There are endless possibilities of stucco textures. Stucco textures are limited to the minds of the craftsman. The most common textures are smooth, swirl, lace, stipple, freeform, & limestone. Stucco can even be installed to look exactly like any brick or stone. The texture will vary depending on the type of aggregate in the stucco and the base that the stucco finish will go on top of. Some textures may only require one layer of stucco while other layers may require two or three layers. Score lines, reveals, and V grooves are different ways to describe a line that has either been cut or placed in the stucco to create a desired look. There are many different tools to use in creating a stucco texture.

For a smooth finish, the base layer should be floated with a sponge and the stucco finish should get applied with a plastic trowel. The same goes for a swirl finish, the only difference is the aggregate in the stucco material.

To achieve a lace texture, the base layer and the first layer of the stucco should be brushed. Using a pointer trowel, another layer of stucco gets dragged up the wall perpendicular to the brush marks to achieve the lace texture.

A stipple texture is the same as lace for some people. It is also known for using a wire brush to knock off some of the stucco finish to give it an old world look.

The freeform texture is pretty much just stucco slapped on the wall with a metal trowel. The metal trowel could also be used to make a wave appearance.

The limestone texture has limestone aggregate material in the stucco. It requires two layers and it can either be back-troweled or floated on the second coat to make it look like a piece of limestone. After the second coat dries a little, the surface can be buffed to make it shiny.

Stucco can look like brick, also known as the brickface stucco, by putting a base layer, a brick stencil or template on top of the base layer, and then applying the stucco on top of the brick stencil. When the stencil is removed, the wall now looks like brick and the color of the joints are the color of the base layer.