BMI Marble Stucco?

[Michael Klieman]

Hello all,
I'm new to the forum, new to pizza ovens, and new to construction. I'm having a mason stucco my Casa2G, and it's looking pretty good with the first layer of stucco (the rain here in NoCal was not helpful, though). I'm having a hard time finding the kind of stucco that FB used in the video for the finishing coat of stucco--it's called marble stucco from a company called BMI.
Do any of you know where I can find this stucco?
Can you tell me if it is necessary to use this exact stucco? (I'm thinking that the answer is probably no.)
What could we use instead of the marble stucco?

One last thing: my mason said that he recommended three coats of stucco, as it will reduce cracking. In the video, they showed two coats. What do you think? Would another coat be worth the time and effort?

I called FB and left a message with the technician, but he has not gotten back to me yet, so I'm wondering what you all think.

Thanks a lot!
M

[joeykramer]

hi Michael, i too am in the same stage, ready for stucco and just watched that video this week. i believe it is a pool plaster mix, just portland and marble dust, or limestone used as the aggregate for strength. I could be wrong. looking to see what others have to comment on.

usually stucco goes in three coats, scratch, brown and finish. are you going to apply some sort of waterproofing sealer as well? that is what i plan on doing and finishing it off with an elastomeric paint. good luck!

[Michael Klieman]

Hey Joey,
It's exciting, right?
I talked to Anthony, the technician at FB (he called me back this morning), and he said that we could use any white finishing stucco.
I called around (after searching the interwebs for construction materials) and found a place that sells the BMI marble stucco. I think I will use that for the final coat, because it looks much smoother than the standard finishing stucco that we can buy at Home Depot.

After that will be the sealer. I don't think I will paint it, but will mix in some color to match the stucco job on the stand/counter.Hopefully I'll be able to start curing on Monday or Tuesday.

[david s]

It is better to do your drying fires after insulating ,but before any stucco work or sealing so water is not locked in,

[Michael Klieman]

Thanks for the advice David, but you are too late , at least for the stucco part. That is good to know for the sealing, though.

What is the worst case scenario for curing after stucco? Cracks?

I read a post here that there are some conflicting opinions about this, isn't that right?



Edit: It is occurring to me now that perhaps you were suggesting that I run my fires before I put the last coat of stucco on. Would you recommend that?

[david s]

I cracked the outer shell of about the fifth and sixth ovens that I'd built. These were major cracks which repaired ok with another layer over the top. I put it down to steam pressure build up in the insulating layer, so always drive out the water from that layer before doing the outer shell. In both cases of the failure the entire layer was vermicrete because in those days the new generation of safe ceramic fibre blanket was unavailable or too expensive. Because vermicrete contains so much water the problem is exacerbated. The ceramic fibre blanket acts like an expansion joint. However the problem still remains if there is a lot of moisture in the insulating layer. Remember that one litre of water creates over 1600 litres of steam and especially if no provision is made for steam release in the form of some kind of vent, this pressure can create problems. It's like a saucepan lid without a vent hole, where the lid can blow off. That moisture will eventually find its way out, but needs to be done slowly. If you see steaming , back off, you're going at it too hard. In your case be quite sure all the water has been driven out before adding any sealing layer. Apart from locking it in it can also cause blistering in thewaterproofing layer if applied too soon. Throw some sheet plastic over the oven while firing to see if any moisture condenses on the underside.

[Michael Klieman]

Thanks David. Lit my first fire today, and scheduled the masons to come next weekend instead of this weekend.