I really like stucco but I heard it's way more expensive (because its labor intensive). How much are materials compared to vinyl? Is this something I could do myself?
I did a bunch of stucco, alone, on a rehab in CA once, with only a little mud experience with concrete slabs, gunite, and plaster.
I'd never do that again. Guys that do that for a living can just knock it out, coat after coat. For me it was a gigantic hassle just to get a barely acceptable finish.
YMMV
I'll let you know because that's what I will be doing in a couple of months (as soon as the weather warms enough).
I am lucky enough to have a few friends here who have done a lot of it and have been told that it is by far the cheapest (material wise) and requires very little maintenance. It is labor intensive though, fortunately I will only have to cough up multiple cases of beer and a few pots of chili!
I think you need to be in a relatively warm area, it is suspect to cracking during hard freezes. It gets down in the teens where I am at and occasionally lower, and the stuccoed homes seem to hold up well.
Also- a friend of mine recently had his house professionally done- about the same square footage as the 20 by 30 I am doing (10 ft. walls) for around $3000.
I like stucco but I will never try to do a whole house. To me at least there is a long learning curve. Maybe with a pro teaching it would be easier, but it's still labor intensive; three coats if I recall rightly. Plus the chicken wire and the corners.
We had stucco back home in Canada so not to worry about cold weather performance. If the house doesn't move or have other water problems the stucco won't give any trouble.
Materials calculators can be found on quikretes webpage I think. If not, look up their bags of stucco brown coat and finish coat and it will tell you the coverage area. You can usually find the cost of a bag at the local Lowes on Lowes homepage. If it is going over wood, you will need some type of lathe. You can buy the fancy stucco lath at the store (2x8 sheets for around $10 IIRC) or you can buy a heavy galvanized chicken wire. Compare cost per square (100 sq. ft.) Vinyl siding is cheap in terms of labor and the siding itself. The costs add up for vinyl with the fixtures. (Corners, J-Channels) It also depends on what type of vinyl siding you are buying. cheap white or custom ordered. The last job I looked at, Stucco was usually more expensive in materials and labor, I just think it looks and lasts a whole lot better.
I find stucco to be pretty easy to do a decent job, but a lot of work. Sassy has done some here at the complex and done a good job.
Stucco lath with the chicken wire and paper together on a roll is pretty easy to use.
If you do decide to go with stucco, please read this article. You will be glad you did.
http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/insights/bsi-029-stucco-woes-the-perfect-storm (http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/insights/bsi-029-stucco-woes-the-perfect-storm)