Stucco and EIFS experts serving the Jersey Shore since 1985
✓ Over 40 years in business
Founded 1985
Still owner-involved on every project not just one system
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Need Plaster Construction? Call (732) 400-4020
Quick Summary:
A crack, bulge, or dark stain on your plaster is rarely the real problem. It’s usually water that got in somewhere else and is now working its way out. Read the wall correctly, and you can catch the damage before it spreads.
Homeowners call us about a crack. What we’re really looking for is where the water got in. That difference is what separates a patch that lasts from one that cracks again next season.
A hairline crack near a window corner usually means the sealant failed there first. Water crept behind the plaster, froze in winter, expanded, and cracked the surface from the inside out. A dark brown or black stain near the roofline often points to a flashing problem above, not a plaster issue at all. And a soft, spongy spot you can press with a thumb? That’s moisture that’s been trapped in there for a while.
Bulging worries us the most. When EIFS or stucco starts bowing out from the wall, water has been building up behind it, sometimes for years. We see this often on homes near Long Branch’s older shorefront blocks, where salt air and wind-driven rain hit the walls harder than they do a few miles inland.
None of these symptoms tell the whole story on their own. That’s why we look at the wall as a system, not a spot.
Long Branch takes a beating that inland towns don’t. Salt air off the ocean sits on exterior walls all year and works into hairline cracks faster than it would forty miles west. We’ve patched plaster and stucco on homes near Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park where the north side of the house, the one facing the water, shows damage the south side never sees.
Wind-driven rain is the real culprit, not just salt. Storms off the Atlantic push water sideways into walls instead of straight down. Old cement plaster can usually handle that. Older EIFS systems, especially ones put up before 1999, often can’t. They were built without a drainage plane, so water gets in and has nowhere to go.
That’s the pattern we see block after block near Ocean Avenue and Pier Village. Homes built before the standards changed are carrying moisture they were never designed to shed.
Nine times out of ten, the stain or the bulge you’re looking at started as water finding a gap months ago. By the time it shows on the surface, it’s been sitting behind the wall for a while. That’s just how it goes with these systems.
We work in traditional cement stucco and EIFS both, so we’re not guessing at what’s on your wall before we start. And we blend patches into the existing finish so a fix near your front door doesn’t stick out like a bandage. Call CMB
Not every crack means trouble. That’s the truth.
Hairline cracks, thin as a pencil line, often show up in the first year after a stucco job cures. That’s normal shrinkage, not a structural problem. If the crack is dry, doesn’t feel soft around it, and there’s no staining nearby, you can probably leave it alone.
We check jobs across Long Branch and see this same pattern: homeowners panic over marks that are purely cosmetic, when it’s just surface checking and not water getting in behind the wall.
A dab of elastomeric paint or a sealant made for stucco can handle small cosmetic cracks like these yourself. That’s honest advice, even though it means less work for us.
But if the crack is wider than a pencil, runs in a jagged pattern, or sits near a window where water pools, that’s a different situation. And if you press near it and feel give, or see a stain spreading, it’s not cosmetic anymore.
So check it with your eyes and your hand. Dry, thin, and stable means wait and watch. Wet, wide, or spreading means it’s time to get someone out there before it gets worse underneath.
Have questions? We’re happy to help.
Call (732) 400-4020. CMB Jersey Shore Stucco and EIFS Repair & Installation is ready to help.
There’s no flat rate for plaster repair. Every wall tells a different story, and pricing follows the story, not a price sheet.
A hairline crack patch costs less than a spot where water got behind the wall and rotted the sheathing. Simple enough. But most homeowners don’t know which one they have until we open it up and look.
In Long Branch, salt air off the ocean speeds up moisture problems in stucco homes near the coast, so repairs there often involve more hidden water damage than the surface crack suggests.
Ask a contractor what’s driving the cost on your job. A straight answer tells you a lot. If someone quotes a number without opening the wall first, be careful. Water damage hides.
We look at the whole wall before we talk numbers. That’s how you avoid paying twice. Call (732) 400-4020
A good plaster repair isn’t just slapping mud on a crack and calling it done. We cut out the damaged section back to solid material first. Stop too soon, and moisture already behind the wall keeps working its way through, and the patch fails within a year. Homes near Ocean Avenue and the Long Branch waterfront take a beating from salt air, so we check further out from the visible crack than most folks expect.
That last step is where a lot of contractors fall short. Color matching takes a trained eye and years of doing it. We’ve built our name on spot repairs other crews wouldn’t touch, blending patches into fifty-year-old stucco and brand-new EIFS alike. Since 1985, that’s been a core part of the work.
Small crack, big wall, doesn’t matter. The process stays the same, and skipping a step is how repairs end up failing twice. Call CMB now
Common questions about Plaster Construction
Yes, we always look at the wall first before talking numbers. Water damage often hides behind stucco and EIFS, so a quote without an inspection can miss the real problem. We check for soft spots, staining, and bulging, not just the visible crack. This tells us if the damage is a simple surface patch or something that reached the wood framing underneath. Skipping this step is how homeowners end up paying twice for the same repair.
We press around the crack, check for soft spots, and look for staining nearby before touching anything. This tells us if water only affected the surface or worked its way into the wall assembly. We also check whether you have traditional cement stucco or an EIFS system, since each repairs differently. You’ll get a plain explanation of what we found and what caused it, not just a number. That way you know exactly what you’re paying for.
Salt air and wind-driven rain hit these homes harder than houses further inland. The north side facing the water often shows cracking and staining that the south side never develops. Older EIFS systems built before 1999 are especially at risk, since they lack a drainage plane for water to escape. That means moisture builds up behind the wall for months before it ever shows on the surface. If your home sits near the water, expect to check exterior walls more often.
A serious crack is wide, jagged, or sits somewhere that collects rain, like under a window ledge. Press near it. If you feel give or see the stain spreading, water is already behind the wall. A hairline crack under 1/16 inch that’s stayed the same size for months is usually just cosmetic shrinkage. Dry, thin, and stable means you can wait and watch. Wet, wide, or spreading means it’s time to get it checked before the damage grows underneath.
Yes, we work on traditional cement stucco and EIFS systems, and we know the difference before we start. EIFS repairs need different techniques since these systems handle moisture differently than cement stucco. We also blend the new patch into your existing finish so a repair near your front door doesn’t stand out. Knowing which system is on your home before work begins keeps the repair from failing again next season.
With nearly 40 years of experience since 1985, we at CMB Jersey Shore Stucco and EIFS Repair & Installation, have been perfecting the art of standardized and/or customized stucco finishes. Call Now (732) 400-4020
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