There are a lot of different facets to stucco in general, with many different procedures and so on. One question that people ask is whether stucco comes in different colors, which I assume is referring to stucco not being painted. Let's dive in!
Does Stucco Come In Different Colors?
To answer this question, yes, stucco comes in different colors, which are available from the various manufacturers via their color charts. The two main types of finishes (acrylic and cement based) both can have color added to them that will achieve an integrally colored stucco finish, when applied to the walls.
The color (liquid for acrylics and powder for cement finishes) is added to the base material, which is usually either white or a very light gray color, to create the desired color.
Acrylic and Standard Stucco Color Options:
There are two different stucco finishes that are typically used in stucco and these will have slightly different color options available to them, which I think is also worth mentioning.
You will typically see a cement based finish used or an acrylic finish used. There are also synthetic finishes offered, but these finishes will typically have the same color options that the acrylic finishes offer.
Acrylic Finish Color Options: Acrylic and synthetic finishes will have a wide range of colors available to you because of the base material used. These colors will be offered on a color chart, but in most cases, any color can be custom-made, like a paint color.
Standard (Cement Based) Finish Color Options: The color options for the standard cement based finishes will be more "earthy tones" and will usually not be vibrant colors that you would typically find in a paint like color or acrylic stucco finish color.
These colors also have subtle light and dark spots visible in the wall after the color has dried, which some people like and others don't. I recommend reading my article on the difference between acrylic stucco and traditional stucco for more information on the two different finish materials.
What Colors Are Offered?
Every manufacturer has their own color options available, via a color chart. These are a lot like paint chip color samples that you find in the paint department of home improvement stores.
You will have to choose a color from the color chart or you have the option to have a custom color made by most stucco manufacturers, as well. I have an article on the most popular stucco color charts that I recommend you take a look at if you want a quick look at the wide range of color options that are available.
Online Charts: You can find most manufacturer's color charts online and they will have their images in some type of "computer friendly" format that represents the colors closely, but it is not an exact representation.
Real Color Charts: The real color charts represent the true color much better than the charts on your computer screen and are actual small chips of color, like you would find in the paint department of a home improvement store.
You should use these when choosing your colors, whenever possible and it is a good idea to apply a sample of the chosen color on one of your walls to further validate that you like it, in a more "realistic environment".
Below is an image of what a real color chart will look like and it still does not display 100% correctly on a computer screen, when I compare it to the actual color chart samples on the chart, but is much closer than some of the online samples I have encountered.
Where Can I Find These Colors?
You can search the different manufacturer's websites to see what colors they offer for their different stucco finishes. This will be a little bit harder to do if you are not familiar with the different stucco manufacturers, but here is a list of some of the most popular ones: