August, 1910 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
83 
ally an excellent material, 
however, and therefore does 
not require either protection 
or covering to produce pleas¬ 
ing effects. 
New brick may be cov¬ 
ered with stucco very suc¬ 
cessfully. The joints should 
be first raked out to a depth 
of half an inch. The brick 
must be saturated with 
water. It is always best to 
start stuccoing at the top of 
the wall and work down be¬ 
tween the pilasters or cor¬ 
ners, finishing a whole strip 
or whole side wall from top 
to bottom in one day. Thus 
no streaks or cracks are 
formed where one day’s 
work ends and another be¬ 
gins. By this method the 
wall can be kept wet ahead 
of the work by means of a 
hose. 
The second coat should be 
put on as soon as the first coat has stiffened sufficiently to hold 
in place and stand the pressure of the trowel. This second coat 
should be well scratched and the finish coat applied while the 
second coat is damp. The finish coat should then be kept wet, 
protected from the rays of the sun, and, as far as possible, from 
drying out. This can be done by hanging wet cloths over it. 
This rule of keeping each coat moist until the other coat is ap¬ 
plied, and protecting the surface after applying the finish coat, 
must be observed in all forms of Portland cement stucco. 
If the stucco is to be applied to metal lath or wire cloth the 
metal should be plastered on two sides so that the supporting 
mesh is entirely encased in mortar in order to avoid rusting. If 
this is impracticable, then the metal lath or wire cloth should be 
dipped in a paint made of equal parts of neat Portland cement 
and water. Immediately after dipping, the metal lath or wire 
cloth should be tacked upon the framework in the position it is 
intended to occupy. As soon as the neat Portland cement has 
hardened on the metal, apply the first coat of stucco. Hair should 
be added to the mortar to be applied on 
wire mesh or expanded metal. Use one 
bag of cement to one pound of hair. 
If plaster boards are used they should 
be nailed on the frame work of the build¬ 
ing. leaving at least a quarter of an inch 
between each pair. This joint is to be 
filled in with lime putty, otherwise each 
plaster board will cause square cracks on 
the outside of the stucco the size of each 
board. 
A convenient method of waterproofing 
plaster boards is easily available. The 
boards may be painted with two coats of 
any of the reputable bitumen waterproof 
paints to which plaster adheres. Then, 
about twenty-four hours after the bitu¬ 
men paint has been applied, and within 
six days, apply the first coat of stucco. 
For stucco or terra-cotta blocks great 
care should be exercised in keeping the 
blocks thoroughly saturated with water, 
Stucco is perhaps seen at its best in conjunction with other materials, such as the half-timber work and the 
patterned brick screen wall in this house at Garden City. Aymar Embury, II, architect 
Stucco is fully as adaptable to the refined formality of the Renais¬ 
sance types as to the picturesquely informal building 
A house at Easthampton built with stucco on wire cloth upon a wood frame. There has 
been a serious attempt here to express in the design the character of the material used 
