My 7 year old home is concrete block construction on a poured concrete slab. Exterior finish is stucco. I've owned the house for three years. During four recent hurricanes (I live in Florida), water has seeped into my living room, soaking my carpet and floors. It appears to be seeping in at baseboard level. There is no evidence of water damage on the walls or ceiling, so I don't suspect the water is entering through the roof. I didn't have this problem before this year, but, then again, we never had so many severe hurricanes, one right after the other, in this part of Central Florida before either. A neighbor inspected the exterior stucco finish and noted that it is a few inches below grade level. He suggested that the stucco be cut back to a few inches above grade level to correct the water problem. He said that water might be seeping up between the stucco and cement block, through the cement block and into the house at the baseboard level. He said that current stucco finishing techniques here in Florida are to end the stucco above grade level to avoid this problem.
Answer:
As long as you hav a good impermeable parging between siding and grade, you should be OK but the coverage has to be continuous because both stucco and block are, to a certain extent, permeable. Because molds are so persistant, protecting has to be done from the exterior and the interior has to be dried out very well indeed.
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