I Have 11 dormers and 3 gable ends that are timbered (think English Tudor) and will need to be stuccoed. I tried stucco work in the past and managed to put more on the ground then I got on the house.. plus it looked terrible!
What I was thinking of doing is take duroc. (the underlayment for bathroom floors and walls etc) and cutting the pieces and fitting them (they’d be screwed in place) . Then I would give a finish coat of actual stucco over everything. Just in case Duroc isn’t nationally known it’s that concrete underlayment with fiberglass mesh used in bathrooms etc..
Will This work?
Why or why not?
(since I’ve done almost everything thus far myself , I’m reluctant to let a stucco guy do this, not just because I’m cheap but because of a sense of accomplishment)..
I tired it and and it was reasonably easy to get the Duroc fitted and I believe that I can do a semi decent job of putting a coat of stucco on it..
Replies
Read this report for specs on a proper Durock-based exterior finish system: http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/wind/prod/ec/EC-17.pdf Note that it specifies 100% coverage with mesh and base coat prior to application of the finish coat. This tells the effort to do it right.
>I believe that I can do a semi decent job of putting a coat of stucco on it
After all the time and effort you've invested, you think it's ok to strive for a "semi decent job" on the exterior? In my experience, if you aren't completely comfortable with wet work (stuccos, base coats, plasters, etc), then for something so visible, you should find an experienced hand to assist. The difference between experienced and inexperienced results can be pretty dramatic.
Cloud hidden,
You could be right, However I've come this far with only minimal help. Something in my gut tells me it would be wrong to wimp out and start hiring a subcontractor.. I've accepted the errors in the house or gone back and redone them untill I was satisfied that they were done right and looked good.
Verbage tends to get in the way here.. those who've looked at my house are very complimemtary about it and yet I know where every single flaw is. That tends to drive me nuts and so I use quaifiers like semi, Kinda, OK, etc..
For example, My gutters are installed so well that I can do a chin up on them, when you see a fat 265 pound out of shape guy struggle to try to jerk his fat chin up you can imagine how sturdy they are. Yet I noticed that one of the Cast brass Angel brackets has a little more curve in it than the rest and as a result there is a tiny bit of air gap under it.. Also if you sight along the gutters the one bracket pulls the gutter out of alignment. Now the only person who will notice that is a helecopter pilot hovering directly overhead. Guess who'll be pulling off gutters this weekend once it stops raining?
Cloud Hidden,
I went to the site you posted and clicked on it, a second or so later it said "done" and yet it's blank. I tried saving it various ways and it's just not gonna work for me.. . Could I ask you to summerize it? (if it's a lot of work don't bother, I'll call the manufacturer..)
Frenchy- to read the link that Cloud sent you, you'll need adobe reader- it's here: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
Do you have a barn or something you could practice stuccoing before you take the plunge on the house? Sometimes the best practice for putting on a good finish coat of stucco is to put on the whole scratch coat. After a few thousand square feet, you'll get much better keeping more on the wall than the ground.
Around here (northwest) I know of a crew of guys who stucco, especially straw bale buildings. The owner of the building getting stuccoed has to work with them, and supply a few other volunteers, and has to put them up for a few days. They're cheap in terms of cash though, and everybody gets a chance to participate. I wonder if there's anyone like that in your neck of the woods.zak
"so it goes"
Sometimes PDF's don't play nice with web browsers. Do a right mouse click on the file and select "Save target as..." then open it after it fully downloads. Freakin Adobe :(Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
"Note that it specifies 100% coverage with mesh and base coat prior to application of the finish coat. "Funny,,,,,,since Durock is basically a mesh and a concrete assembly, what purpose is served by putting a second mesh & base coat on top of it....
Years ago I had this same discussion with a Dryvit finisher on a project I was doing. We had Durock panels (no seams) infilling a 4x4post and rail assembly on a porch. The dryvit guy wouldn't warrent the work without a mesh & base coat, so we let him go ahead that way, but I didn't see the need then, & still don't today.....
My guess on the mesh is to create a seamless surface on which to apply the finish. The finish coat is usually thin enough that any variations will telegraph, and this would include the joints between boards, even if filled and taped.
Know what you mean about the thin finish coat on Dryvit, so I guess a brown coat is in order, but no need for mesh IMHO, and if (as the OP said) you are contemplating a true stucco finish, then I don't think even a brown coat on Durock would be needed.....
Cloud Hidden,
Sorry I didn't respond earlier, I lost another keyboard. (4th this year) Anyway the reason to use the durock is there wouldn't be any seams in the Duroc.. None of the spaces are more than 6 inches wide at most!
A lot of them are small corners, less than 4 inches by 4 inches..
How about the fiber cement product with the stucco finish? Might avoid a whole bunch of issues that way.
Cloud hidden,
? I'm not sure what product you are speaking about. Could you please elaborate?
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This was supposed to be addressed to Frenchy.Stucco is a series of tools and steps. Skimp on any and it will show. This is the first thing people will see on your house, not counting the shingles. Do you really want to risk it or are you willing to put in the time, buy all the tools and practice?Don't forget all the flashing and water proofing details. Failing this could be very expensive.Stucco isn't really all that hard, so it you haven't been able to figure it out already, perhaps this is just not an area you are gifted?
Edited 5/13/2006 9:55 pm ET by KirkG
KirkG
Frankly I'm not very gifted in any field,, ;) When I took wood shop I got an F. In fact any previous attempts at working with wood were always preceeded (and followed by) excuses.
The fact that a nearly 58 year old fat guy should attempt all of this is either foolish or stupid. However I've gotten real compliments for the work so far. (But I'll accept the fact that I must be really stupid. Who else would use black walnut timbers and trim on the outside of their house backed up by white oak timbers on the inside?
I doubt they will notice the small little bits of stucco up on the dormers.. The stonework and black walnut timbers are far more commanding of attention..
Lack of being gifted in no way implies stupid. You may find that with nothing more than hard work and persistance you can do anything. Sometimes with some people and some things, even that, is not enough.If you have the time, go for it. Make sure of the flashing details and water proofing, though.
Frenchy:
Is there that big of a problem using stucconet and the preformed corners and weep screeds? Here's what I would suggest: apply the tyvek made for stucco (brandname is Tyvek Stuccowrap) with a cap nailer and flash all openings as usual to ready for stucco.
Install stucconet and preformed corners with a construction stapler (don't forget that the stucconet has an up and a down orientation -- the little "cups" face up.
Watch a mason apply and finish stucco. There is no book on earth I know of that can replace this step. Better yet if you can befriend the guys and actually ask a few questions. Watch what materials they use, how wet they make the mix, how they apply each coat, some unique tools (funny looking ladle that saves a ton of time) and the steps in finishing it. I can almost guarantee that the mix is much wetter than you think it ought to be. Whatever you do, do not seek to learn how they always make a disaster area of a mess out of the site. ;-)
I second Zak's advice to practice a stucco job on something you don't care much about (barn, garage, somewhere). Your first efforts will look like a rolleroaster with trowel marks. The more you do, the more you'll get a feel for what you can get away with in finishing to fix it versus what you have to get it to look like when it first trowels on. Practice makes perfect. If you have enough patience, you will get the hang of it.
"Let's get crack-a-lackin" --- Adam Carolla
philarenewal,
I just counted in a single dormer there are 15 "spaces" none of which is more than one square foot. I have 11 dormers..
As for practice, I did before I came up with this idea.. my first attempts were,... well, worse than a disaster.. Actaully my first few attempts were with traditional stucco after watching several guys do stucco and thinking to myself, jee that doesn't look too hard..
Over two and a half decades ago I tried to do it on my old house. I eventually gave up and hired it done there.. (the first time I ever had someone else do something on my house)
I'm a terrible painter as well, runs are my specialty, well maybe getting paint on myself or everything else that shouldn't have paint on it could also be considerd a specialty.. In fact all of the trim and most of the exterior timbers have all four coats put on in the horizontal position and then installed. that way when the paint "runs" it doesn't look bad.. ;)