If the exterior of your new home is finished with stucco, hairline cracks may appear in the finish coat. Minor cracking (hairline cracking) is expected with stucco surfaces and is most noticeable on smooth finish coats. Do not wash your stucco with a high pressure spray or let your lawn sprinkler saturate the wall, especially within the first year of it being applied. Cementitious stucco is a porous material and water will eventually make its way behind it, accumulate and leak into the wall. When exposed to water, especially a new stucco surface, the water may bring out salts contained in the stucco that have not yet had a chance to bond in the material. Like masonry, discussed on page 52 , the salt appears as white streaks or spots on the wall. The salt can usually be removed with a brush. Stucco EXTERIOR FINISHES 55