Jobs in progress #141 - updated November 18, 2015

Real cement stucco with a real cement finish in Reston, Virginia

scaffold in Reston, Virginia. ken-o-tex sprayed on plywood in Reston, Virginia

Taking down the scaffold in Reston, Virginia.
I exaggerated the colors of the leaves but you have to admit the picture looks nice.
More details here..

The original house had ken-o-tex sprayed on plywood.
Here's the article I wrote about Ken-o-tex here
Kenotex was a spray on paint  material with vermiculite balls that was sprayed on plywood or cement basecoats for a stucco look.
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Spanish texture in Reston, VA counter flashing on all the roof lines

Knocking down the Spanish texture.

More about this project:

After two layers of tar paper (Count 'em. Not one but TWO !), we put on a counter flashing on all the roof lines. Note the nailing strip we put on the top of the
parapet walls to nail the coping to.
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3/4" weep grounds We put plaster around the house to keep the wall from getting splattered and stained

We used 3/4" weep grounds at the bottoms of all the walls to allow drainage. There is nothing better to control expansion is stucco than weep screeds or weep grounds. Stucco is porous, like bricks. When stucco absorbs water it swells up like a sponge. The weeps let the water out of the wall.
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We put plaster around the house to keep the wall from getting splattered and stained. This isn't really economical, but I had a bunch of structolite left over from a fireproofing job and this was a good use for it.
 
More here....

Pebble Dash stucco chimney in
the Takoma Park area
of Washington, DC

The flashing around the chimney had failed

It didn't take Sherlock Holmes to find out the source of the leaks. The flashing around the chimney had failed. I bought a drone to estimate chimneys but I haven't needed it yet. More here...

The flashing around the chimney had failed.
The flashing around the chimney had failed.

More info and find out who the famous person is that lives here...
More info and find out who the famous person is that used live here...

Two more stucco chimneys rescued in Washington, DC,
the capital of taxation without representation

stucco chimneys rescued in Washington, DC 100 year old Spanish style house

The other chimney is deteriorated worse. We cut off the stucco at the base of the chimney and put on flashing overlapping the old flashing. The old flashing on the Spanish tile roof never was put on tight to the substrate, in this case, terracotta blocks. We filled in the holes with super mortar.

After 3/4" of cement mortar, the old dash on finish is matched on the money on this nice old 100 year old Spanish style house. This stuff splatters everywhere. I wonder what they did 100 years ago when there was no tape and plastic.

A decorative band hides the joint between the old and the new in Washington, DC coins on the top of our chimneys

A decorative band hides the joint between the old and the new.

We always embed coins on the top of our chimneys. One day, someone may climb up here and see them.

Color stucco in this basement
in Washington, DC

Cement plaster is the material of choice for for damp basements Steel trowel finish in Washington, DC

Old block basement walls needed a new finish for this basement remodel. Cement plaster is the material of choice for for damp basements. Mold only grows on wood and paper materials like sheetrock.

Steel trowel finish changes blah to elegant. The color is a custom color from Expo stucco in San Diego.

Patch and match in Silver Spring, Maryland.

100 year old plaster house in Silver Spring

Crow's foot finish is duplicated on this nearly 100 year old house in Silver Spring.

A person that works always wants to do less. An artist always wants to do more.-Seth Godin