Jobs in progress   
                 updated August 24, 2015

Over 16 years of jobs in progress, update #140!   I started jobs in progress in January, 1999, when I registered my domain. If you want to find out about plaster and exterior  cement
plaster, also known as stucco, you are in the right place.
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Plaster walls and ceilings- Knock on the wall quality !	White coat is troweled so slick you can see the reflection of the window. We're plastering this historic house in Rockville, Maryland.
Veneer plaster starts off with blue board. No, this isn't blue mold resistant sheet rock or green water resistant sheet rock. More details here..	They make a self stick fiberglass tape for this but I quit using it because I am afraid of joint cracking. I worked for companies years ago that only used the staple on kind of tape. The self stick tape doesn't allow mortar to get behind the tape for reinforcement. Here I am using paper tape and durabond 90. More details here:
Veneer plaster basecoat is incredibly hard for as thin as it is. First we scratch in the joints and then coat the whole wall. More about this project:	The door jambs are set first before the board is hung. This allows the plaster to finish flush to the jamb so the trim lays flat. Also the doors have a nice solid thunk when they are closed like a heavy door on an old car.   Click for More:

Stucco additions and remodeling for Case Design

Taking down the scaffold. We took over the job from a contractor that was kicked off. More here...	The arches and details are formed and filled with solid mortar. The original house has foam. I just can't force myself to work with flimsy foam. More here...
This brown coat looked like a bunch of kids did it, no offense to kids. This is my competition for you. See how we straightened it out...	The sills are formed and filled the same way will solid cement mortar. Foam has been proven to absorb and trap water under windows. More..

Real cement stucco
                   in Northeast Washington, DC

Siding is pulled off showing most of the top floor had painted stucco that would have still been in good shape, except it was beaten up real bad by putting on furring and siding.	The old stucco was re-coated. Also, a porch addition and the dormers were lathed and stuccoed.
You may have seen our chipping and bonding method before. The wall was chipped every 3 inches or so and a bonding coat is applied using portland cement mortar and a chemical bonding admixture.	The old stucco was cut off just over the porch line and new flashing is put on. Later the flashing is overlapped with stucco.
Of course, we always re-do the chimney.	We're taking down the scaffold on another finished project.

This nearly 100 year old house has the stucco replaced on two sides.	Deteriorated metal lath is the culprit of the stucco failing. They didn't have galvanizwed lath back then. The bottom trim board was still in fairly good shape, even though it was never flashed. We put on new flashing.
	A splatter suit is made using plastic and tape. I hope that this stucco will last a lot longer than the original.

                                                             A REAL Stucco band in the Mosaic District
                                                             Merrifield, Virginia

Another view of our stucco band at Madewell, next door to our band we did at Lululemon. EIFS and synthetic finish isn't supposed to be allowed here in the Mosaic District.

Bathroom ceilings replaced
in Falls Church, Virginia.

Metal lath and molding plaster and lime allows for same day completion at least most of the time.	The original ceiling was rock lath and had black mold growing. Black mold won't grow on metal lath or plaster.