If your house is concrete block and stucco, and most houses we measure in Hollywood, Miramar, and Hialeah are, the impact window project is also a stucco project. The old aluminum frame was often set in a way that cannot simply accept a new fin. The stucco has to be cut back, the new window anchored and flashed, and the wall patched so water has a way out. Homeowners who were shown a photo of pretty glass are sometimes surprised by the patch. The patch is the job.
A quote that says the stucco will be "caulked to match" is describing a different, worse scope. Caulk is a joint. It is not a wall. Our installation overview mentions the sequence. This article is only about the stucco, because that is the line item people feel was sprung on them when it should have been in the proposal from the first visit.
Why the cut-back is required
Impact frames are anchored into structure, on a pattern the product approval names. On a block wall, that means getting past the stucco skin to a substrate the approval allows, and it means room for flashing at the sill, the jambs, and the head. If the old stucco is left tight against a new frame, the weep holes disappear and any water that gets behind the exterior finish has nowhere to go except the interior. We would rather you see a slightly larger patch than a buried drain.
Older houses make this messier. The original opening may not be square. The wood buck, if there is one, may be soft. Previous "replacements" may have layered trim and caulk until the rough opening is a guess. Older South Florida homes need time in the measure for that discovery. We price the repair we can see, and we tell you if opening a wall might reveal more. We do not pretend every 1960s buck is solid because the paint looks fine from the driveway.
What a respectable patch looks like
The cut should be a clean line, not a jagged halo. The patch should be reinforced the way a stucco repair is supposed to be reinforced, brought out to the plane of the wall, and textured close to the surrounding finish. It will not be invisible on day one. New stucco does not match 30-year-old stucco in color or in the way it takes light. Anyone who promises an invisible patch without paint is selling a photograph. The honest plan is to patch, then paint at least that elevation, sometimes the whole side, so the color reads as one wall. Who paints should be written on the proposal. If painting is the homeowner's step, say so before install day, not after the patches are up.
Paint too soon and the patch telegraphs. Paint never, and the patches chalk and show every afternoon shadow on a Hollywood or Pembroke Pines elevation. There is a curing window. We will tell you when the patch can take paint. We will not tell you a same-day paint is a good idea in August humidity.
Details that separate a dry opening from a callback
Weep holes and sill drainage stay open. The stucco stop, or the casing used instead of a return into the stucco, should leave those drains free. Sealant goes on the joint it was designed for, in a size that can stretch, not as a buttered edge over the patch. Interior drywall and wood returns wait until that opening is dried in. Closing the inside of a window that is still waiting on exterior patch compound is how a pop-up storm becomes an interior stain.
Second-story openings need the same patch as first-floor openings, plus a safe way to reach them. Scaffold or a lift is part of doing the stucco, not an optional extra you discover when the crew is unwilling to lean a ladder into fresh cement. Ask during the estimate. The process we use includes that access conversation before the order.
Stucco repair is included when we say it is included, and the proposal for window replacement should show it as its own note so you can compare contractors fairly. A lower bid that excludes the patch is not lower once you hire a second trade to come back and cut the wall anyway.
Color, texture, and houses that were already patched
Ask for the patch width in feet, not a shrug, so you can plan the paint. Many Broward and Miami-Dade houses have been patched after Hurricane Irma, after a remodel, or after an earlier window crew. Those patches are already a different texture from the original sand or smooth finish. A new repair will not erase that history. We can blend to the nearest texture. We cannot promise the wall will look like it did the day the house was built unless you plan to recoat the elevation. On two-story window walls, the patch is visible from the yard even when it is straight, because the sun rakes across it in the afternoon. Look at a previous repair on your own house in that light before you decide the new work "should be invisible." If a prior patch is hollow or cracked at the corner of the opening, say so at the measure. We would rather recut a bad patch than caulk over it and call it finished.
If you want the glass and the wall priced together, request a free estimate or call (754) 600-4876.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will new impact windows ruin my stucco?
The stucco around each opening is cut back and patched so the new window can be anchored and flashed. That patch is normal on block houses. A careful line and a planned paint coat are what keep it from looking ruined.
Can the patch be painted the same day?
It should not be. New stucco needs time to cure, and South Florida humidity does not speed that up. We will tell you when the patch is ready for paint.
Why not just caulk around the new frame?
Caulk cannot replace a cut-back, a flashed sill, or open weep holes. A heavy bead over the old stucco is a common source of leaks on rushed replacements.
Who paints the patches?
Whoever the proposal names. Sometimes it is in our scope, sometimes the homeowner paints after cure. The mistake is leaving it unstated until the crew is gone.