The Paint Quality Institute has warned that cracking on the exterior of your home is not only an aesthetic issue, but it can also cause thousands of dollars worth of damage due to cracks which allow water from rain storms to enter your walls.

The most common type of exterior siding prone to cracking is masonry homes such as those using stucco. These cracks typically occur when masonry walls contract and expand with the ever changing temperatures. And when water makes it's way into a crack and freezes it only makes matters worse.

In contrast to latex exterior paint which is applied at 12 to 15 mils thick, Elastomeric wall coatings get applied at 48 to 75 mils dry film thickness (4 to 5 times greater). The advantage of this is that these flexible coatings will expand and cover any cracks that open up in your masonry as temps drop. When temperatures rise back up to the norm the Elastomeric coating will contract allowing the siding to return to it's original shape without a trace of defect.

A great trait of Elastomeric coatings is their water-resistant qualities that prevent moisture from entering the walls via porous and/or cracked masonry. Also, another nice feature of Elastomeric coatings is that they allow moisture already inside a home/masonry siding to release to the outside world via vapor.

Using the standard application technique of applying 2 coats of Elastomeric paint over a good, quality primer, the cracks will be filled which prevents any water from entering the walls.