Smooth coat stucco is the conversion of heavy Spanish lace or knockdown texture into a flat modern wall, and Sharp's Painting does that work for homeowners across Orange County. Robert Sharp skims and re textures the wall to a smooth finish, then paints it. He holds California C-33 license 1048840, is bonded and insured, has 27 years in the trade, and is on site with his own crew.
What a smooth coat conversion actually is
Your house probably has a heavy texture on it because that is what went on tract and Mediterranean homes here for decades. A smooth coat conversion skims and re textures that wall to a flat finish, then the wall is primed and painted. What changes is the surface itself, not the color. A house that looked Spanish reads as modern afterwards, and it changes how the house looks far more than a new color does.
This is not a repaint, and it is more work than one
A repaint puts new color on the wall you already have. A smooth coat rebuilds the face of the wall. The surface has to be worked flat while the material is still open, and the trowel work has to stay consistent across an entire elevation. Texture is forgiving because it hides everything. A smooth wall hides nothing, so every ripple, trowel stop and soft spot shows once the sun crosses it. That is a different trade skill from painting.
It has to be done a whole wall at a time
You cannot smooth coat a patch. A flat area inside a textured wall reads as a rectangle from the street, and a seam where smooth meets texture will always catch light. The work runs plane by plane, corner to corner, so the finished surface is continuous. That also means the honest answer to doing only the front of the house is usually no, unless a corner or a return gives a natural place to stop. Robert tells you at the walkthrough where the wall can be broken and where it cannot.
How Robert does the work
He walks the elevations first and checks what the stucco underneath is doing, because a smooth finish over a wall that is cracking or holding water will telegraph both. Cracks and damaged areas are repaired before anything is skimmed. The wall is then skimmed and re textured to a smooth finish, worked to a wet edge so there are no trowel stops sitting in the middle of a plane. Bare stucco is primed, then the finish is sprayed and back rolled so the coating sits into the wall rather than on it.
Where this work happens
Sharp's Painting is based in Huntington Beach and does smooth coat work across the coast and inland Orange County, including Newport Beach, Newport Coast, Corona del Mar, Costa Mesa, Seal Beach, Irvine, Yorba Linda and Fullerton. Coastal walls and inland walls fail differently. Salt air and the marine layer chalk a finish and open cracks near the water, while the drier inland sun in Yorba Linda and Fullerton fades color and works the wall harder in summer. Robert has painted on both sides of that line for 27 years.
Seeing it before you commit
A smooth wall throws light differently than a textured one, so a color you liked on a lace finish can read much brighter once the wall goes flat. Robert gives you a free color consultation and up to 10 free paint samples to put on your own house, and the sensible thing is to look at them in the morning marine layer, at midday and again late in the afternoon before deciding. He is on site with his own crew through the job, and nothing is owed until it is finished and you are happy with it.
Licensed C-33 Contractor
Sharp's Painting holds California license 1048840 in the C-33 painting and decorating classification, issued by the Contractors State License Board.
Bonded And Insured
Sharp's Painting is bonded and carries general liability insurance on every job it takes.
125+ Five Star Reviews
A 5.0 average across 125+ Google reviews, and every one of them has a reply.
27 Years Painting
Robert Sharp has 27 years in the trade. He washes, scrapes, replaces bad wood and fascia, patches stucco and primes before any paint goes on.
Owner On Site Daily
Robert runs his own crew, hires no subcontractors, and is on your job every day the crew is working.
No Payment Up Front
There is no deposit and no payment schedule. You pay once the work is finished and you are happy with it.
Where we work
Sharp's Painting is based in Huntington Beach and covers Orange County along with the rest of coastal and inland Orange County. Estimates are free and Robert comes out himself.
Smooth Coat Stucco in Orange County questions
Can you skim a smooth coat over my existing heavy texture?
It depends on how heavy the texture is and what the wall underneath is doing. A light knockdown can usually be skimmed and worked flat. A deep Spanish lace is a bigger job, because a thin skim over a heavy pattern shadows through and you end up seeing the old texture in raking light. Robert reads the wall at the free estimate and tells you what your house actually needs rather than quoting one method for every job.
What do people mean by a Santa Barbara finish?
It is the name used for a very fine, semi smooth stucco with slight hand variation across the wall, the look you see on older Spanish Colonial houses. It sits between a dead flat smooth coat and a light texture. People often use the phrase loosely to mean any smooth modern stucco. Tell Robert which look you are actually picturing at the walkthrough, or point at a house you like, because the word covers a range.
Will a smooth wall crack more than a textured one?
A smooth wall does not cause cracks, it just shows the ones you get. Texture breaks up light and hides hairlines, and a flat wall does not. That is why the repair work underneath matters more on this job than on a repaint. Existing cracks are opened, packed and floated before anything is smoothed, and if a wall is holding water that gets dealt with first, because moisture pushes a finish off from behind no matter how well it was troweled.
Can I do just the front of my house?
Usually not. A smooth panel inside a textured wall reads as a patch, and the seam catches light. Sometimes an outside corner or a return gives a clean place to stop, and where that exists Robert will point it out. Otherwise the honest answer is that the elevation runs corner to corner, and he would rather tell you that at the estimate than halfway through.
Do you also just repair and repaint stucco without converting it?
Yes, and that is the more common job. Cracks get opened and packed, damaged areas are re stuccoed, the texture is matched back to what is already on the house, and the exterior is repainted so the repair disappears. Smooth coat conversion is for homeowners who want the texture gone rather than matched. The standard repair and repaint service is here: /stucco-painting-and-repair