Porch - Final Coat and Pointing

Stucco's done!
Just a little cleanup left for tomorrow morning.
Looks great.
Craig put on a 4th coat due to some hairline cracks in the 3rd coat.
This is a better color match too. Cream on stucco and grayer pointing the stone sills.
Check out today's progress.
I'll post final pics after cleanup
(Now I just need to finish the inside of the porch...)



Acrobatic cleaning - hot day too!

Almost Done Masonry!

Craig came today and finished mounting the stone sill line and put another stucco coat on.
Here's what it looks like in process...

They will be back tomorrow to put another final coat on the stucco due to some hairline cracks. This will seal it up against moisture getting behind it and freezing - like the old stucco on the chimney. It is looking good!

I'll post some final pics after tomorrow and then after it dries and lightens up.

Sponge stucco
point stone
Sponge stucco
Grout bag putting mortar between stone.
Sponge corner. Tony in background working on something.

Inside Porch

I shifted work inside - the porch attic.
Ran wire up the corner into the small attic above the porch and down through the block to switch cutouts I put in the block.
Here's a view of the wires going into the wall.
It is hard to fish wire through block. I'm changing plans to minimize doing this. It's a pain.

I'll run the hot wire to the fixtures and then one wire to each switch. That will require only fishing one more wire vs. three more. I'll use a fixture as a junction as well.

Got some nice comments from neighbors on the chimney at the party next door this evening too.
Craig called this afternoon.
He may come tomorrow to clean up and finis the knee walls.
It was good to get an update.

No pics to show. Almost done. Waiting.

Well we were supposed to be done on Tuesday but I haven't heard from Craig and he isn't returning my calls.

Hope he's OK.

I cleaned up the mortar box and wheelbarrow, and put three buckets of dried mortar out with the trash - which they took but they trashed the buckets too!

Trying to finish up before the party next door this Saturday.

Just a half day's work to complete.

Close up of yesterday's work.

The color is turning out close to the main house as it dries.
Click on the picture for a close up detail

The Stone Goes On!

Next up:
Tomorrow - grout between stones. mount stone on west end. Stucco remaining wall - and clean up roof and drive from chimney job.
It is looking good!

These pictures are not in proper order but here they are. I'm missing some steps.
Craig picked up the stone and came to put it on. Here's David assisting.
Craig cleans the grout bag.
Setting up to stucco again and grout the stone.
Close up of the stone set.
Grouted stone awaiting pointing.

Materials remaining for porch. Tuesday next work day!

This is a look at the materials left for the porch stucco and stone.
A bag of play sand, some lime and some white cement.

We are due to finish it off on Tuesday!
The stone is ordered and Craig has picked it up or will. 4 boxes of selected stone for the sills.

Porch Scratch 2 & Chimney cleanup and pointing

Next... Stone and stucco on porch.
The roof still has some cleanup to go. I'll post some pics once it is all dressed up post cleanup.
I'll also need to decide if I want to seal the flagstone floor of the porch.

Second scratch coat. Looks a lot like the first but the mesh pattern is now completely covered.
It is sponged and lightly raked where the stone sill will go - once I have the stone.


This is the first scratch coat this morning. no cracks.
Here's the chimney with the stone pointed nicely.

Today - The second scratch coat while I am hunting down some stone.
Looking good.

Today - Porch Scratch - A new project.

Next -
Decide on stone for sills. and go get it.
Second scratch either way.

I think the weather should be good tomorrow but looks iffy for Friday.

I also remounted the disconnect box for the compressor on the chimney and cleaned the gutters and helped Craig and Kevin.

Here's the porch project:
This is type S mortar mix with some white cement added.

I nailed the mesh in more along the base to make it more solid. I hope it doesn't introduce leaks from behind the nail holes. I'll need to caulk between the windows and the Azek sills.
I put up some tyvek to keep drips off the side near the bushes.
Scratch coat 1 going on.




Well, I need to decide how I want to proceed on this project as they are going to be taking stuff away. It was a rainy day for most of the day but Craig put a scratch coat on the porch. No clean up as it was hard to tell where cement film is on the roof and I'm not crazy about guys being on wet roofs anyway.
Here's today's progress.

I need to decide on stone sills.

MONDAY: SW Chiimney Done! Cleanup begins.

Monday, May 2, 2011
The scaffolding is packed up.
The chimneys are done.
There is a bit of roof cleaning and equipment to clean up.

Here's a look in the sunshine!




Cleanup Phase One.
Scaffolding down and most of the roof cleaned off.
There is some remaining cleanup to do.

Catchup Updates...

Friday, April 29, 2011
I was on the road but Craig and Ed were finishing off the chimney.
Here are the results.




So this is what it looked like Monday morning.

Scratch Coat

Here's a view taken just before a quick downpour this morning. Weather is iffy this morning.
As you can see it is pretty dry at the top where it was done yesterday morning. the bottom was done in the afternoon.

Weather Forcast

Hmmm.... what does this mean for a streak-less final stucco coat?

ACTION...

Masonry is hard work and requires skill. These guys make it look easy.
Click it to play it.

Enjoy. This is a big file so I may not leave it up here long.
It is silent so don't worry about the lack of sound.

Scratch Coat and Screen Done!

Well - that's it. A long day and the scratch coat is done the top half is screened. The bottom half is stable and solid.

Next up is the finish coat and then clean up.

Of course there is still that porch.... and I discovered a leaking pipe in my basement... it never ends.

We'll see what the weather brings.
I disconnected the AC power box so they could stucco behind it. The nails show where the mounting screws will go to put it back.


Here's a couple views of the finished scratch coat.
Here's a look at the other chimney as it continues to cure.
Finishing off the scratch coat!
Thumbs up!
Scratch and mesh going on at the same time.

Scratch coat continues at the top while awaiting nails to finish the mesh.
We'll pick up as work continues today. Lots of pictures since quite a bit happened today.

Top

Starting at the Top.
Lobster man assisted by Kevin

The screening isn't done yet as the nails are in Ed's truck so the scratch has started and then the work will switch back to screening since Ed is on his way here.

Here's how it looks at the start.