Cracks In Brown Coat

stacker

im stuccoing a house.i have stuccoed before.i have a problem,maybe.i am putting my scratch coat 1/4 inch.letting it completly dry,then appling 1/4 brown coat.to ensure a level coat for my finish,i am floating out the brown coat with a rubber float and water,not much water just enough to float it.my problem is that i am getting cracks in the brown coat.
i am using 1/2 sack mason cement,1/2 sack portland cement,and 22 shovels of sand.i have expansions at all doors and windows,above and below.anyone have any ideas?i have thought about using a handful of fibers,but not sure if the will show in the finish coat(it will be a floated sand finish).
thanks guys

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Tscarborough

Certainly use the fiber for base and scratch coats. Add your fiber to your mix water along with the color and bonding additive; the current crop of fiber do not make hairy finishes. For base and scratch coat, you should not be floating it out at all. Put it on as dry as possible, then let it set to dry-crumbly and use a screed to knock it more-or-less flat. The only layer that has to be nice is the finish coat.

I just finished stuccoing the back side of my house, and it has a LOT of fiber in all three coats:

http://72.41.69.75/backwall8.jpg

If you are doing a sand finish, however, I would not use fiber in the finish coat.

Edit-The most common formula around here is 1 Masonry, 1/2 portland, and three parts sand.

DaveH

Yor bromn coat might be drying too fast? I know several stucco guys who keep it wet for hours after application.

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stacker

that is one thing i was thinking(keeping it wet).after i have floated it down,i have sprayed it down a couple times,but not much more than that.luckily,what i have b/c is on the back of the house,so maybe i can keep it from cracking from here on out.temps here have been running in the high 90's,so i am going to try to keep it wet,along with adding fibers to the mix.
tscar,great looking work.

__________________
life is short,do your masonry naked!!
http://ok.local.yahoo.biz/knabemasonry/index.html