Hey folks, hopefully someone can give me some insight here:

1) I did my scratch coat yesterday, and I was dumb enough to not introduce the "scratches" while the mortar was still wet. I didn't make the surface completely smooth, but it's nowhere near "ribbed" like a scratch coat has been described to me.

Will this make it pretty difficult to allow the second coat to bond?

I took a stable broom to it today and etched some really small "scratches"... probably ddn't help at all.

2) does the scratch coat need to completely dry before applying the second coat? Or would the second coat benefit from a bit of extra moisture to wick (sp?) into and form a better bond?

3) the mortar mix says "must be above 5 degrees C for 48 hours"... what if it dips closer to freezing and there's still moisture in the mortar? Is that going to intro flaking?

If I tape/hang some 6mil in front of that wall (to enclose the foundation), would that help it if it gets closer to freezing?

Thanks for any help!