I’ve decided I want to add a ledger stone veneer to the bottom half of our house in the front. I have some ideas on how to do this from reading books and manufacturer install guides and tiling our bathroom, but there is one problem with our lower stucco wall I’m not sure what to do about. Or if I even should do something about it.
This is the material being applied: http://www.realstonesource.com/10/Craftsman-Panels - 12.5 lbs per square foot.
Our stucco doesn’t have what I normally see on a modern construction house – I think it is called a weep screed – the overhang of the stucco over the foundation wall. Instead our stucco goes straight into the ground in some places, or, on one of our walls, it actually bows backwards like a boat hull. It looks like they just sort of ran the stucco down the wall, and then shaped it back towards the foundation wall. This makes applying the stone veneer a bit harder if either we want to go around a corner, or we want it to be plumb.
The stucco surface recedes back about an inch or so out of plumb over a vertical distance of about 6". It basically begins to recede at the point the wood framing meets the foundation wall.
I can provide a photo of that is too hard to visualize...
Also keep in mind, this is old school 1940's or 1950’s stucco – I think it is almost ¾” thick and is hard. Also, it has chicken wire embedded in it, not diamond lath. This is in California, San Francisco Bay Area. Freezing isn't much of an issue ... the wall is protected by eves as well.
Here is what I’m already thinking – our painter is already cleaning the stucco. Then I will nail a diamond lath to the existing stucco into the studs. A scratch coat (3/8”?) goes on top of the lath, and then I set the stone into mortar on top of the scratch coat. I will end about 4” above the dirt. All of that is more or less per manufacturer recommendations.
I will then either let the stone just conform to the out of plumb wall – OR I was thinking of buying weep screed to make a ledge, nailing that in to the bottom of my lath (into the foundation wall?), and slowly building out the stucco in ½” layers to make the wall plumb.
My concern is whether that is just too much weight/thickness to be ”hanging” there by itself. Will it just shear/crack off?
Would I be better off just living with the bow and not going around the corner? (the bow also turns the corner)
How should I successfully attach the weep screed to the foundation wall? (I'll have to attach it into the foundation concrete - I'm thinking tapcon)
And thank you for any advice in advance!
This is the material being applied: http://www.realstonesource.com/10/Craftsman-Panels - 12.5 lbs per square foot.
Our stucco doesn’t have what I normally see on a modern construction house – I think it is called a weep screed – the overhang of the stucco over the foundation wall. Instead our stucco goes straight into the ground in some places, or, on one of our walls, it actually bows backwards like a boat hull. It looks like they just sort of ran the stucco down the wall, and then shaped it back towards the foundation wall. This makes applying the stone veneer a bit harder if either we want to go around a corner, or we want it to be plumb.
The stucco surface recedes back about an inch or so out of plumb over a vertical distance of about 6". It basically begins to recede at the point the wood framing meets the foundation wall.
I can provide a photo of that is too hard to visualize...
Also keep in mind, this is old school 1940's or 1950’s stucco – I think it is almost ¾” thick and is hard. Also, it has chicken wire embedded in it, not diamond lath. This is in California, San Francisco Bay Area. Freezing isn't much of an issue ... the wall is protected by eves as well.
Here is what I’m already thinking – our painter is already cleaning the stucco. Then I will nail a diamond lath to the existing stucco into the studs. A scratch coat (3/8”?) goes on top of the lath, and then I set the stone into mortar on top of the scratch coat. I will end about 4” above the dirt. All of that is more or less per manufacturer recommendations.
I will then either let the stone just conform to the out of plumb wall – OR I was thinking of buying weep screed to make a ledge, nailing that in to the bottom of my lath (into the foundation wall?), and slowly building out the stucco in ½” layers to make the wall plumb.
My concern is whether that is just too much weight/thickness to be ”hanging” there by itself. Will it just shear/crack off?
Would I be better off just living with the bow and not going around the corner? (the bow also turns the corner)
How should I successfully attach the weep screed to the foundation wall? (I'll have to attach it into the foundation concrete - I'm thinking tapcon)
And thank you for any advice in advance!