It’s time to make our two new openings presentable on the outside.

To start we tacked expanded wire mesh in the areas to get stucco, for the stucco to stick to and for added strength.

We are still mixing our own stucco from portland cement, lime, and sand. That way we can tailor the mix to our old house and we can use the same materials for all our masonry projects (brick mortar, stucco scratch coat / finish coat, etc) just by varying the proportions.

So here’s the first, scratch coat done.

Here I am working on the finish coats. We had perfect weather this weekend for any outdoor work.

2nd coat done.

And the finally the third finish coat … Done.

It will dry a lighter color, reasonably close to the existing but not perfect. But once it gets a little dirty you won’t notice!