Stucco News
Question and answers on Stucco and Plastering-- July, 2011
I'm preparing to do the exterior stucco on my home in the up coming months. In researching types of metal lath, I have decided to go with the "diamond" metal. I understand the furring concept on this type of lath, except for the flat diamond product. I have seen it stapled directly to the exterior, over building paper. Is there not a need to manually fur this material away from the wall? |
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The easiest way to
fur metal lath is buy self furring lath. Here is self-furring
diamond mesh lath. The lath has dimples, or crimps, 1/4" deep, about 3" on center, to hold the metal lath away from the wall.This allows mortar to get behind the lath for good support and reinforcement. I have made my own self furring lath before by beating a bundle of flat lath with a hammer.It is far better to buy lath already furred. Failure to use self furring lath,or to fur flat lath, will lead to a weak product than can fail. |
| California style stucco mesh has
self furring crimps. Note how rows crimps are colored with red (or yellow) paint. This makes the crimps easy to find for a good nailing pattern. Ideally, you want to hit the center of the dimple with a nail, but the manufacturers explain that isn't possible to hit the center of the dimple every time. The most important things that the lath is a little baggy for mortar to penetrate well behind the lath. |
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| Furring nails are made for flat
lath. A washer is used to position flat lath away from the wall for a
good key. This method seems real slow, but works. Using self furring lath allows shooting on the lath with a roofing nailer. |
Old furring nails were made in
the shape of a hook. These were used on a 1930's house we re-stuccoed. This was an excellent idea for welded wire lath. For more about methods for furring lath, please click here. |