how to a attach stucco

[Matt916]

So i am almost done with my oven. all i have to do is finish the chimney and add stucco. My idea is to stucco the entire thing once the chimney and decorative brick smoke stack is finished, and lay tiles around the front arch. the only problem is that i dont know the first thing about stucco. Someone please help me out, i just want to finish the thing lol! my question, i guess, is how do you prepare the dome to be stuccoed? is it possible to stucco directly over the insulation blanket, or do i have to coat it with some other surface? and how do you attach the chicken wire/stucco lath? Just wrap it around? Please advise.

[kebwi]

Re: how to a attach stucco

Stucco isn't very thick, fractions of an inch after repeated layers. Your oven will take on the lumpy appearance of your blanket if you stucco directly over it. Why don't you smooth it out with a few inches of vermicrete first?

[dmun]

Re: how to a attach stucco

A layer of chicken wire, hardware cloth, or beter but harder to work with, expanded metal lath, will form an armature for the stucco to stick to. It's a definite skill: I've never got that smooth flat look that some of our members achieve.

[Tscarborough]

Re: how to a attach stucco

Are you going to lay brick like you have them stacked? It raises other stucco issues if you are.

[fxpose]

Re: how to a attach stucco

I find it much easier to apply stucco using the face of my hand than with a trowel. Of course, this depends on what kind of finish you're after. I've applied stucco on block walls 'freehand' resulting in a nice even finish, and very fast too. Sponging after that made it a bit smoother, but textured with aggregate.
I plan on applying stucco on my oven freehand as well.

George

[Matt916]

Re: how to a attach stucco

yeah, i was planning on more or less laying the bricks how they are stacked. I have all the pieces cut out to fill in the holes around the archway, i just need to stack up a couple more flue liners and then build the brick up around it...nothing is mortared in place yet though. I'm going to fill the space in between the brick wall and the flue liner with vermicrete so that it is stable and will hopefully stop the heat from coming through.

once i had that done,I wanted to attempt to stucco the entire thing. i kind of wanted it to look like a combination of the attached pictures. except instead of it being housed in, it would be an igloo with an attached smokestack in the front, stuccoed entirely, and tiles over the front of the archway. haha i see it in my head, i just have to figure out how to get there.

There are a couple of things i'm uncertain of though. First, does the chicken wire or metal stucco lath actually attach to the oven, or is it just standing in place while it is filled with vermicrete/stucco/etc? Second, i was under the impression that the dome could be stuccoed directly as long as there was some structure for it to cling to, but i want to be sure that it will be a strong lasting finish that wont fall apart or look bad. i don't know the specific properties of stucco, as i have never done it beofore. does this sound like a good idea? i've seen so many gabled house designs, i'm not really sure of the protocol that igloo style designs require.

[tfasz]

Re: how to a attach stucco

I'm getting close to this point in my build too - so looking at different finish options. It seems like most folks will apply some structure over the top of the insulation, either wrapped directly on top or tied into a frame (like some rebar bent into a semi circle and placed over the oven like a dome tent). They usually use some metal strapping or metal wire to stitch the sections together and then use a handful of Tapcon screws to tie it down to the bricks or stand around the bottom. I'm assuming twist ties would also work but might melt after you fire up the oven.

I'm probably going to try to wrap some metal lath directly over the top of my insulating blanket and then either put an 1-2" layer of perlcrete followed by stucco or just stucco directly over it. I'm a bit space constrained so might end up with the later.

I think you are supposed to leave an air gap between the flue liner and the outer brick wall to allow the flue to expand from the heat. Loose vermiculite would probably be fine - just not sure about vermicrete.

Good luck with the igloo - post some pics along the way.

[Matt916]

Re: how to a attach stucco

I know what you mean about being space constrained. i only have about 6 inches of room between the back of my dome and the wall. i haope thsi gives me enough room to stucco. I'll put up some more pics as i go along. I'm thinking of putting up a frame structure that you were talking about. Maybe a few bent 1/4 inch pieces of rebar would work. If you have any pics let me know. i would llike to take a look.

[fxpose]

Re: how to a attach stucco

My working space is also limited as you can see. I plan on using an expanded metal lathe over the 3" of blanket insulation and apply layers of stucco over that.

[Matt916]

Re: how to a attach stucco

interesting. how do you put on the metal lathe? is that the same thing as a stucco lathe, or are there different ones?

[fxpose]

Re: how to a attach stucco

interesting. how do you put on the metal lathe? is that the same thing as a stucco lathe, or are there different ones?

These are a slightly more heavy duty than the chicken wire type lathe, but a bit more difficult to form as they are somewhat firmer. Since each sheet is firm it will self form itself nicely, hopefully, around the vertical walls of my oven.
I'll find a way to attach them once I get to that point. I've never used them before but I've seen them at Home Depot next to the standard stucco lathes.
In your case, it might be a lot easier to work with chicken wire over the sphere.

George

[dmun]

Re: how to a attach stucco

In between chicken wire, and expanded metal lath (lathe is a machine that cuts cylindrical objects) there is hardware cloth, which may be easier to work with than the metal lath.

[Matt916]

Re: how to a attach stucco

quick question...should the vent arch/chimney area be wrapped with the insulation blanket just like the dome, or is it unnecesary. I wanted to have the entire oven (everything!!!) wrapped with the blanket? my dad seems to think that it is impossible to stucco the dome because the blanket that i wrapped over the vent arch is "in the way". he wants to cut everything off except the insulation that is around the dome. can anyone confirm whether this is right or wrong?

[kebwi]

Re: how to a attach stucco

If you keep the vent area insulated, it will draw smoke up into the flue more effectively (hot smoke goes up, cold smoke goes out the door into your face). Lots of us have insulated our vents. Check out the (numerous) photos of my build for an indication of how I did it.