How to Remove Stucco From Exterior Walls

Stucco is a masonry product, and when you start taking a hammer and saw to it, you’ll get a lot of dust and small bits breaking off. Start by laying a large tarp on the ground to catch the debris. This will save you a lot of cleanup time later on.

You should also have a piece or two of plywood handy to cover windows as you work. Stucco is heavy—if you accidentally drop a piece as you’re removing it, you risk breaking through glass if you don’t safely cover nearby windows. Use your circular saw to cut pieces to place over windows, just to be safe.

You’ll also need to assemble scaffolding or put up a ladder if you’ll be working on a two-story home. Remember to wear safety equipment while you work, including work gloves, a respirator, ear protection, and safety glasses.

Choose a small section of stucco in an area that’s not readily visible, like a spot behind a bush. Use your hammer to create a hole to expose what’s underneath. The goal here is to see what materials are behind the stucco and gauge the stucco depth.

Set your circular saw depth so that it reaches down almost to the rear side of the stucco itself. Aim for the blade to stop about 1/8-inch in front of the back side of the stucco. Single stucco applications are often between 3/8 and 1-1/8-inch thick, but if the previous owner put stucco over stucco, it could be up to double that thickness.

Next, use chalk to draw rough guidelines for your cut marks. Aim for 1-foot-by-1-foot squares, and offset the vertical lines from studs if there’s no sheathing or siding behind the stucco. Studs on exterior walls are 16 inches apart on center, so you can measure from the first stud you find to locate the rest. This will help prevent accidental damage to the structural components.

It might be tempting to cut larger squares to make the job go more quickly, but stucco is heavy, so working with smaller pieces is safer.

Install a diamond-toothed masonry blade on your circular saw and cut out the first square along your guidelines. Then, grab the exposed edge of the square and pull it off. You might need to use a crowbar to loosen it, but have an extra set of hands to hold the section while you pry to prevent it from falling onto your feet.

With the first square removed, use tin snips to cut the wire mesh around the perimeter of the hole you created. You’ll need to remove the lath anyway, and doing it now will help the rest of the removal go more smoothly.

Continue the process of cutting squares, prying them off, and then cutting the metal mesh behind it until all of your stucco is removed.

As you’re removing the stucco, keep your worksite clear by hauling away large chunks in a wheelbarrow. Having a dumpster nearby will make the haul-away easier, but you can also stack them and then hire a local junk removal company to come and pick them up. Professional junk removal costs between $100 and $600 for construction debris. Once the larger pieces are clear, lift the tarp with a friend to move the dust and smaller pieces into the dumpster.

If there is brick beneath the stucco you remove, and you want to salvage it, you’ll need a wire brush to remove any residual stucco. You can also clean up sheathing if that’s what you find to prep it for new siding installation.