- 1). Attach building paper to your wall frame with heavy-duty staples or roofing nails. Overlap paper edges by at least 4 inches to create a watertight seal. Secure metal lath, a type of metal mesh sheet, to the paper with roofing nails or heavy-duty staples every 6 inches into the wall studs. Confirm that the lath is attached rough side out, providing a smooth feel when running your hand upward over it and a jagged feel when running your hand downward.
- 2). Prepare stucco according to the manufacturer's directions and apply an initial, or scratch, coat over the metal mesh base. Hold a mortar hawk, a square hand-held metal platform, close to the wall and apply the stucco with a metal trowel, a flat, handled rectangular spatula. Press firmly into the mesh and cover the entire surface. When the surface is almost dry, rake horizontal grooves across your work area with a metal rake or a piece of scrap wood with a row of nails hammered through. Roughing up the surface will help the second coat adhere to the wall. Allow the scratch coat to dry for 48 hours, misting it intermittently with water.
- 3). Mix the secondary, or brown, coat and apply it in the same fashion as the scratch coat to 3/8 of an inch thick. Level the surface of the brown coat with a wood darby, an oblong wooden plank with a handle, to create the correct texture for the finish coat.
- 4). Create several test batches of your finish coat, spread the batches onto a piece of scrap wood and allow them to dry for one hour to ascertain the exact formula mix for your finish coat. Prepare your finish coat with a bit more water than the first two coats, but it should still be thick enough to cling to the mortar hawk. Smooth the finish coat with a trowel to 1/8 of an inch thick. Let the final coat dry for 48 hours. Mist the dry coat with water three times a day for the next two days, then once a day for the next three days.
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