Weatherproof stucco?

[KiwiPete]

Have found some posts in this forum about weatherproof stucco and its importance.

How do you make stucco weatherproof?? As I understand it, stucco is essentially a mixture of portland cement, hydrated lime and sand.

[vitoduke]

The stucco that we used is made by Sonowall. Their product that is supposed to be waterproof is Stuccotex. It comes in a 15 gallon pail and is pre mixed and is white in color- all you do is add a coloring agent if you want to match an existing stucco near the oven. We tried to match the color of our house and it turned out perfect. It was fairly easy to apply and we let it cure for a week. It has no cracks as yet, but we have some left over and could just touch up a crack if they occur---Mel

[noosab]

Stucco not important?

Hi,

I find a very limited selection of pre-mix stucco here. One claims it is a base coat, but makes no referrence to a finish coat. The other is BOSALITE brand and says it contains fire clay and no lime. It makes no claim as to being a base coat, second coat or finish coat. Searching through these posts on this site, I find almost nothing about what stucco (one brand sited, one unanswered question found) is being used or how it is applied (no posts found). Is it safe then to assume that it doesn't much matter what sort of stucco mix is used and, other than making sure it is firmly applied to a moist insulating concrete surface, thickness and technique are relatively unimportant?

Thanks for any information you can provide.

Earl

[noosab]

BASALITE Stucco

Sorry all, I mis-spelled the brand of Stucco in my previous posting. The correct spelling is BASALITE.
Earl

[maver]

stucco

I cannot speak to the brand you are inquiring about, but stucco should be fine for most outdoor applications, and is paintable should you wish to further weatherproof it. I mixed mine myself. I did a scratchcoat first of 1 part portland, 1 part lime and 4 parts sand, then finish coat of 1 part lime, 2 parts sand (used a cream colored fine sand for the finish coat). But I have a roof over my box type enclosure and under the stucco is cement board, so I am just not worrying about it.

[TheFireWithin]

Stucco of choice

Here is what the pros use.
http://www.omega-products.com/
You can call them to find the nearest dealer/any reputable mason yard will have it/can order it.
$60-70 for a 5 gallon pail.
It's enough to put a nice coat over an oven.

http://www.omega-products.com/

Good luck!
Joseph

[noosab]

Which Omega Product?

Hi Joseph,

Thanks for the information. Only trouble is, my lack of knowledge is standing in my way of understanding. I went to the web site for Omega and only found pictures of their products in bags, no pails. Also, while the specifications listed for one of their lines speaks to water permiability, the other two do not. So, since I don't seem to be any less confused than before, which of their products is likely to be used by the pros for non-vertical exterior application over portland cement based substrate (insulating concrete as recommended by Forno Bravo)?

Kind regards,
Earl

[james]

Earl,
Your oven looks great. Complimenti.

My understanding at this point is that your oven is fully insulated with the outside layer of vermiculite concrete. What you need now is first, a scratch coat of stucco, that will be hard and give you your final smooth shape and finish. For that layer, you can use any exterior stucco product from Home Depot, Lowes, etc.

On top of that, you can use a variety of waterproof finish coat stuccos. There are modern ones, that are water-proof, crack-proof and with color in. They have a latex product in them, so they are kind of plastic-y going on, but dry nicely. You can even pick colors from swatches the way you do with regular paint. Or, you could buy bags of exterior finish stucco (grey or white base in varying degrees of smoothness) and use color-in powder. The colors are more limited and muted, but the finish is more old fashioned. Or, you could put up plain finish stucco, and paint it.

Here is a link to Sto, the company we use for the high-tech stuff. There is a color chart and a dealer finder button as well.

http://www.stocorp.com/allweb.nsf/spower

Would our mason experts agree with this?
James

[noosab]

Thanks

Thank you very much.
Earl

[noosab]

STO Finish Stucco

Yesterday I had the opportunity to apply the finish coat of stucco on our oven. I took the advice of James, see previous reply, and contacted the STO Corporation. purchased the smallest amount available, an 18 liter (4.6 gal.) pail of PowerLastic, a premixed top coat stucco tinted to the color we chose from a pamphlet showing colors available. The tinting was done at the vender's establishment in the manner used by paint venders where color formulae are are used to get the right proportions of tints to mix into a white product. At any rate, the color turned out to be exactly what my wife wanted and matched the printed pamphlet color quite well. Applying it using a trowel was very easy and the resulting finish to our liking. Attached are a few photos I took this afternoon showing the result. Also, on one of them you can see what we are using for a door. It is four insulating firebricks stood on end side by side and touching the face of the inner arch.
Thank you very much James and everyone else in this forum for all the information, advice, and help.
Earl

[rick]

Re: Weatherproof stucco?

I have insulated my (iglo-shaped) oven using a blanket and a layer of perlite. I did not have a need for any wiremesh to keep the perlite where it is. Next step is to stucco the whole thing.

Should I use wiremesh to strengthen the stucco? I'm afraid it might rust after some time, even if it's galvanized. The thing is that I can not get any real weatherproof stucco here in Holland (can you imagine in a place where it can rain for days). All I can get my hands on is waterrepellant stucco so I guess I will paint the stucco afterwards with some waterproof paint. Still I'm not convinced that the water will never reach the wiremesh.

Any ideas?

[rick]

Re: Weatherproof stucco?

Anybody please?

[Unofornaio]

Re: Weatherproof stucco?

I have insulated my (iglo-shaped) oven using a blanket and a layer of perlite. I did not have a need for any wiremesh to keep the perlite where it is. Next step is to stucco the whole thing.

Should I use wiremesh to strengthen the stucco? I'm afraid it might rust after some time, even if it's galvanized. The thing is that I can not get any real weatherproof stucco here in Holland (can you imagine in a place where it can rain for days). All I can get my hands on is waterrepellant stucco so I guess I will paint the stucco afterwards with some waterproof paint. Still I'm not convinced that the water will never reach the wiremesh.

Any ideas?

Hi,
*Where did you get the impression that stucco was not weatherproof?
*What the heck is "waterrepellant stucco"
*Wouldn't "waterrepellant stucco" by definition repel water and negate the need for waterproof paint?

Did I slip and fall into a 3rd dimension? Or am I missing something here in this post? I have been around cement products since I was born and I have no idea where all this came from

You should use wire-mesh to strengthen the stucco. There are more advanced, modern stucco mixes out there in the world that do not need wire but for the oven purpose just use the wire. Rust?? the concrete bridge deck you cross now and then has rebar and steel in it..how old is the oldest one near you? don't over think it, the wire will be just fine, for as long as you live...
J.P

[rick]

Re: Weatherproof stucco?

Hi Uno,

Thanks for the reply (and I thought I could ask all the dumb questions of the world on THIS forum without you watching here as well )

Waterrepellant: I really don't know why the manufactures call it waterrepellant instead of waterproof. Sounds like they don't like to guarantee that the stucco really is waterproof. Anyway, it made me suspicious. Hence the thought of using waterproof paint.

Is the steelfree cover of a concrete bridge not much more than the 3/4" I will use for my stucco layer? Ok, ok I got the message .. I will use a mesh. Thanks again.

Rick

[Unofornaio]

Re: Weatherproof stucco?

Hey Rick,

I honestly did not know who you were when I replied. Did I pi$$ you off at the other forum? I'm famous for that, its one of the drawbacks of being Sicilian and Calabrese. There are NO DUMB questions in this world only dumb people who ask them..( just kidding ) seriously don't sweat it, from the time I was a kid the most common thing I remember coming from adults mouths was "boy you ask a lot of questions"
I read in an earlier part of this thread..(Im still learning the post system here)..
someone mentioned an Omega product in a bucket for the stucco. This is an excellent product but again for a traditionalist like me its not really necessary for the oven if the stucco is done right. Their "Diamond Wall" one coat stucco is also a very impressive product, its what I had in mind in the other post. But this would be used for a decorative finish to the structure once its all done.

You would be surprised how much steel is in a bridge or overpass structure.. sometimes (here in CA especially) its like the concrete is just there to cover the steel..but not as close a 3/4" to the surface no.

here is what Id do put a standard 3 coat stucco scratch, brown, finish and for the finish use a color coat in the color you would paint it..it will be done and you will never have to paint it again..