ZIP 55421 sits just north of Minneapolis proper, anchored largely by Columbia Heights. It's a working residential area with a strong mix of postwar ramblers, two-stories, and older brick and stucco homes that were built when exterior plaster was still the standard. Many of those homes are pushing 70 or 80 years old now, and the stucco on them shows it. Cracks around window frames, spalling near the foundation, and failing lath are common calls we get from this zip.
The climate here is hard on exteriors. Winters along this stretch of Hennepin and Anoka county border regularly drop below zero, and the freeze-thaw cycles from February through April do real damage to stucco that hasn't been maintained. Summer humidity doesn't help either. Water gets into a hairline crack, freezes, and widens it by spring. Columbia Heights homeowners who ignore small cracks in October often call us in April with a much bigger problem. Getting ahead of repairs before winter is the smart move in ZIP 55421.