Stucco & Exterior Walls in Pacific Palisades
Cement plaster, fiber cement and listed siding for Pacific Palisades rebuilds, with ember-resistant vents and eaves and a lath check before plaster goes on.
Should the new walls be stucco or siding? For a Pacific Palisades rebuild, fire rules settle part of that before taste does. Where a parcel is inside a mapped fire hazard zone, the wall covering has to be noncombustible, ignition-resistant or a tested assembly, which leaves cement plaster, fiber cement and listed treated wood. Looks, upkeep and the detailing at vents, eaves and the base of the wall decide the rest, and all of it goes into the written scope.
Where embers find a way in
A noncombustible wall still has weak spots, and they gather at openings and edges. Attic and underfloor vents take listed ember-resistant units or fine metal mesh. Eave overhangs can be enclosed with a noncombustible soffit, or left open with blocking and rafter tails built to the fire chapter of the code. At the foot of the wall, plaster ends at a screed held above grade and siding stays clear of the soil, so a bed of dry mulch has no path to the finish. Window and door trim is held to the same standard as the field of the wall. Each detail is drawn on the plan sheets, so the inspector checks what was approved.
Scratch, brown and finish coats
LADBS issues the permit for a Pacific Palisades house, and its inspector signs off the barrier paper and lath before plaster touches the wall. The scratch coat is pressed into the lath and raked with horizontal grooves for grip. The brown coat follows once that layer has firmed, troweled flat to straightedges and then left to cure and shrink. The finish coat carries the color and texture. Between coats the wall is misted so the cement hydrates evenly and does not craze. Near the water, lath, screeds and casing beads in zinc alloy or heavy galvanizing resist corrosion better, and we specify them where the exposure warrants.
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Stucco & Exterior in Pacific Palisades: questions
Inside a mapped fire hazard area, cement plaster, fiber cement panels or lap boards, and exterior fire-retardant-treated wood with a listing all qualify. Plaster gives one unbroken face with color mixed into the final coat and asks for little beyond an occasional wash. Fiber cement reads as boards or panels and needs repainting over time. We bring samples of what your parcel allows.
In many cases. Sounding the wall with a mallet finds plaster that has let go of its lath, and a small opening shows whether the paper behind it scorched. Fine cracks over a solid base are routed, filled and covered with a fresh finish coat. Where the backing burned or the plaster rings hollow, that section is cut out square and rebuilt in layers to match.
Start at the framing. Plywood or OSB sheathing braces the wall, and on a stucco job 2 plies of weather-resistive paper cover it, each course overlapping the one below. Pan and head flashing wrap every opening and tie into that paper. Lath is fastened through to the studs, and a weep screed at the bottom edge lets water that gets behind the plaster escape.
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