Marc's Patio & Garage Studio

Aloha Marc, I just saw you guys had a couple of twisters come through. Are you & your family alright? Aloha 8)

Kendale, Thanks for asking... we're alright, I got to turn on the TV now and see where the twisters went. Marc

According to the article I just read, "it appeared at least one fatality occurred in the Lady Lake area, about 50 miles northwest of Orlando." Marc and his fam are about that far east of Orlando.

14 Deaths Reported After Storms Strike Central Fla.

Source: http://www.wesh.com/weather/10906729/detail.html I don't live really close to any heavliy damaged area but this same strom system will be around Central Florida or the SE for the next few days. Progress: Still doing Stucco. Decided to put up Stucco in 4 layers, not 3 (Scratch, Brown & Finnish)... I'm adding another Brown layer let's say for "beef" purposes becuase my unexperienced self was unable to get the 1st brown coat thick enough, and it's taken me to much time to get this Stucco up. I'm using concrete adhevise inbetween layers of stucco for overkill. Total stucco thickness has to be 1 1/4" or greater. Marc

Sorry Marc, What is Stucco??????? Is this an American thang? Anyhow - good to see you back at it bud and Sharwood's comments were neato.... ;) (hey I KNOW this is a REALLY stupid question but I am more interested on your take - than Googling away... hee hee) ;)

Stucco is cement going on walls/ceiling etc. Here's Marc and Keith putting cement (stucco) on the walls:

From the "Stucco" entry in Wikipedia:

Stucco is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water which is applied wet, and hardens when it dries. It is used as a coating for walls and ceilings and for decoration. In Europe the term render is more commonly used.

So, Marc -- how's the stucco coming along? Do you still prefer it to drywall? :twisted: Do I need to make another trip out there? :roll: :lol: --Keith :mrgreen:

So, Marc -- how's the stucco coming along? Do you still prefer it to drywall? Do I need to make another trip out there?

I am working on the finish layer. I might be done tommorow, maybe 2 days. In order to not have seams showing I've decided to apply new stucco to that entire side of the house or maybe just to the power meter, it's not a lot of extra work or material and will insure the same finish on the one side of the house. Drag is I may have to stucco every wall and ceiling :cry: in the patio too... I did damage the ceiling/have to repair holes. I am having a hard time blending to a feather edge new and old stucco. I still can't make up my mind which I like better Stucco or drywall. After todays stucco work, 1st time playing with the finish stucco which has a white base paint in it... I was shocked after I got out of the shower the back of my trowel hand was still white after I REALLY scrubbed it. I still got some wihte on my hands 7 hours later. Concrete makes hands stiff and boy did I have a hard time playing my gig tonight. Anyways pics coming soon. AND yes Sharward you are more then welcome to come out for another visit. Marc

Urh.... this stucco ain't gonna get done today or tommorow. Maybe not till next week urh. :roll: Marc

Aha :!: render = stucco. Thanks guys. And I am glad I didn't google it 'cause I would not have got to see the great pic of you guys at it...;) Cheers fellas (I realise I should have found it in Wikipedia but I think you probably find it funny the different terminology we use on different continents - I like to sometimes get the meaning from the person as it has a personal touch....) Sort of like Australians find the American term "to root for a team" HILARIOUS!!! :wink: Or root beer brings a smile to those more juvenile - like me ;) The word "root" means something completely different here - more like the act of making babies...(not in Wikipedia - but in Australian dictionaries) Even the work "caulk" here seems to be used very little - more known by brand names like "bostik" or "filler" ... Enough from me and my weird sense of humour - and my REALLY stupid question - and our weird idioms - :twisted: Take Care guys!

Hey, sideshow -- you misspelled "humor." ;-) Of course you didn't. :-) I'm just kidding. :-) But it illustrates a point about how we use the same alphabet and a lot of the same words, but you're absolutely right about our really speaking different languages in a sense. Construction terminology varies tremendously, not just continentally, but also regionally in a lot of cases! :shock: That's another great reason we need to complete that location field in our profiles, huh? ;-) Now go have yourself a root bear and root on the home team. :lol: --Keith :mrgreen:

OK I've learned a few lessons about Stucco or Render. 1. Finishing stucco to match an existing stucco finish is not that easy IF you've never done it before. If I could have watched someone else do it 1st or screw up someone else's house up 1st, things would be better. 2. Stucco should be a 2 person job, with a cement mixer not a wheel barrel mixing by hand. Problem is the stuff dries and becomes hard to work with, got to be able to go fast enough to not leave lines in the work between batches of stucco and for the finish layer got to have time to work the finish before it hardens to much. 3. With no experience using a 2x4, by yourself to try and level (screed) stucco is not a good idea. They make floats on poles to do this and the tool is a little pricey. Using a trowel it takes to much time to get stucco flat, especially by yourself. 4. Corners are done with a plastic corner bead to get a straight looking corner. NOWHERE in internet directions or how to books in home improvement centers do I remember reading anything about using plastic corner bead to get a straight corner. :roll: I was going to try and get it straight by hand but... I tried the finish layer on about 1/2 of the entire area, it does not look to bad but it does not look good enough. I got real close with the matching the existing finish (which is "sand" or "sponge"), but its not flat. Can't tell from 20' away, but at 5' it's obvious. I've had two stucco guys give me quotes to finish the job, both at $500. Both will add 3/4" to 1" more stucco to fix my muck ups. This will make the end thickness 2" to 2 1/4" which is well above my minimum requirement of 1 1/4". For this additional layer of stucco I'll be using concrete bonding adhesive to make sure it sticks good. Might be over kill but oh well. As both stucco guys took the 1st look at the my job I asked... "did I pass or fail" both said they've seen worse, it was really good for my 1st time realizing I did it by myself mixing in a wheel barrel BUT I still failed. :( The stucco will get done Tuesday (hopefully) and then it's time for another inspection. Well at least I tried. Marc

Woohoo, the stucco is done. The 1st guy who I hired did not show (x3). Day one I called him at 9:30am, he said he'd be there in 45 Min's. He called me 7pm that night with BS. But since it was near the weekend, he said he still wanted to do the job I gave him an ultimatum of "be done by Sunday" or get lost. So then he was suppose to prep Friday evening and did not show. I really did not expect him Saturday morning as plan was... but of course he did not show. OH well... It's done now. These guys were great, even though I wanted to be done Stucco 2 or 3 weeks ago. See pics. 2 guys working the stucco and one guy taking care of the wheel barrel passing stucco with shovel. What took me 8 hrs to do took them 1 hour. :? $500 for these guys and money well spent as they did what I could not. BTW I am not going to post pics of my failed attempt at finishing the Stucco. My advice is you can put on the 1st two layers byyourself BUT DO NOT attempt a finish layer without someone who knows what they are doing. Stucco is an art. Now it's time for an inspection :D Marc

Wow!!! 8) 8) 8) Fantastic! Marc, you are to be commended for taking a very respectable stab at doing the stucco work yourself. (And, ahem, I am to be commended for helping you! ;-)) You did save some money and you have a much greater appreciation for the craft now. None of your time was wasted. Plus, I'll bet if you were to take on a stucco project yourself again, you'd do even better and even faster. Congratulations -- you deserve it. And the finished product does look fabulous! :twisted: --Keith :mrgreen:

Aloha Marc, Looking real good! :mrgreen: Aloha 8)

Yep - my hat is off to you Mark!

Thanks guys :D Just had an inspection (rough electric and everything else for storage room) and passed. :D Up next is drywall ceiling & one wall, patio screen (was hoping not to have to do the screen for final but need to) and maybe some paint on the new stucco... then I'll get another inpsection, which may or may not be the last one :( . Marc

Congratulations on the inspections!! :-D

Man, Just jumped into this thread and I couldn't get out. One I'll definately keep an eye on. I had to laugh out loud when I read the bit about the hinges and your response. Sorry :) I must say I'm very impressed. Can't wait to see what's next. Very nice job so far. You have a beautiful home and family.

Man, Just jumped into this thread and I couldn't get out. One I'll definitely keep an eye on. I had to laugh out loud when I read the bit about the hinges and your response. Sorry I must say I'm very impressed. Can't wait to see what's next. Very nice job so far. You have a beautiful home and family.

Axeman69, thanks for the kind words. And yes I agree, parts of my build including the door are funny (to me), especially when I look back at it as opposed to being in the middle of it. Well I passed that inspection and plan was to go right the drywall but I've been preoccupied with gigs and prepping for this gig I am about to brag about. Next week I'll be sailing on this ship: Regent Seven Seas Navigator for a private show. A company bought this entire boat for one week, my band will play the last night of the cruise and that's it... yet I was able to charge them for a full week of our time :D we each got are own suite and have been invited to fully enjoy the cruise. They even offered for our wife's to go but my wife will not be able to join me cause of our kids. Would have been nice though. Instead I plan to spend most of my down time working on laptop, working on annoying tasks I've been putting off. I will take the time to see the Cayman Islands though. This gig is going to look real good too, we play on pool deck and they've ordered a light show requiring 15- 20amp circuits. It's going to light up the sky. Anyways I'll be back on March 13th and I do not think I'll get much of anything done by then for studio. I have gotten a little progress done... cleaning up all the mess I made from the Stucco on the ground and on my tools. Another reason to not do stucco by yourself... I did not have time to keep wiping off my tools and ladders. Took me over an hour to clean/bang off stucco from my ladders. Maybe 2 hours cleaning my other tools and 2 hours cleaning up my patio slab and the ground beside house and there are still bit's of stucco lying around. :oops: Oh well Marc

Congratulations on landing that great gig, Marc! :-D That's really exciting. At first I was a bit perplexed when I read that you'd be gone and paid for the entire week if you only played once at the end of the journey, but then it dawned on me that you'd have no way of getting to the stage otherwise: :lol: Hey, cut me some slack... I just woke up! ;-) My 8 foot ladder has stucco or mortar of some kind all over it... It's probably twice as heavy as it should be because of it. Hey, I bought it for $20 from a former neighbor, so I really can't complain. --Keith :mrgreen:

guitardad72 wrote:

Man, Just jumped into this thread and I couldn't get out. One I'll definitely keep an eye on. I had to laugh out loud when I read the bit about the hinges and your response. Sorry I must say I'm very impressed. Can't wait to see what's next. Very nice job so far. You have a beautiful home and family.

Axeman69, thanks for the kind words. And yes I agree, parts of my build including the door are funny (to me), especially when I look back at it as opposed to being in the middle of it. Well I passed that inspection and plan was to go right the drywall but I've been preoccupied with gigs and prepping for this gig I am about to brag about. Next week I'll be sailing on this ship: Regent Seven Seas Navigator for a private show. A company bought this entire boat for one week, my band will play the last night of the cruise and that's it... yet I was able to charge them for a full week of our time :D we each got are own suite and have been invited to fully enjoy the cruise. They even offered for our wife's to go but my wife will not be able to join me cause of our kids. Would have been nice though. Instead I plan to spend most of my down time working on laptop, working on annoying tasks I've been putting off. I will take the time to see the Cayman Islands though. This gig is going to look real good too, we play on pool deck and they've ordered a light show requiring 15- 20amp circuits. It's going to light up the sky. Anyways I'll be back on March 13th and I do not think I'll get much of anything done by then for studio. I have gotten a little progress done... cleaning up all the mess I made from the Stucco on the ground and on my tools. Another reason to not do stucco by yourself... I did not have time to keep wiping off my tools and ladders. Took me over an hour to clean/bang off stucco from my ladders. Maybe 2 hours cleaning my other tools and 2 hours cleaning up my patio slab and the ground beside house and there are still bit's of stucco lying around. :oops: Oh well Marc

Sweet gig. My wife and I took a cruise last year to Bermuda. Got pretty friendly with the house band. They love working a cruise ship.

Progress report on studio: NOTHING BUT wow was that cruise gig great. I'll post some pics later. This was definitely the best "extra" I ever gotten with a gig. We had full passenger status and this was an all expenses paid luxury cruise. Not to mention the client has already asked us to play another event :D AND yes I did get a lot of work done on the crusie including rare band rehearsal and edited out all my MIDI back trax for live show. I corrected a few glitches and added in program changes and bypass on/off for my vocal effects unit (lexicon-500). Thats 300 backtrax and 2 versions (with and without drums) of every song.... almost edited 600 midi files. And yes it was an annoying task. Been busy playing "catch up" since I got back. Took my son to Disney yesterday cause I feel guilty from a great time on cruise. Have a full weekend of gigs ahead (6 gigs in 3 days). Getting lots of calls for bookings to follow up. I only wish my room was done so I could rehearse out songs for different gigs, have a place to handle these phone calls and emails in peace and a place to edit out new promo video I'm getting... not to mention start working on original music... oh well. I'll get some work done next week. Honestly after that cruise I did not feel like doing any manual labor, let alone even have to make my own coffee. 24 hour room service is the bomb :roll: :twisted: when staring at a computer screen with a side view of the open ocean out a patio door. Marc

Wow, what a great experience, Marc! I don't blame you for not rushing to get your hands dirty with construction so soon, even if you had the time (which, clearly, you don't)! --Keith :mrgreen:

Ahh, if you have any of those gigs that you can't take, my number is.......