42" build in McPherson KS

[slschoming]

Thanks Gulf . Do you have a cap/cage or something similar to cover the vent as it sticks up to prevent it from being broken off by climbing children or falling branches? I'm sure I am overthinking this, but I do have a 6-year-old who climbs everything.

[Gulf]

Do you have a cap/cage or something similar to cover the vent as it sticks up to prevent it from being broken.......?

No, I don't. But, (since the pvc bushing is anchored securely in the stucco) the weakest point is the threaded plastic on the vent's stem. If that does happen, I will just use an ease out tool to remove it and install a new vent. I'm at 7 years with the original vent.

[slschoming]

Made some more pizza on Thursday night. The oven was still around 300 F this morning while I was doing my first coat of stucco. I didn't get all the chicken wire covered with the first coat, the stucco seemed to just squish right through. Should be able to cover it with the next coat. I cleaned my trowels/buckets and immediately fired up the oven and had some more pizza tonight, The still-wet stucco was cold to the touch all night while the oven was burning a hot 800 F.

[david s]

You can increase the strength of the outer stucco shell substantially by holding the moisture in that layer for a week. I do this by wrapping the whole oven in cling wrap.

[slschoming]

You can increase the strength of the outer stucco shell substantially by holding the moisture in that layer for a week. I do this by wrapping the whole oven in cling wrap.

Thanks for the tip.. Do you wrap all the layers of stucco this way or just the final layer? I just applied the "brown" coat today..

[slschoming]

Gulf did you do the full 3 layer stucco schedule? Just wondering if I need the "finish" layer since I will be bricking it all in anyway. It feels strong after the scratch and brown layers. Does the finish layer provide anything more than just a little more mass?

[slschoming]

david s I fought the cling wrap in the wind, but I lost the battle. I hydrated it the best I could and covered it with a tarp. Should I continue misting it for the next week or so?

[Gulf]

I did three layers, but not like the stucco schedule. The mesh that I used was spaced from the vermicrete. I skipped the usual scratch coat and smoothed each layer.. Between layers I used an acrylic fortifier bonding agent. It was also used to replace a lot of the water in each layer. Though, I used a stucco mix, (with some added portland) my stucco layer is more like a ferocrete.

.....It feels strong after the scratch and brown layers. Does the finish layer provide anything more than just a little more mass?.....

I really can't say for sure. All I can relate is what I did on mesh spaced over vermicrete. I think that you are hanging stucco over chicken wire. I would go the finish coat if I were you.

Also, the tarp will be ok. Just keep it covered to protect it from the sun and drying breezes. It needs the moisture to cure properly. But, you don't need to keep wetting it if you keep it covered.

[slschoming]

Between layers I used an acrylic fortifier bonding agent. It was also used to replace a lot of the water in each layer.

I wet down the scratch coat and then brushed on some fortifier/bonding agent before applying the brown coat.

I think that you are hanging stucco over chicken wire.

Yes, the only wire I used was chicken wire. I do have some hardware cloth I could use... Do you think I should wrap this coat in the hardware cloth and do one more brown coat over that before the finish coat for added strength? I might run low on real estate in a couple places, but I think I can make up for that by cutting the brick veneers a little thinner in those few spots if I have to..

[Gulf]

....Do you think I should wrap this coat in the hardware cloth.......?

No, the premix should have fibers in it that add a lot of strength. But, do complete all 3 coats.

[slschoming]

No, the premix should have fibers in it that add a lot of strength. But, do complete all 3 coats.

Ok, will do! Thanks Gulf!

[slschoming]

No, the premix should have fibers in it that add a lot of strength. But, do complete all 3 coats.

The premix that I bought (QUIKRETE Scratch and Brown Base Coat Stucco) doesn't seem to have any fibers. Neither does the finish coat. However, I bought some QUIKWALL Surface Bonding Cement last year that I was sort of thinking to put on my cinderblock walls. Quikwall has fibers and they say it can be used as a finish coat. Lowe's website says that it is used to waterproof farm water storage tanks as well.

Maybe I should use this as my finish coat instead for the fibers and extra waterproofing?

[Gulf]

The fibers a not very big. If you have an old window screen, sieve a hand full through it.

[slschoming]

The fibers a not very big. If you have an old window screen, sieve a hand full through it.

I don't have a screen to try this with, but I am fairly sure it doesn't have any... Quikrete has a base coat that is reinforced with fibers, and one that is not. I couldn't find the fiber reinforced variety in any nearby stores so I went with the plain old stucco mix.

https://www.quikrete.com/productline...reinforced.asp vs https://www.quikrete.com/productline...wnbasecoat.asp

I think I better go with the Quikwall for my finish layer to be safe.

[david s]

To save time, instead of doing the recommended 3 coats, I only do one coat of around 15 mm thickness with the added AR fibres, and sponge finish this layer. Cover for a week to hold the moisture in this layer. Then, after several firings (if moisture is still present it can cause blistering) I then use a thinned 100% acrylic render which can be painted on. This smooths out any tooling marks and creates a waterproof finish.
There are lots of different approaches so don’t have to follow my method.