Rose Cottage Ltd

Now that the wall is more secure and level and some final color preferences have been decided, it’s time to figure how to get a wet and somewhat drippy concrete/stucco mixture to adhere to an upright wall. This info also applies for anyone wishing to update their home’s exterior with a manufactured stone veneer. I’ve put a great resource for this product in a prior post.

The first layer is a sticky ice and water shield. This keeps water from crevices around windows and doors and keeps it flowing down and away from potential fill spaces. Some people apparently prefer to skip this step and handle any crevices later with a silicone caulk. Here’s a link to one particular ice and water product – shown being applied to a roof.

Next is waterproof, 2-ply tar paper which provides the moisture barrier to the plywood beneath. It is simply stapled in place, working from the bottom up, and making sure to allow enough to overlay, (4″ is recommended) from section to section for full coverage. Wrap paper securely around corners.

Third is metal lath. This stuff is a pain to cut and it isn’t cheap, but if applied as evenly as possible over your tar paper, this is the key to making your stucco mixture adhere to your walls. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to keep your lath product as even and as flush as possible – particularly at corner seams. I’m not getting into specific prices here because they vary considerably from state to state and certainly from country to country.

In the US, Lowe’s is always a good place to start and there are plenty of online resources when it’s time to get down to calculating how much material you need, etc. Here are some links I found useful.

Stucco – some basic FAQ and answers
From Quikrete – My new best friend!
Fiberglass vs metal lath – go green!

Next: Now that the destination site is prepared, stucco tools and toys you’ll need.