Final Stucco

It has been a few weeks since the brown coat (base coat) of stucco was applied, and now the final layer is finished.

 Here is a streetview with the final stucco.

As mentioned in the last stucco post, the product is La Habra.  We decided to have the trim color match as closely as possible the window frame color.  We thought this would make the windows look larger and would look better than having it look like the windows were two colors.  The color that we thought looked best as a compliment, to be used on the walls of the house, ended up being darker.   Driving around looking at other stucco houses in the surrounding neighborhoods, we noticed that most houses used a lighter color on the base and a darker trim.  We are glad we went this way.  It is different, like our house, and we think it looks good.

Here is a shot with the clerestory finished and the bottom floors still with just the brown coat.

This is a closeup of the finished coat and the brown coat (ironically the finished coat is the brown color, and the "brown coat" is the gray color.)

Another shot in progress.

This shot shows the stucco trim butting up to the wood trim at the eave.  We are thinking about painting the wood trim the same color as the stucco trim for consistency.  We may paint the siding the same color as the garage door.  Although not the door in this picture, which is the passage door and also will be painted the same color as the overhead garage door.

A Cooling Effect: Insulation and Venting

In an effort to naturally cool (and heat) the house, insulation and venting have been given much thought. For insulation, we are using Owens Corning Eco Touch.  In some areas it will work best to use batting in mat form, and in other areas, insulation will be blown in behind a retaining fabric.  Depending on location, R-11 and R-19 is used.

Here are pictures of the batting in mat form in the package and installed at the roof line.

And following are pictures of the loose-fill insulation retaining fabric installed on the wall, waiting for insulation to be blown in.

Here is a wall with retaining fabric installed.

 Closeup of wall with fabric installed. 

 And here is a wall portion with the insulation blown in behind the fabric.

And a closeup of the wall with the insulation blown in.

Venting the roof and attic space is also important to keep the shingles and inside of the house from overheating in the summer and to prevent ice dams from forming in the winter.

In a previous post talking about the underside of the clerestory, the exterior soffit roof vents can be seen.

A system of AtticMate air vent channels has been installed above the insulation layer that will channel outside air from the soffit vents up through the ridge vents.

Stucco Prep 2

Learned this week that the stucco application is a multi-layered process.  A few days ago they applied the first layer of stucco. 

 

Fastwall Stucco Base Concentrate

A factory controlled high-quality blend of portland cement, lime, fibers and proprietary additives that conforms to ASTM C926. ASTM C897 or ASTM C144 sand is added at the job site. Can be installed up to 1/2 in. (12.7mm) in one application.






It is gray-colored and looks like concrete.  This needs to dry for a few weeks before they apply the final layer in the colors we chose. The base of the house will be Clay and the window and door trim will be Aspen.