Hey you guys in CA, AZ, ect, what is real stucco like? We have some fake stucco trim on our house to accent the brick. The house is 2x4 framed with plywood sheathing on the outside. They put tar paper on the sheathing, and then staple chicken wire on that. Then they put a skim coat of concretey-mortary stuff on the chicken wire, maybe 1/4" thick. Then on top of that, for the final finish, they put a colored poly stuff with sandy aggregate in it. It's troweled on just thick enough to cover the concrete looking stuff underneath. An alternative used is to put a styrofoam board on the plywood, and use the same build up. That gives some insulation value, but dents easily. It looks nice, but isn't the real stuff.

How is "real" stucco done? Isn't it less prone to rotting the substructure if there is water penetration?

Stucco isn't water proof. The preperation under it is what protects from water damage.
Stucco is a cement product that will crack around windows and doors. Look closely at any house that has it and you will see them.
Kim

The whole thing about Stucco is it's southwest motif. You know, where things don't get wet. We probably only get two full days of rain a year, with 180 days between them, things tend to dry out pretty thoroughly.

Your description sounds like "real" stucco to me, at least how it is done on modern houses. Around here, you do see old adobe buildings with a concrete shell. That is probably the look that modern stucco is emulating. I don't know how that technique was done.

I would hope they did more than just staple the wire/metal lathe on the house. It needs to be nailed or screwed to the studs. True stucco ends up about 3/4" thick. There should be 2expansion joints above and below each window and above each door. There should also be expansion joints on any large flat area. It has been a while since I did any lathe work. If I remember correctly, you shouldn't have more than 100 square feet without expansion joints. Check the website below for more info.
James

chicken wire will be a problem...it should go over a metal lathe material that is nailed/screwed..the lathe has a much denser mesh than chicken wire and nails should be driven in at a slight angle downward to prevent eventual pullout.

i helped my neighbor replace a faux stone front on his house that failed and leaked due to shoddy installation by the builder. our friend is a 30 year stone mason, and he showed us all how to do it the right way..we re-installed a much nicer stone front.

his estimate was $20k to just rip off and replace what he had with a duplicate material.

his bill with us doing it was $7k, and that included all new windows and 2 new doors (and about 30 cases of beer!!).

Around here, the only thing I have ever seen is chicken wire, about 1" pitch, stapled on. Even on sections of the front of my house where we have 1-2" thick real stone, it's just chicken wire stapled to the sheathing underneath. Scary, huh! This poly stucco outer coat is supposed to be water proof.

I prefer all brick, but it's not always done perfect either. The mason on our other house didn't use any pencil rod on our brick corner "qoin" blocks, and the mortar lines cracked all the way up and down.

It's hard to get people to do things right. The best tile I ever saw was the shower I did in a previous house. I used a dremel tool to shape every piece in the corners of the curb and stuff like that. But then again, it took 6 weeks to complete :boring:

Your description is what is called a "two-part" system which is a combination of traditiona stucco and the synthetic systems. Real stucco is a three part system:

2 layers grade D building paper or equal (Code requirement)
lathe, usually expanded wire, in old houses wood strips were used
sand lime cement scratch coat really rough with grooved trowl - sets 10-15 days it will crack
sand lime cement brown coat smoother with flat trowel - sets 7-10 days minor cracking
fine lime sand cement finish coat with flat trowel - need to be kept moist during during to prevent cracking.

traditional stucco requires expansion joints to break it up into 120 SF sections and at other areas prone to cracking (window and door opening) to limit cracks. It will crack, as stated above the building paper is the moisture barrier.

The synthetic system adds polymers to the material to give it elasticity and, in theory, eliminate the expansion joints. The base coats are either like traditional stucco or over foam and fabric with base coat. They are not a durable or hard as traditional stucco.

Your system eliminates the scratch coats, goes right to brown coat then elastic top coat. If done right it is not to bad but I never specifiy it. The brown coat still has to cure 7-10 days. The curing in both systems is necessary to allow the under coats to crack. If the top coat is put on too soon the under coats are still curing and both will crack. Even with the elastic systems I use expansion joints.

Bottom line is in all cases you are dealing with materials that expand and contract with temperature changes and maintenance will we required.

Final warning - run away from anyone who tells you their product can be put directly over plywood, osb or similar underlayments, I'm in the middle of a remedial project right now where the contractor got sneaky and eliminated the foam and dry sheets. It took 6 years but the finish coat is delaminating from the osb. Stucco guy is out of business (no surprise there) and owner is left holding the bag.

I'd do this and I know how to besides!!

I'd build a shell and waterproof it, then install v-anchors and then "gunite" the outside "stucco" coat!

Do this in a heartbeat!!

Take a LOVA 2 Reed Gunning Machine, a Reedmate Predampner trailer rig and a 600 cfm portable Air compressor and install the stuff at say three tons/hour plumb easy!! (And even up to 7.5 tons/hour!!)..............

And a water pressure booster pump like an old Garder Denver boiler feedwater steam/air operated piston pump!! Water hoses, gunite material hoses and the nozzle and waterbody and go!!

pdq67

My house is real Stucco...European design style.
No problems with it and it will be 20 years old in August. I had it recoated about ten years ago...they used some kind of rubberized paint. It has held up very well. :thumbsup:
Picture was taken recently during one of the severe Winter storms we get here in the South. ;)
The lawn is Bermuda grass...goes to "sleep" in the winter months.

I did Stucco myself on my house in Key Largo. It rains A LOT in south Florida and it holds up just fine. I did it over both cinderblock and lathe over tar paper and PT plywood in the two step method you described. When you use the lathe on plywood, it must be nailed every square foot which means many MANY roofing nails!
About 50% or more homes in South Florida is Stucco. No problem. If you do get a crack, just fill it.

Bill, can you hear your grass snoring at night when its sleeping:D
Looks like snow, hehe Mine is nice and green...

like Kim57 said, stucco isnt water proof, its really there just protecting the building paper underneath which is water proof and an air barrier... all thats used around here is square stucco wire (about 1.5" sq?) expanded metal lath on the corners and around windows... i wouldnt be surprised to see it stapled on, if a sheathing stapler is used probably 8" o.c.

ak

He, He!!

I don't know if the MoDOT headquarters up in Macon, MO is still doing it, but at one time they dyed it green!!

What a trip, imho..

pdq67

http://www.chevelles.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=12694&d=1205118027
http://www.chevelles.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=12695&d=1205118315

Here's my stucco experiment.

Stucco, mortar, cement and colorfast (red, yellow) mixed with a drill in a 5 gallon bucket, then slapped on the wall. Every batch was different, both texture and color, giving the appearance of depth. Same stuff plastered over a lathes frame for the freestanding rock formation.