How To Attach Mesh Patch For Stucco Repair

At first glance, the seamless coat of stucco on the Due east Boston house looked equally bulletproof as a sidewalk, the perfect foil against the harsh wet weather of this littoral metropolis. Nevertheless below its lush cloak of ivy, the cement beat out was a mess of cracks and buckling, signs that h2o had gotten in and damaged the underlying wood lath.

When properly installed, stucco (a cement- or lime-based plaster) is most as carefree and long-lived a cladding as anyone could wish—100 years is not uncommon. But when big cracks or blisters appear, the time to make repairs is right away, earlier the damage grows.

Antonio DiSilva of MJM Masonry performed the remedial work on the East Boston house over 10 days, ripping off loose fabric and patching it with three carve up coats. Here's how to make stucco repair that lasts.

Stucco Recipes

Stucco Recipes

Get-go coat:

i⁄2 bag (47 lbs.) Portland cement
6 shovels brick or masonʼs sand, slightly damp
one shovel hydrated lime
ane⁄2 cup acrylic bonding agent

2nd and finish coats:

1⁄2 purse (47 lbs.) portland cement
8 shovels aggregate sand for concrete
one shovel hydrated lime
1⁄two cup acrylic bonding amanuensis

Directions:

Shovel the dry ingredients into a wheelbarrow and alloy them with a mortar hoe.
Add the acrylic bonding amanuensis, then stir in water, a fiddling at a time, until the mix reaches the consistency of buttercream frosting.
Too much water will make it loose and unworkable.
Once h2o is added, the mix volition stay usable for thirty to 90 minutes before information technology starts to harden.

Watch The Weather

Freezing temperatures can ruin wet stucco. Look for nighttime temperatures that stay higher up 40 degrees before tackling repairs. Hot, dry, windy weather can also interfere by sucking out wet the mix needs to cure properly. Work in the shade so the stucco doesn't dry as well fast. Between coats, keep the patch moist by covering information technology with a plastic canvass.

Work Safely

The alkalis in wet cement can cause burns. So when working with fresh stucco, wearable gloves or touch the mix only with your tools, non your fingers. Keep a bucket of water nearby to wash any splashes off your skin.

Finish Information technology Right

No patch, no matter how expertly textured, will friction match the colour of the erstwhile stucco around it. To do that, y'all demand to apply a pigmented coating over the entire surface. The patch at this house was covered with a thick, sprayed-on acrylic elastomer that bridges and seals hairline cracks. Other acceptable coatings include concrete paints and stains, mineral paints, lime washes, and "fog coats" of pigmented cement. Whichever coating y'all use, make sure it'due south alkaline tolerant and permeable to water vapor. Otherwise, it volition be peeling off in no fourth dimension.

Steps for Repairing Stucco

Footstep 1: Break Off Loose Stucco

Whack it with a hammer, or a hammer and a cold chisel, taking intendance not to damage the underlying wood lath supports. Eye protection is a must.

Step two: Fleck Away At The Edges

Keep until you lot reach stucco that'southward firmly adhered to its lath. Cut any metal mesh with snips.

Pace three: Cover The Exposed Lath

Using a utility knife, trim a piece of grade-D builder'southward newspaper to fit tightly forth the purlieus where the old stucco meets the exposed woods lath. Fasten the paper to the lath with covering nails, then put a 2nd layer of paper on superlative of the first.

Step iv: Add Mesh

Place galvanized metal lath over the paper and trim information technology tight against the edge of the stucco. Snips with get-go handles volition brand this job easier. Drive more covering nails through the mesh and into the woods lath.

Stride 5: Mix The Stucco

Following the outset-coat recipe, stir up a batch of stucco, using a wheelbarrow as a mixing bowl. The acrylic bonding agent added to this mix improves the adhesion of the new stucco to the old.

Stride 6: Sling It

Wet the edge of the quondam stucco so it won't suck moisture out of the patch and weaken the bond between one-time and new. Scoop fist-size wads of moisture stucco onto a brick trowel and toss them confronting the wire lath until it'south completely covered. Smooth the mix with a finishing trowel, and then pack it against the edge of the existing stucco with a brick trowel. Keep calculation more cloth until this layer is about 1/two inch beneath the existing stucco surface.

Step seven: Scratch It

When the patch loses its wet sheen, score its surface to better the bond to the next glaze. Tape a plastic canvas over the patch to keep it from drying out.

Step 8: Apply Second Coat

Wait 7 days, then remove the plastic and mist the patch with h2o. Mix up a batch of stucco post-obit the second-coat recipe, and trowel on a 3/8-inch-thick glaze, working from the bottom up. Pack down the edges with a brick trowel. Wait for the wet sheen to disappear, then trowel the patch smoothen, just below the level of the existing stucco. Comprehend once more with a plastic sheet.

Footstep ix: Put On The Finish Glaze

After three days, remove the plastic, mist the patch, and mix upwards a fresh batch of stucco, post-obit the finish-coat recipe. Different textures require different techniques. To match this wall's original "dash" terminate, DiSilva scooped small globs of wet mix onto his brick trowel, then flicked them against the wall until they were flush with the old surface.

Step ten: Wait To Paint

Permit the patch cure for a week before painting it and the rest of the wall. Under a coat of heavy-bodied acrylic elastomer, the patch is invisible.

Tools:

Source: https://www.thisoldhouse.com/siding/21016528/how-to-repair-stucco

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