Final Finish - Stucco and Chicken Wire

[brickie in oz]

Re: Final Finish - Stucco and Chicken Wire

Thanks for your quick reply David. I'm rendering my dome tomorrow and am hoping I mix it correctly and it doesnt end up cracking on me, I thought the bondcrete would make it stronger and hold together better. I have some reinforcement fibres so I might go down that path instead.

Render only cracks if you use the wrong sand, ie, sand with too much clay in it.
You have to used washed sand with no clay in it.

[hungng]

Re: Final Finish - Stucco and Chicken Wire

So... as per the original question, how do you secure the chicken wire to the dome to hold its shape?

[david s]

Re: Final Finish - Stucco and Chicken Wire

I make some wire ties which I embed in the mortar covering the bricks. They can poke right through the blanket. That's the way I do it anyway, probably too late for you. You could try wrapping wires all round the dome, then snipping the wires off where they go across the front arch after the render has set.

[brung99]

Re: Final Finish - Stucco and Chicken Wire

Hi David,

FYI, I finished my rendering today and all went well. Thanks again for your advice.

[brung99]

Re: Final Finish - Stucco and Chicken Wire

I rendered my oven a few days ago so its still in the curing/hardening phase.

All went well wit the render mix, application and finishing off.

If I wanted to lay another coat over the top of this first layer (in order to change the shape of the dome - just for the final look), would it be ok to simply mix up another batch and repeat the process just like the first time?.

I have reinforcement fibres so I'm not worried about using chicken wire. The minimum thickness I will add would be at least an inch in some spots and alot more in others.

Does anyone have experience/advice they could share with me about doing this?

[david s]

Re: Final Finish - Stucco and Chicken Wire

Render layers should not exceed 25mm in thickness, but you can probably get away with it. Each subsequent layer should be weaker apparently ie. less cement.