How to Do Spanish Lace Stucco

You can apply Spanish lace texture to cover minor imperfections.

When carefully decorated, walls serve as more than a backdrop for your furniture -- they add significantly to the atmosphere of the room, increase light, give the illusion of space and define your living quarters. Cracked, peeling and dingy walls can have just the opposite effect, making your space feel cramped, dark and unstylish. If wall damage is purely cosmetic and not an indication of pests, mold or water damage, you can apply a wall texture such as Spanish lace stucco to hide the flaws. Achieve Spanish lace texture by coating the walls with a mottled splatter coat, then smoothing and spreading the texturizer to create irregular plateaued shapes and low areas.

Things You'll Need

• Tape
• Plastic tarps
• Primer
• Roller
• Stucco powder mix
• Water
• Bucket
• Stirrer
• Drill
• Mixing attachment
• Trowel
• Stucco sprayer
• Cup
• Knockdown knife
• Spray-on texture
• Spray bottle
• Tar paper
• Scissors
• Box cutters
• Lath
• Wire cutters

Instructions

Brick, Concrete or Stone Wall

1. Remove all furniture from the room. Cover the floor with a tarp. Apply wide painter's tape to the base boards, the perimeter of the ceiling and any other area you do not wish to texture.

2. Apply one coat of pre-texture primer to the bare drywall if instructed to do so by the directions on the stucco mixture.

3. Read the directions on the stucco bag for mixing 3 gallons of stucco. Add the necessary amount of water to the bucket. Add the required amount of stucco powder.

4. Dry your hands. Attach the mixing paddle to the drill and plug in the tool.

5. Lower the paddle into the bucket until it is just above the bottom of the bucket. Pulse the drill (pull and release the trigger) to mix; continue for 10 minutes or until the water is visibly incorporated. Use a paint stirrer to scrape the sides and bottom of the bucket to make sure all material is thoroughly incorporated in the mix.

6. Lift the mixing paddle from the bucket and observe it for stucco consistency; stucco should cling to the paddle and not drip like whipped egg whites. If the batch is too watery, discard the stucco and try again.

7. Scoop 1/4 cup of stucco on one of the longer edges of your trowel. Smooth the stucco over the wall so that it is 1/4 inch thick. Repeat to cover the entire wall.

8. Use the comblike side of the trowel or a rake to scratch shallow trenches in the stucco coat.

9. Let the stucco scratch coat dry for two days. Spray the wall with water twice a day to prevent the stucco from curing too quickly.

10. Look for the fill line on the interior of the spray gun hopper, the bucket where the stucco is held. Fill the hopper up to that line with the mixed compound. Use a cup to scoop the compound into the hopper.

11. Stand so that the nozzle of the gun is 1 foot to 2 feet from the wall. Pull the trigger to release the compound. Move the gun in a side-to-side motion like an oscillating fan.

12. Stand between 2 feet and 6 feet from the wall and apply the compound to random areas of the wall to make the texture more mottled.

13. Wait for the compound to set for 1 hour; this is an orange peel texture.

14. Slide the edge of the knockdown knife across the surface of the textured wall lightly using just enough pressure to smear the texture compound and form irregularly shaped plateaus and valleys.

15. Allow the texture to dry overnight.

16. Touch up areas of the wall that are not textured enough by applying more stucco or by using a spray-on texturizer.

17. Cure the stucco over the course of the next two weeks. Spritz the curing stucco with water once every two to three days. Drape plastic tarps over the wall if possible; this promotes even drying.

Sealed, Painted or Wood Wall

1. Nail sheets of tar paper to the wall; this paper provides a water-resistant coating to prevent moisture from getting trapped against the base wall. Place at least one nail every 8 inches. Apply the sheet from ceiling to floor in a long vertical strip. Apply the second strip to the right of the first overlapping the vertical edges of the strip 3 inches or more.

2. Staple or nail self-furring lath over the tar paper; the self-furring lath floats about 1/2 inch above the tar paper.

3. Repeat Steps 3 to 6 from Section 1 to mix stucco.

4. Load stucco into the spray gun hopper and apply a 1/4-inch thick coat over the lath. Use the trowel to rake across the stucco leaving shallow scratches in the surface.

5. Repeat Steps 9 through 7 from Section 1 to apply a second coat of stucco and cure the walls.

Tips & Warnings

• Wear safety goggles, work gloves and a breathing mask when working with stucco, fiberglass or metal.

• Clean excess mortar with a wet rag.

• Houses built before 1970 may contain asbestos, a mineral fiber that is known to pose severe health risks such as lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis. Have an asbestos professional check your home for this harmful material if you are concerned. To locate an asbestos professional in your area call the Environmental Protection Agency asbestos hotline at [phone].

References

• "Craftsman's Construction Installation Encyclopedia"; Stephen Diller, et al.; 2004
• "Popular Mechanics Home Repairs & Improvements"; Albert Jackson, et al.; 2006
• "Walks, Walls & Patios"; Creative Homeowner Press; 2004

Resources

• Environmental Protection Agency: Asbestos in Your Home