Final Color Coat

The southern exposure.

Looking at the west and north walls.

 The exterior finish of our new adobe home is all complete.  The stucco protecting the natural adobes is on.  The flagstone atop all the parapets and buttresses is installed and sealed.  The windows and wood trim is all primed and painted.  The roof is complete with seamless cutters and drains (rain collection barrels will be added later).  Of course flagstone porches and the final grading will be completed once all the construction inside is completed.  We can't wait to move in.

North side showing the "air lock" entry.

Insulation

 R-49 insulation has been blown into the attic. Miller's Insulation arrived at 9am and by noon they were gone. Over 16 inches of fiberglass insulation blown in.




We are now ready for winter. Speaking of winter, the low temperature yesterday was 24°F. But inside the adobe the temperatue of the trombe walls was 70-74° and the room temperatures were in the 60's - with no heater. This passive solar thing realy works

Scratch Coat of Stucco

Saturday morning the process began.

Sunday morning it looked like this.

The first coat of stucco, the scratch coat, has been applied.  In an instant, one day really, it looks like a real home.  After a few days of curing the second, brown coat will be applied.  Finally, after some more curing the color coat will complete the stucco process.  That will finish the outside work.

Stucco Ready!

South elevation, looking North.

Window trim detail.

The stucco contractor has installed the felt paper, chicken wire, and metal lath to all the areas that will be stuccoed.  It took almost three days but they did a beautiful job.  All the small detail on the south side slowed the process.

The state inspector has given the job his approval so all is ready to start applying the stucco tomorrow.   All the surfaces shown in black will be stucco.  It is a three step process: the scratch coat (heaviest), the brown coat, and the color coat.  In our case we have chosen to use an acrylic color coat to prevent or minimize cracks.

North elevation, looking South.

Since the trim has all been painted, once the color coat is applied the outside of the adobe is all complete.