With a bit of lime, some Portland cement, a dash of silica sand and water, Joe Brooks, president of Advanced Stucco, says he has the best recipe for stucco cement.

After 20 years in the business, it’s no wonder Brooks feels he has mastered the perfect formula. Advanced Stucco is considered an industry leader in all things stucco and one of the largest providers in the United States. Its reputation for specializations in stucco, lath, vinyl, accessories, exterior metal framing, Styrofoam shapes and profiles is well known in the business.

It was after his time working for a friend’s dad in the industry that Brooks decided to start his own company. He opened the doors in 1995 and saw tremendous growth until the recession in 2008, a common trend within the industry. “We survived the downturn, and in 2013 started seeing some improvement,” says Brooks. “Since 2014, we are back in full swing and enjoying the strong high rise and multi-family industry growth.”

Advanced Stucco is currently employing 32 direct employees and several subcontracting companies’ affiliates. As an expert in all synthetic reflect materials and lime-based Thermocromex wall systems, Advanced Stucco has remained one of the few interior veneer plastering contractors around.

Being on the cutting edge of new technology and products allows Advanced Stucco to take on complex projects and deliver a high-standard service. With the company mantra, “quality and service above all else”, the well experienced team of employees have adapted this into their work ethics and is now what they believe and strive for every day. Brooks says their clients know they can always count on the team to achieve their goals. They have completed the most difficult projects on time and within budget throughout the Southeast and the Caribbean as far south as Anguilla, British Virgin Islands.

The “Chateau” Project

With a niche in high rise condominiums, it is no surprise that Advanced Stucco recently was awarded the Craftsman Award from the Construction Association of South Florida for the completion of the Chateau project.

The project was worked on with CO Architect Interior Design Planning, Coastal Construction and Kobi Karp Architecture. As a team, they had envisioned to create large radium walls and columns that would represent stone cladding. As it is difficult to bend real limestone, they used Thermocromex, a powder from real limestone, and applied to the walls and columns with a smooth finish. Lines were carefully added to give the application the appearance of large pieces of limestone.

The team added two natural colors to the mix to achieve the overall desired aesthetic. “This was one of our more recent specialty projects,” explains Brooks. “The project turned out amazing and our client was ecstatic about the finished product.”

“Personally, I love the logistical nightmares, never been done before, one off challenging projects,” says Brooks. He says that these projects allow him to use his expertise and knowledge to find the best solutions, and being in the business as long as he has, this is where the experience pays off the most. “I really enjoy taking a client’s idea or vision for their project and then creating it,” says Brooks, “there is no better satisfaction in my mind.”

Building the Future

While South Florida is one the largest international destinations in the world, Advanced Stucco will be expanding and branching out over the next two years to work on projects in nine different states. “We are full for the rest of 2015,” says Brooks. “2016 to 2017 are solid and almost booked completely. While our concentration of work will be throughout Florida, we will be in nine different states as well.”

Brooks describes the upcoming projects as exciting opportunities for the company as they are high profile projects. Although they are still in the design phase, he is positive that when completed, these projects will become iconic buildings and structures. “These designs will be the talk around the world,” says Brooks.

The current state of the market allows for potential growth and expansion within the industry. While the hardest aspect of most of these jobs and meeting their demands is the difficult schedules and incomplete drawings, or better yet, drawings that continue to change throughout the building process, Brooks has the solution. In order to adequately service the clients, the company moved to larger offices and hired a select few additional team members.

“You must have the staff in order to keep up with this ever growing problem in our industry, and thankfully, we have the staff.”

The Greatest Achievement

“I believe we have the most dedicated, talent rich team to be found in our industry,” says Brooks. He believes that the greatest achievement Advanced Stucco has as a company would be assembling the team it has today.

This has allowed them to build the strong relationships they have with clients who trust them with their biggest and most difficult projects. “The most gratifying part of this work is when a client only wants you because of the quality of the work, trust, and relationship you have created,” says Brooks.

Future goals for Advanced Stucco and Joe Brooks are to grow and expand the company as far west as Las Vegas. “Ideally it has always been a goal of mine to have a Las Vegas mega hotel/casino on my resume.”

Brooks wants to continue hiring strong team members and watch them grow with the company all while delivering quality and service above all else.