Stucco/stone & water damage

[dbhansen]

I plan to put stucco on the upper walls (over hardiebacker) and stone veneer on the lower walls (over cement block) of my enclosure. I've read about all the flashing, weep screeds, etc. needed for installing stucco & stone on a house (especially here in the North), but are they necessary if the underlying walls are made entirely of metal and masonry products? I realize water vapor can pass through masonry, but does it matter for a WFO? Could freeze/thaw affect the bond between the mortar and block/hardiebacker? And do I need flashing at the stone/stucco junction for any reason, or will the mortar seal it well enough?

I'm thinking I can mortar the stone directly to the block and put stucco directly on the hardiebacker above that with no flashing, weep holes, etc. I will paint the stucco to seal it. Thoughts?

[Wiley]

Re: Stucco/stone & water damage

Just some first thoughts: most of the requirements for weep holes vents etc are code for a dwelling wherein people create moisture and they do not want it trapped where it can cause damage. Alot of this code stems from times before vapor barriers were required on the inside of dwellings just beneath or even on the interior surface. What happens is moisture migrates outward thru the walls and condenses on the first cold surface. In some areas of the country, over the course of a winter exterior walls would slowly become filled with ice. I've seen homes outside Fairbanks, Alaska with water running out the bottoms of walls as the ice melts in the spring. Since your lower section (stand) will be open more or less to local conditions on both sides this shouldn't be a problem. It might be worth consideration in the upper section (dome enclosure) to have some sort of venting under the eaves so any water vapor has a way out. As for condensing and forming ice between the Hardie and the stucco I would think it would form on the inside of the Hardie rather than between the two. Alot would depend upon how much water vapor is going to be produced..... are you planning on cooking all your meals all winter long in your WFO? Or perhaps maybe only a half dozen over the course of a winter.

Hope this helps,
Wiley

[dbhansen]

Re: Stucco/stone & water damage

Thanks Wiley! That makes perfect sense. I did plan to install some vents, so perhaps that will take care of it.