Preparations for Stucco
While we are a long way from enjoying stucco weather, we need to prepare the building to resist the elements and protect the interior as we approach insulating and drywalling, not exactly the materials you want to have exposed to moisture.
Once again I have turned to my friendly lebanese crew to do the stucco, but for preparing the paper and wire component I have a separate crew of equally skilled guys. They will do the all important flashing, membrane, peel and stick window application, paper and wire, and soffit fascia, siding, and all that goes along with it.
Here we have the black paper applied beneath the tyvek that is under the window flange. This is step 1 of the process.
In step 2, the peel and stick is applied to the window flange on the vertical sides of the window.
A reverse drip flashing is applied below the window to prevent water being able to get behind the stucco
A bottom flashing is applied below the level of the framing so no water can reverse into the wood structure.
A drip flashing with end dams is extended well over the width of the frame, along with the peel and stick and building paper. Note the small amount of paper (tyvek), that is left hanging over the drip flashing. This allows much easier clean up after the stucco is applied. It just cuts off leaving a nice clean flashing, much less work for the stucco guys.
After all this paper work the wire of the metal lath is applied, carefully only nailed to the studs. This is what bears the weight of the sand and cement mixture. This is a good crew of skilled tradespeople with a lot of experience in ensuring the building does not leak. Claude is the guy who runs the operation, and he has observed every possible candidate area to leak. I am confident this will be done well, and the stucco will have the best possible life span.