Jobs in progress-updated March 9, 2001

Stairway plastered
Old Town Alexandria, Virginia

Stairway plastered A new plaster stairway in an old house in Old Town Alexandria.
 Plaster walls and ceilings preserve the historic integrity and beauty of these old houses, and stand up to the abuse that stairways receive.

  More details about the stairway here:

Color plaster
Fairfax, Virginia

Venetian
              plaster Finish
              plaster is mixed with color
Ceiling has started to set and is ready
for it's first troweling. I wanted a smooth
trowel look. Venetian plaster and Marmorino tend to be a  rough surface.
What is Marmorino?
Find out here:
Finish plaster is mixed with color
in a garbage can.
Finished
              room Keene's
              cement and finish lime
Finished room. No need to paint. Keene's cement and finish lime are used for
the finish coat. I used Keene's because it sets slow and can be mixed with a drill.
It really is more of a plaster than cement,
and gets super hard.

Stucco addition
Washington, DC

A real
              colored portland cement finish is put on the addition Brown coat
              has set for over a week
A real colored portland cement finish is put on the addition of this old house.

I mixed paint tint in the mortar forthe color.
Brown coat has set for over a week
and is ready for the finish. Brown coat
is straight. Note how the windows are
straightened to allow the same margin
around each window.

Stucco addition
Great Falls, Virginia

Metal lath finished waiting for scratch coat. We used a plaster stop at the bottom of the
wall at the deck to define a bottom edge.
We left a slight gap to prevent water from
wicking up behind the wall and damaging
the stucco.
bottom edge
              of the stucco We
              duplicated the bottom edge
Here is the bottom edge of the stucco on the old house.  We duplicated the bottom edge by nailing
a wood strip around the bottom of the
addition. When the brown coat sets we
take the strip off. 
a gap of
              about an inch over the roof I left a gap of about an inch over the roof for drainage and for relief from building movement, due to snow loads, etc.


I made a kickout flashing (not shown). I'll have a detail on the next update. Time flies-
We're putting on the finish coat
tomorrow.