House Siding – Why Stucco?

[yipla]

I’m not from the area, so this might be a stupid question. Why do almost all of the houses in San Diego seem to be stucco sided? Is it considered a superior siding for some reason in this region? Are there other more interesting options, or are they inadvisable?

[NotCranky]

If you are from a very cold winter area and supper wet places, you won’t see a lot of stucco because to some degree it absorbs water, which if it freezes will trash the weak/inflexible bonds in the plaster. I think now there are sealants/impregnators for this and you start to see stucco in more places. Traditional stucco is not good to paint, so that’s a draw back. People still do it, and we can sort of get away with it here because San Diego is so dry.

Other than that , it’s cheap, applies very quickly, fairly sturdy to weather and pests, generally long lasting, pretty good at sound dampening, and in our desert region , doesn’t look bad with the right design and possible accents of other materials.

I live in a windy area, my neighbor went with lap siding when he built. Even with code required dual pane windows and beautiful heavy doors you can hear the wind roaring during a santa ana condition. My house, which has stucco is pretty quiet.

[yipla]

Thanks, NotCranky! That’s interesting and helpful. I thought maybe forms of wood siding would be too prone to termites here. I put up vinyl siding when I was young in the Northeast, but realize now that it’s not very attractive either. Nobody seems to use it here at all, but I see some beautiful narrow lap siding in older houses in North Park.

[Anonymous]

Now can somebody explain why homes in the southwest/California do not have basements?

[Hobie]

Required when ground freezes and heaves. Also air is a good insulator.

[Anonymous]

I understand why homes in cold climates DO have basements.

But why do homes here NOT have basements?

[XBoxBoy]

[quote=harvey]I understand why homes in cold climates DO have basements.

But why do homes here NOT have basements?[/quote]

Basements aren’t that cheap to build. (You have to excavate away the dirt, build foundations and with modern codes do a good bit of water sealing) As a builder, if you don’t have to add a basement you will make more money building above ground square footage. After all, when someone goes to buy a house the basement isn’t counted in the house’s square footage. If buyers would pay the costs builders would build basements, but they’ve found that in most cases buyer’s would rather pay for above ground square footage than basements. Note that in areas with real expensive land and houses (Del Mar, La Jolla, etc) more and more of the top end houses are being built with basements because the cost of the lot is so high it justifies the additional cost of the basement.

[Anonymous]

What’s the price point where it is cost effective for a builder to add a basement?

[XBoxBoy]

[quote=harvey]What’s the price point where it is cost effective for a builder to add a basement?[/quote]
I don’t really know, but I would guess about $150-200 per square foot. Maybe more if there are potential issues with water drainage. On a 2000 sq ft house that would be adding $300-400k in price.

[flyer]

The main reason most tract homes have no basements in places like CA and FL is because they aren’t necessary, and it’s cheaper for the builders, because they aren’t required. Per:

“Basements in the United States have largely been a Midwestern or Eastern concept, and for good reason. Where it freezes in the winter, the land contracts and expands and will literally heave the foundation of a house up. Builders in those areas have to take the foundation well below the 4-foot frost line level to anchor it.”

That said, basements have been a huge trend in custom homes in CA for about the last 15 years or so. We’ve done lots of remodels on various properties but not teardowns. Friends who have done teardowns over the past several years have added basements, and it’s extremely popular in the Bay Area to do so.

[Author]

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