The Index
This index updated June 15, 1999.
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Mudding PARTY June 12th
Well, a few hardy souls showed up, thanks to those that did. We put on the
scratch coat on the inside and started the "brown" coat on the outside. We
were making great progress and then the cement mixer died.
Pictures to follow.
The thing that I learned with this is that the stucco part takes time. You can't rush
it and you've just got to count on logging the time to do it.
The walls and the roof went up in one day. The stucco requires three coats. The first
coat is the scratch coat to just cover the bales. The penultimate coat is called the
"brown" coat. This coat will fill in the largest holes and smooth out the rough pasts
and the final coat is to give a nice finish and provide something to paint or has some
pigment mixed in.
When I do it again, I will enlist as much help as the wall raising. It was
disheartening to see the slow progress we made with a few souls. It is not to be
undertaken lightly. It can be done by the inexperienced hands (mine) it just takes
time and patience to figure out a few tricks. Getting the mixture right was a big part
of this. An old stucco guru advised to use 1/2 cup of liquid laundry soap to
provide extra "stickyness". Spraying down the bales first is a good idea too!
We were also a little behind the process by not having the "bloodlathe" on. That also
takes time and don't scrimp estimating time for that. My suggestion is to make sure that
it is all on before you start mudding. Summarizing:
- All wood that is to be stuccoed must be covered in black paper.
- Make sure all black paper is covered with expanded metal lathe (aka "bloodlathe")
- Make sure walls are as smooth as possible.
- Where bales touch, if there are pockets, fill with a cob mixture. Trying to fill it with stucco will be frustrating.
- Have lots of help arranged.
- Have lots of cement and lime and sand.
- Wet the bales. Don't drench.
- Start at the bottom of the walls and work your way up.
- Have something sturdy arranged to reach higher levels (ie gable ends)
- Dedicate one guy to making the mixture.
- Having helpers load your "mud palettes" - this is especially helpful when you are working on a scaffold.
- Don't be timid, slap the stuff on and don't worry about perfection.
- Have wood under the walls to catch/recycle falling stucco. It will fall. It will rain. Don't worry.
- When finished, clean up your equipment *well*.
- Water down walls for next day or two. Prevents cracking *and* makes the stucco stronger.
- Before the brown coat, scrape the walls to remove the large glumps of stucco.
- Before the next coat, wet the walls so that the stucco will adhere better.
- Repeat the above directions.
- Provide refreshments. If this is to much, get a quote to have it done.
What Happened to the MUD?
Well, as you may have surmised we went with a concrete stucco on the inside and the
outside. I was hoping to do a more "earthy" approach and use a traditional "mud", a
mixture of clay, sand and other things. These materials are experimental here in
the harsh Alberta climate. They require yearly maintenance and I was not comfortable
using this garage as a test bed. I am dedicated to finding out more when I build a
cabin out in the country, but for now, here, in the city, it is concrete stucco. This
material will stand up to the 80c temperature swing that we experience here.
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