How to Replace Vinyl Siding With Stucco

Vinyl siding makes for an inexpensive and virtually maintenance free house cladding. These characteristics have made it ubiquitous with tract homes built in the suburbs. This is leading more and more home owners to replace vinyl siding with stucco in an effort to make their home stand out from the rest of the houses on the block.

Things You'll Need

• Hammer
• 15 lb roofing felt
• Stapler
• Vinyl siding shears
• Metal lath
• Roofing nails
• Color additive

Instructions

1. Remove the vinyl siding from the house. The top of each piece is nailed to the wall and the bottom snapped in place on the top of the piece below it. Use a hammer to remove the nails to free the pieces of siding.

2. Wrap the house with roofing felt. The 15-pound variety is fine. Use staples to fasten to the structure.

3. Attach metal lath to the house using galvanized roofing nails. Cut the lathe with metal snips.

4. Apply the base, or scratch, coat to the walls using a trowel. This coat should be at least 1/4-inch thick, but not more than double that. Make sure it thoroughly fills the lathe, as this is what anchors it to the wall.

5. Let the scratch coat cure for an hour or so and use a plaster's rake or trowel with small teeth to go back scratch the base coat. Don't scratch it more than 1/8-inch thick; 1/16-inch should work fine. Allow the scratch coat to dry for three to four days, wetting it occasionally to improve the strength of the concrete.

6. Tint the finish coat by thoroughly mixing the color powder and water before mixing it with the stucco.

7. Apply the finish coat to the scratch coat, again using a trowel. This coat should be no more than 1/4-inch thick, with 1/8-inch being the minimum. Let the stucco cure for several days, again gently wetting it once or twice a day.

References

• Bob Vila

Resources

• Video Tutorial