We are nepohytes at stuccoing but have successfully completed the scratch and brown coats and are about to embark on the final finish coat. We have been using stucco that we bought at Home Depot and add water to. We plan to use their white finish coat. I realize the first 2 coats are ~ 3/8th inch thick each and the finish should be ~ 1/8th. Do we use the same trowels? My son thinks he heard of a "magnesium" trowel? How do we finish it off after application? We used a plastic/rubber textured trowel on the brown coat to bring the sand to the surface. We have been watering both coats for about 2 weeks several times a day. I read that the finish coat should be applied very soon after the brown coat but it is too late for that now as we are moving slowly (it's a big building) and part of the wall has had the brown coat on for over a week. Any suggestions, recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Lynne

Is this outside? 'What the wall made of? Brown coat is the first coat for inside plaster and lath walls, not outside walls.

Been stuccoing /parging for over 30 years and 2 coats is max. My Geo goes form 99 to -20 One scratch coat wire or not and one finish.

The "trowel" is not really the issue here unless you are doing the 'Spanish drip look" The trial to use to put any mortared based stucco is a steel trowel Not a mag trowel which is for finishing concrete pours to get the stone down and bring up the top "cream" so the finish steel trowel can smooth it out with no stones near the top finish
Speaking if finish what look are you going for?

Here's a great handyman how-to article on how to apply stucco--scratch, brown and final coats; just follow the steps in principle to apply them, as may be applicable, to your situation:

Stucco wall has several major cracks in a particular area, requiring the area of the wall to be repaired > Your Handyman Zone :: Hammer it Out in the Zone ~ Home Improvement Zone...Walls Category (http://yourhandymanzone.com/Your_Handyman_Zone_How_To_Pages_Home_Improvement_Z one_Walls_All_Types_Exterior_Walls_Stucco_Walls_St ucco_Wall_Has_Major_Cracks_In_The_Wall.htm)

Good luck!

Hi ipenek I looked up the handyman site posted above.


Now, dampen the just cleaned area of the wall to be repaired with water in preparation to apply the "scratch coat" of the stucco, which is the first of the three standard coats of stucco applied (#1 scratch coat, #2 brown coat, and #3 finish coat).

Not sure who wrote this but as a mason 3 coats of any parging/stucco is NOT standard in the trades here.

This is what we call brown coat for inside walls of plaster and lath. Out side its mortar coats all the way.
STRUCTO-LITE Basecoat - USG Corporation (http://www.usg.com/navigate.do?resource=/USG_Marketing_Content/usg.com/web_files/products/prod_details/USG_Structo-Lite_Plaster.htm)