Expert: Richard Taylor, AIA - 7/5/2008

Question
Hello,

After reading your profile I thought you might be able to help me.  I am located in California.  My house is not an antique or historical, it was built in 1952.  I am doing some work in my backyard and one of the things I am working on is the wall that surrounds my yard.  I have a cinder block wall that varies in height from 6 feet tall to 8 feet tall.  It is very bland looking and what I want to do is texture coat the wall.  I have gone to Home Depot about 5 or 6 times and each time I ask I get completely different information about what materials I need and what I need to do to texture coat this cinder block wall.  The first time I was told all I needed to do was get a bag of base/scratch coat and trowel it onto the wall.  I got an 80 pound bag and mixed it per the instructions and found that it was very difficult to get it to adhere to the wall.  I ended up thinning the mixture with more water and then it stuck better but some of it would still roll off as I tried to adhere it to the wall.  So, finally, I took the hose and I misted the cinder block wall until it was damp and I got my best results doing it that way.  One other thing, the bag said that I would cover 10 square feet and it covered less than half that amount.  What I have done looks good and it has stuck to the wall but I am just wondering, is there a better way?  and/or is their an easier way?  I am a bit exasperated with Home Depot because they really act like they don't know or confident in what they are telling me to do, I have seen many cinderblock walls texture coated and I would think that there are some "cut and dried" methods for doing it.  Can you please help me or point me in the right direction?  

Rick

Answer
Hi Rick - thanks for your question!

The problem here might just be semantics - you don't want to "texture coat" this wall, you want to stucco it (more properly called Portland cement plaster).

Stucco is at least a 2-coat process however, and you won't get good results trying to texture the base/scratch coat.  The purpose of the base coat is to give the finish coat something to adhere to.  Once the base coat is properly applied, you can add the finish coat and the texture.

There are many good sources of information on the internet on how to stucco a concrete block wall including this one: http://www.taylorrental.com/tip_detail.asp?id=56&sec_id=Homeowner

The key step you missed the first time is wetting the wall - without that the block absorbs all the water from the stucco and you don't get any adhesion.

As far as the amount of wall coverage, that's a function of a proper material mix and skill - masonry work is most definitely a learned skill!  The walls you've seen may have been done by professional masons.

Remember that home-improvement store employees are not professional contractors, they're salespeople - they're very good at pointing you to the right aisle in the store but not all of them are experienced in the building trades.  A much better source for building advice is a commercial building supply - where the contractors buy.

Good luck with your project - hope this helps!

Richard Taylor, AIA
www.rtastudio.com
www.rtaplans.com