contractor page.
Three building eras, three kinds of stucco
Why does a repair that worked on one house fail on another a mile away? Usually because the walls were built in different eras.
The 1920s boom houses. The neighborhoods that grew up along the Intracoastal north and south of downtown were built in the Florida land boom. Many of those houses are Mediterranean Revival or Mission style, built of hollow clay tile or early block, with a stucco that carries far more lime than a modern bag mix. Lime stucco is softer and lets moisture pass through more easily. A dense Portland patch set into it does not move with the wall around it, so the patch holds and the old stucco cracks along its edge. On these walls we identify the existing material first and build the repair with a compatible mix. Inside, many of the same houses still have a lime plaster finish on the walls, which we repair on our plaster page.
Mid-century CBS. West of downtown and in the postwar neighborhoods beyond, most houses are concrete block with cement stucco bonded straight to the block. This is the stucco covered on our Portland cement stucco page, and its failures are familiar: rusting lintels that push stucco off above windows, cracks running from opening corners, and a soft band at the base of the wall where sprinklers have hit it for decades.
Western communities and newer infill. Out toward the western edge of the city, the housing is mostly 1980s and later, much of it two stories, often with wood frame above a block first floor. Where frame meets block there is a joint in the wall, and stucco cracks along that line unless the lath and control joints were detailed for it.
Downtown and the commercial corridors. Waterfront towers, older office buildings and the strip centers along the main commercial roads add EIFS bands, foam cornices and high-build coatings to the mix. EIFS is a foam-based system with a different repair method, explained on our EIFS and high-build stucco page.
Finishes you will see on West Palm Beach walls
Texture in this city tracks age closely, which helps when we are matching your repair.
- Hand-troweled and skip-trowel finishes dominate the historic houses. They were applied by hand, so no two walls are quite alike, and we match a repair by sample on that wall, not from a chart.
- Sand float is common on the mid-century block houses. It is fine and even, and it hides small waves in the wall.
- Knockdown shows up on many 1980s and 1990s houses and on townhome buildings in the western part of the city.
- Smooth is what most newer contemporary houses and recent commercial buildings carry. It is also the change owners ask for most when they re-stucco.
- Dash survives on some older ranches and on commercial back walls. It is the hardest to blend, because the pattern depends on the hand that threw it.
Before we finish a repair, we put a sample of the mix and texture on a hidden part of the wall and let it dry. Wet stucco looks darker and smoother than it will a week later.
Can't tell which finish you have? Send a close-up through our project form and we'll name it and tell you how we'd match it.
What stucco work costs in West Palm Beach
| Scope | Range |
|---|---|
| Cracked or hollow stucco cut out and rebuilt, texture matched | $13–$21 per sq ft |
| Spalling repair: chip to steel, treat rebar, rebuild | $22–$34 per sq ft |
| Full re-stucco of a wall or elevation | $14–$23 per sq ft |
| Historic compatible-mix repairs, columns, arch changes | priced per job after a site visit |
| Full buildings, new construction, EIFS | priced from drawings |
About these prices. These ranges are starting points based on typical South Florida projects. Your final price depends on the condition of the property, access, the materials or system specified and the full scope of work. We confirm every number after we review your project in person or from the drawings, and the price in your signed proposal is the one that applies.
Patching costs more per foot than a full wall, because the setup, three coats and texture match take nearly the same time on a small area as on a large one. On historic walls, the extra testing and hand texture put the work toward the top of the repair range or into a per-job price.
Ready for a first range? Call (561) 556-7509. Close and wide photos of each wall are all we need to start.
Historic review, permits and the county line
Live in an older part of the city? Permits for addresses inside city limits go through the City of West Palm Beach Development Services Department. A like-for-like patch generally needs no permit. Re-stucco over new lath, stucco on an addition and any change to a window or door opening do. Inside a designated historic district, a change to the outside appearance also goes to the city's historic preservation staff before the permit is issued. So if you want a new texture on a 1920s house, that is a conversation to have early.
Plenty of addresses with a West Palm Beach mailing address sit in unincorporated Palm Beach County, and those permits go through the county building division instead. We check which one applies before we quote. J. Perry & Sons pulls every permit itself and follows every city and county requirement. We do not do engineering. We build to the engineer's drawings and bring in a licensed engineer when the work needs one.
Salt, lagoon wind and summer cure
Near the water. Salt carried off the Lake Worth Lagoon reaches the waterfront neighborhoods and the downtown towers. Steel lath, corner bead and fasteners rust, swell and pop the stucco off in a line. On walls that face the water, we use galvanized or PVC accessories and coated fasteners.
Wind codes. Palm Beach County is not in the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone that covers Miami-Dade and Broward, but it is still a high-wind area. Impact windows and their stucco returns are a constant part of the work.
Heat and rain. Summer humidity slows the cure, and afternoon storms wash out fresh finish coats. From June to September we schedule coats in the morning and let each one cure before the next.
Workmanship warranty on every job; materials carry the manufacturer's warranty. Terms are in your written contract.
Pages for your project
- Homeowners: residential stucco in West Palm Beach, with repairs, arches, columns and HOA approval.
- Buildings and bid packages: commercial stucco in West Palm Beach, with phasing, COIs and closeout.
- Method pages: stucco repair and Portland cement stucco.
- Nearby: stucco in Palm Beach Gardens · stucco in Wellington · stucco in Boynton Beach
ZIP codes we serve in West Palm Beach
33401, 33405, 33406, 33407, 33409, 33411, 33417.
Prefer to send photos or plans? Send us your project
West Palm Beach stucco questions
Can modern stucco be used to repair a 1920s house? Usually not straight from the bag. Older lime-rich stucco is softer than modern cement, so we match the repair mix to the wall, test it on a sample, and match the hand texture before finishing.
What does stucco work run in West Palm Beach? Cut-out repairs typically start around $13–$21 per sq ft, spalling repair around $22–$34 per sq ft and full re-stucco around $14–$23 per sq ft. Historic work, columns and openings are priced per job after a site visit, and full buildings are priced from drawings. Final pricing is confirmed after we review your project.
Who issues stucco permits in West Palm Beach? The City of West Palm Beach Development Services Department for addresses in the city, and Palm Beach County for unincorporated addresses. We confirm which one and pull the permit.
Is EIFS common in West Palm Beach? On commercial buildings and some towers, yes, especially for bands, cornices and trim. Most houses are hard-coat cement stucco. We confirm which system is on the wall before we price a repair.
When is the best season for exterior stucco here? November through April, when humidity drops and storms are fewer. We work all year, with summer coats applied early in the day.
Free estimate — call (561) 556-7509 or send us your project. Licensed Florida general contractor CGC1540699. Serving Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties.