STUCCO NEWS.NET

Reggie,

It has been a year since you gave me this advice. I followed it. The stucco coats I did on my entire house following this still looks perfect. Zero cracks , not even tiny hairline ones, over the entire surface. And I’ve looked hard.

I am in awe. Thank you so much!

Question:

Hi Reggie,
Thanks for all the great info on Stucco News.net. I am stuccoing over a painted cement block house I own on the Chesapeake Bay in North East Maryland. It's heavily painted with old lead paint so I papered and lathed it first before starting. I got some sections to the brown coat stage before winter set in and I stopped. The first few i did are not as uniform in texture and color as i'd like ( I got better as did more) and based on a bunch of YouTubes i was going to put Weld Crete on them before the color coat (and skip trowel finish) to get more uniform suction until I read your site.
I am planning instead to skim with a thin bonding coat of Flex-Con (1/2) and portland/sand on to level everything out and get a better surface.

Question: Can I let this dry (say up to a day) before I color coat over it (Quaker Stucco)

do I need to cover it before it sets up?

I was planning to thoroughly saturate the brown coat with water before I do this.

Thanks so much for all the advice.

My bonding coat method works real good. I started using strong bond instead of Flexcon because Flexcon went way up to over $ 100 per bucket. Wetting the old brown coat is a very good idea. You may want to let your bonding coat set up 2 days before putting on the finish. We use flexcon half and half with our finish coat. Not only is it insurance for a good bond, it eliminates shrinkage cracks and doubles the strength.

Thanks so much. Couple more questions:
1) I was planning to use a 2:1 sand to portland (no lime) for the bonding coat with 50% acrylic.
2) You said to wait 2 days before applying finish coat. Should I wet the surface down before applying finish like I would normally do with a finish coat or just apply it to the 2 day old bonding coat? I intend to use 25% acrylic in the finish, maybe more.
3) could i apply the finish coat the same day as the bonding coat once it has set up or is it better to wait?
4) The brown coat has sat over the winter and as anticipated there are cracks. Should I ignore them or tape them over with fiberglass mesh as insurance before the bonding coat?
Thanks for your site. It's been super helpful. Without it I would be using weld crete ...

1) This is right, except we go 1/4 bag of lime. Lime does cause shrinkage, so you may be better off. Sometimes lime can be hard to locate.
2) You can probably put on the finish the next day if the bonding coat looks dry. Let it set at least overnight.
3) No need to wet the bonding coat. You'll notice it doesn't absorb water rapidly. We go half and half acrylic with water on our finish.
4) The bonding coat will fill the cracks. Tape does more harm than good.
As an addition comment: You'll notice the mortar with a lot of acrylic will set up almost right after mixing. If you just beat up this mortar, it will come back to life. No need to add more liquid.