Stucco today!

Well, I will have to (happily) "eat my hat" as "they" say! The stucco was done in one day! That's twice in a week I was shocked that the job actually took as long as the contractor said! The stucco got done without any major problems and it looks great! These are pictures from the day of application, so it doesn't look quite the way it will when it is completely dry. I'll post more pictures then. It is a huge relief to have this done. It is such a huge improvement. Maybe now the comments from passers-by will change and people won't be trying to get a glimpse of us to see what weird people could possibly live in such a dump.

Here is a shot of the mixer sitting on our lawn. They mix the stucco in large batches so the color stays constant.


Here is the prep work. It took the crew quite a while to prep. They also hosed the walls down before applying the stucco to help it adhere.



And here it is, the magical first swipe of new stucco.....I was amazed at how fast and skilled they were. It took me a really long time to trowel the samples I did and they didn't come out nearly as smooth as the crew's did.


Here are the tools they used. The handle sticking out of the bucket is a scoop shaped like a quarter of a pie. They scoop a glob of stucco onto the big square trowel and then use the sponge trowels (orange and green) to spread it. I think these sponges really help them get a nice smooth finish.

Here is the first section done. I was so excited to see this - it's been so long in coming. We've had the house for 19 months and we've had to look at it being nasty for all that time. Shortly after this, they sealed me inside (my choice, I could have been out all day) so they could have the windows and doors masked off. I was dying of curiosity! I could hear them working wall by wall, and wanted to see so badly! I eventually went out at about 2:00 with the dog and was quite pleased by the progress.






Here is the first wall completed. You can see the darker and lighter spots forming as the stucco dries. It will eventually dry to a light tan.