Mike Merola & Sons Plastering logo Mike Merola & Sons Plastering
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Mike Merola & Sons Plastering
Pittsburgh's Trusted Plasterers
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Pittsburgh's Stucco Repair Specialists

Stucco Repairin Pittsburgh, PA

Cracked, spalling and water damaged stucco put right, inside and out. Mike Merola & Sons cuts back to sound material, deals with what let the water in, and floats the finish to match the wall it sits in.

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✓ 30+ Years of Hands-On Plastering ✓ Fifth Generation Family Business ✓ Serving Pittsburgh Since 1997
Inside and Out

Your Local Stucco Contractor in Pittsburgh, PA

A stucco contractor is not a painter with a trowel. Stucco is a layered system, and a repair only lasts if the coats go on in the right order, over sound material, with the water given somewhere to go. That means sounding the wall before anything is cut, finding out why the coating let go in the first place, and floating the finish so the patch does not read as a bright square from the sidewalk. It is plastering work, and the Merola family has been doing it in Pittsburgh homes since 1997. The standard, in the owner's father's words, is quality, long lasting work.

Our Process

How It Works

The same four steps on every job, whatever the work turns out to be.

01

Free Consultation & Quote

Give us a call or submit a quote request online. We will discuss your project, arrange a visit to your Pittsburgh-area home, and provide a detailed, no-obligation estimate. No surprises, no pressure.

02

Scheduling & Preparation

Once you approve the quote, we lock in a start date that works for your schedule. We arrive on time, prepared with everything needed to get the job done right, and protect your home before we begin.

03

Expert On-Site Work

With 30+ years of hands-on plastering and five generations of craftsmanship behind us, our team carries out the work with skill and pride. We keep the workspace clean and keep you in the loop throughout.

04

Final Walkthrough & Completion

When the work is done we walk through every detail with you to make sure you are completely satisfied. We clean up thoroughly before we leave. Your home is left better than we found it.

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What We Fix

The Stucco Repairs We Get Called For

Some of it is a single cracked panel, some of it is a wall that has taken water for years, and some of it is a full elevation that has more patch than original left on it. Here is what we are asked for most.

Cracked and Spalling Stucco

Freeze and thaw cycles open a hairline crack, then push flakes of the finish coat off the wall. We cut back to sound stucco, re-key the edge and rebuild the coating so the crack does not reopen.

  • Freeze and thaw cracking
  • Spalled and hollow sections
  • Edges keyed so repairs stay closed

Water Intrusion and Efflorescence

White salt bloom, dark streaks and soft patches mean water is getting in behind the coating. We open the wall, deal with the flashing and the barrier that let it through, then re-coat the area.

  • Efflorescence and staining traced back
  • Flashing and moisture barrier put right
  • Weather resistant re-coat over it

Failed Patches and Color Matching

A patch that sits proud of the wall, or reads as a bright square from the street, is worse than the damage it covered. We take it back out and re-float the panel to match the texture and tint.

  • Texture and tint matched on site
  • Bad previous work removed
  • Blended out to a natural break

Full Exterior Re-Coat

When a wall carries more patch than original, a full re-coat is the honest answer. We strip back, correct what is underneath, and run a fresh system across the whole elevation.

  • Traditional and synthetic systems
  • One consistent finish per elevation
  • Substrate corrected before coating

Interior Stucco and Feature Walls

Stucco is not only an outside finish. Inside, a textured stucco wall around a fireplace, a stair or an arch needs the same layered build and the same hand float to look right in a finished room.

  • Interior stucco repaired and re-floated
  • Feature walls, arches and chimney breasts
  • Texture carried across the whole wall

Stucco Over Masonry and Block

Brick, block and stone all take stucco differently. We prepare the face, use the right key and mix for what is underneath, and build the coats so the finish bonds instead of sheeting off later.

  • Brick, block and stone substrates
  • Key and mix chosen for the wall
  • Foundations, piers and garden walls
The Finish We Work To

Texture That Has to Be Matched

A stucco patch fails when the texture stops at the repair. Matching the float and the aggregate is most of the job.

Close up of a textured terracotta stucco surface
The float texture a repair has to carry through. Get this wrong and the patch is visible from the street.
Why It Fails Here

What Western Pennsylvania Weather Does to Stucco

Stucco does not usually fail because the mix was wrong. It fails because water got into it and then froze. A wall takes rain through a hairline crack, holds it in the coating, and the first hard freeze expands it and pushes the face off. Do that for a few winters running and a crack you could barely see becomes a section you can lift off with your hand.

That is why we never start with the patch. We sound the wall first to find where the stucco has lost its bond, then follow the staining back to whatever is letting the water in: a failed sealant at a window, a flashing detail that stops short, a downspout throwing water at the same spot every storm, or grade that has crept up against the wall. If that is not fixed, a new patch is just a slower version of the same failure.

The other thing that shortens a repair is rushing the coats. Stucco goes on in layers and each one needs time to cure before the next. We give it that time, float the finish to match the texture around it, and let the wall shed water the way it was meant to. It is a family business, and the person who quotes the work is on site doing it.

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Where We Work

Stucco Repair Across the Greater Pittsburgh Area

We take stucco work across Pittsburgh and the surrounding communities, on city homes and out through the North Hills, the South Hills and the eastern suburbs.

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Rooted in Pittsburgh

Stucco Has Been on Pittsburgh Homes for a Century

Tudor revivals, Craftsman homes and mid century additions across the city were finished in stucco over lath, block or brick. Most of those walls are still serviceable, and what looks like a failed elevation is often a handful of areas that took water.

5th
Generation Family Business
30+
Years of Hands-On Plastering
100s
Historic Homes Restored
100%
Pittsburgh-Based & Proud

Older Walls Are Usually Repairable

On homes finished between the 1920s and the 1950s the stucco was applied in real coats over lath or masonry, and that build is tougher than people expect. Damage tends to be local rather than total, so the honest answer is often a cut back and rebuild rather than stripping a whole elevation.

Texture Changes House to House

A sand float, a dash, a swirl and a smooth trowel finish all sit differently in daylight, and no two crews floated a wall exactly the same way. That is why we match the texture off your own wall on site instead of assuming a standard finish will disappear into it.

Traditional and Synthetic Behave Differently

Cement based stucco and synthetic systems move, breathe and take a repair in different ways, and putting the wrong one over the other is a common cause of a patch letting go. We identify what is on the wall before we choose what goes back onto it.

Straight Answers

Pittsburgh Plaster Questions

How do I know if my walls are plaster or drywall?
Press a thumbtack into an out of the way spot. Drywall takes it easily, plaster is hard and will resist or stop it. Knocking helps too, since plaster sounds solid and dense while drywall sounds hollow between the studs. In a house built before the late 1940s, plaster over wood lath is the likely answer.
Why do the cracks keep coming back after they are filled?
Filler treats the surface, not the reason the wall moved. Cracks usually come back because the plaster has come loose from the lath behind it, or because the house is still settling and shifting with the seasons. The fix is to secure the plaster back to the lath first and deal with the movement, then rebuild the surface. Skip that step and you are refilling the same line next year.
Can plaster be repaired, or does it have to be replaced with drywall?
In most cases it can be repaired. Plaster that is sound and simply cracked or loose in places can be reattached and patched in, and the wall keeps the hardness and the depth that made it worth having. Ripping it out for drywall is a bigger, dustier job than most people expect. We will tell you straight when a wall is too far gone to save.
Do you work in older city homes with original lath?
Yes. That is the bulk of what we do. This is a fifth generation family business with more than 30 years of hands-on plastering behind it, serving Pittsburgh since 1997, and wood lath, three coat plaster and old ceilings are ordinary to us. Estimates are free, so if you want a number, send a photo of the area along with the address and we will come back to you within 2 to 3 business days.
How do you match the texture on an old wall?
By reading the existing surface first and then working the new material to suit it, since a smooth wall, a sand float and a hand troweled finish all need a different approach. Feathering the patch out past the repair is what keeps the join from showing under a raking light. The standard we work to is the one Mike's father set: quality, long lasting work.
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Ready to Get Started?

Get the Wall Looked At

Send a photo of the crack, the stained area or the patch that has let go and we will tell you whether it needs a repair or a re-coat. Free estimates, no pressure, no surprises.

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5th generation family business · Pittsburgh, PA · Free estimates