Bradley reached out after losing his home in the Eaton Fire and is rebuilding with plans for a dark blue stucco finish — possibly two tones.
Question (from Bradley): Hey Ryan! Your article about blue stucco houses was perfect, as I am building a new house that I'm hoping will have a darker blue stucco finish. I recently lost my house in the Eaton fire in LA and my new house is already moving quickly. I uploaded a photo of the basic design of the front of the house and played around in Photoshop to show how I’d like the stucco color and design to look.
For an experienced stucco crew, how much more complicated would it be to make it two-tone, as illustrated in the photo? Basically a lighter and darker tone of the same color. Roof will be matte black standing seam metal. I was hoping you could give me a ballpark estimate or percentage of how much more than that I might expect to pay for the deep blue stucco, and in two tones.
I understand there are many variables that make answering my question difficult, but any assistance or advice would be very much appreciated. Thank you so much, Ryan!
Answer: Hey Bradley, first off, I’m really sorry to hear about your home in the Eaton Fire. That’s a tough loss, and it’s great to hear your rebuild is already underway.
As for the two-tone blue stucco, you’re right, it’s a little trickier than a single color, but not drastically so. The main extra cost comes from mixing and keeping track of multiple colors and the extra time it takes to make sure those colors meet cleanly at corners, trims, and transitions. Crews have to slow down a bit to mask and plan the layout properly, especially if the tones touch each other directly instead of being separated by trim or a break line.
The total price difference depends on how much wall area is each color, but generally, you might see an increase of around 10–20% for the labor and extra color materials. That’s a ballpark figure... it could be a little less if it’s a simple layout or a little more if there’s a lot of color cutting and detail work involved.
If the quote comes back higher than expected, another option is to go with one stucco color and paint the second tone later using a high-quality paint that can still give you the two-tone look without the added complexity during the stucco phase.
Either way, two-tone stucco isn’t uncommon, and for an experienced crew, it’s totally doable, it just takes more planning and a little more time.
