Hi out there, I haven’t posted for a while – I’m being a bad blogger. I’ll do better this year.
Check out this cool stop-motion video of our friend Lynn Kriley applying Marmorino Carrara to a wall up in Anchorage Alaska, He says it’s something like 35 below there at night – yikes.
Stop Motion movie of me applying Stucco Italiano Marmorino Plaster from Lynn Kriley on Vimeo.
If only we could work that fast, right?…
Kelowna, BC is a beautiful place. It’s the largest town nestled in the Okanagan Valley, home to dozens of wineries. The locals are calling it “Napa of the North” or something like that.
We have a number of projects going right now up there, I’m just begging the installers for photos. I was just there a few weeks ago and took some photos of a winery south of Kelowna that Len Trump just did using Carrara, Intonachino, and lime paint. It came out beautifully. Below is a preview – Len had some professional photos taken and I’ll post those in the next couple of days.
The grocery stores all have all kinds of really delicious grapes you can’t get in Seattle.
We have a big exterior project going on north of Kelowna, they are using Intonachino Medium. Check out this place:
The whole interior is getting the “Stucco Italiano treatment” also.
The architect and the owner want a distressed finish, which can be difficult to pull off on an exterior because of the need to work on such a large scale “canvas”. I played around with the stucco contractor on a couple of different approaches on some test walls. The house is first-coated with Intonachino in most areas, but the final finish will be done next spring.
I’ll head up there when they get started on the last coat. I like sitting in a directors chair and yelling out instructions. But seriously you often need someone to be far enough away during application to see the composition from the bigger perspective.
Distressing exteriors is a whole thing unto itself. It can go horribly wrong. And then your customer’s neighbors will make fun of them, so you must not attempt this unless you really know what you are doing, or, just get me a plane ticket and the directors chair.
I’ll do a post in the not-too-distant future on aging exteriors.
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This project involves the interior installation of about 6000 square feet of our Intonachino Extra Fine lime plaster. We are doing the finish in a distressed style, leaving some random openings between the first and second coat and lacing in some lighter highlights.
We went through a number of samples to find just the right color and texture. Below is a sample wall I did just to make sure the owners were completely comfortable with the finish before we got started.
The clients asked me to come up with something that would work well in their elegant Mediterranean home. It was easy to see how using a richer color for the interior walls would help accent the substantial crown moldings, baseboards, and casings and give the home more richness and depth. The owners commented that once the walls started getting plastered the paint job on the walls began to look like primer – as if the house had not been completely finished until we showed up.
My good friend Bill Kaiser, owner of Elite Plaster in Bend, Oregon, and his brother David came up to help out with the project. Both guys, although relatively young, have a great deal of expertise in Venetian plaster application, as well as extensive exterior stucco knowledge. Bill’s done numerous exterior applications with Intonachino in central Oregon over the past few years.
We ran our material as a modified wet-on-wet application. First coat was applied and allowed to go to set – as soon as we were sure there were no soft spots on the first coat we went right back in with the finish coat, waited for that to firm up, and then came back with a clean trowel to press and smooth the finish.
This technique saves some time and materials as compared to a traditional application in which one allows the first coat to go completely dry and come back next day. Another advantage of going wet-on-wet is that the residual moisture in the first coat gives the second coat more open time, eliminating concerns about cold joints and lap marks even over large walls. I wouldn’t recommend the same application on an exterior – you’re much better off doing a full first coat and letting it dry completely for exteriors.
We still have a week’s worth of work doing sealer and finishing columns and a couple of accent areas next week, but most of the wall surfaces are complete. Those exterior stucco guys move fast! Here’s a before of the hallway:
And after:
I’ll post more finished shots when we get ‘er all done.
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Jenn Williamson is a Stucco Italiano Certified Installer up in the Vancouver, BC area, and a very talented finisher with many years of experience in all phases of decorative plastering, painting, and design. She sent us some pics of her recent projects. We’re impressed. Jenn (AKA Ispirato Design) uses a variety of finishes, making the most of the unique qualities of each material. Truly beautiful work. See for yourself…
Jenn used Marmorino Carrara on these pillars (click on them to enlarge)…
And these are from her Intonachino project a few months ago…
And last but not least, and exquisite application of Marmorino Classic…
Like what you see? Contact Jenn.
Are you a Stucco Italiano installer that would like to be featured here? Contact Katharine and send some photos.…
Lars Hansen wrote a nice post about Tadelakt. Great little summary of the history, look, and feel of one of the most popular wall finishing materials.
Speaking of Lars, if you’re in Colorado this weekend be sure to check out his Handcrafted Finishes booth at the Four Corners Green Living Expo at the Durango fairgrounds (For those of you who live in Telluride, please come down, it is only a two hour drive).
Check out Lars’ personal Stucco Italiano applicator profile…
…and Lars’ website.…
Stucco Italiano is a member of the US Green Building Council. Naturally high in pH, lime finishes act as an anti-bacterial surface, neutralizing the development of organic substances such as mold and fungus.
Non-toxic and green, our lime plasters are ideal for interiors or exteriors. A breathable system, our lime plasters allow water vapor to permeate freely so moisture evaporates quickly, unlike acrylic finishes which can trap moisture inside the wall.
