I'm very new and haven't practiced since my recent class. We are in the process of building our new home and I attended class in order to be able to create authentic venetian plaster on the interior. The person we had lined up to do the exterior in stucco has now gotten busy in the metropolitan area that he lives and we are left with no one to do the exterior. Sooo, I am considering tackling this myself. Our home is ICF (insulated concrete forms) with the upper garage and deck pillars/arches in wood. My questions are these: Which products would be the best as a base material before utilizing either Aquarello or the new product just out (exterior marmarino)? Do I need to foam over the wood areas (this is what they do with dryvit) before making other applications? I have just under 7000 sq. ft. to finish so it is not a small project, but I want to do it right. Any help or suggestions? Thanks!!!

Hi Karen,



ICF is a great way to build--congratulations!



The foam that is used in ICF construction will need to be reinforced in order for your chosen finish to resist dents and cracks.



Some thoughts or questions:

Will you have help in doing this project?

Are you familiar with Portland cement stucco and its use?

There are special preparations that will be needed for exteriors versus interiors.

Seven thousand sq. ft. will require a lot of person hours to just complete even the base coat.

Will you have the time available?



BTW, the short answer is going to be Velnova over the foam--applied at least 1/8" to 3/16" thick. There are substitutes that can be used instead of expensive Velnova though.



Please give some more information and we will make some suggestions.



David

Karen I dont know if its true but I have heard that you need to put another layer of Polystyrene over your form eps or youll have cracks. You could use eifs base and perhaps an eifs skip trowel finish which is foolproof.Then you could apply Aquarella. This would make the project affordable.Also there is a mesh you must use when base coating,it covers every square inch of surface.Ken Shook