Field
notes.
A few notes a year on lath, plaster, stucco, and what we've learned running a sub crew across coastal SoCal. Written for general contractors, project managers, and superintendents who care about the finish.
Why Three Coats Still Beats One — Most of the Time
One-coat systems have their place, but on ground-up custom work in coastal SoCal, traditional scratch/brown/finish still delivers the crack resistance and depth that high-end clients see.
The Five Lath Mistakes That Cause 90% of Plaster Failures
Improperly lapped paper, missed weep screed, fasteners on wrong centers — most cracks and blowouts trace back to a handful of lath-stage errors. Here's what to check before the scratch coat goes on.
Sequencing Plaster Without Slowing the Build
A practical guide for general contractors on when to bring the plaster sub in, how to coordinate cure windows with the other finish trades, and how to keep the schedule honest.
Window Flashing — The Detail That Outlasts the House
If the WRB doesn't tuck over the head flashing, the wall is going to leak. We walk through the simple shingling order that keeps water out for the life of the building.
When to Spec Integral Color vs. Field-Applied
Integral color costs more up front and saves repaint costs for the next twenty years. Field-applied is cheaper but you'll see it again at year ten. Here's how we think about the trade-off.
Matching Historic Plaster on a 1928 Restoration
A West LA project taught us how to color-and-texture-match the original 1920s lime plaster without losing the modern code-compliant substrate underneath.
Get the notes,
three or four times a year.
No marketing. No newsletter padding. Just short field notes when we have something worth saying — what we learned on a difficult substrate, a code update worth flagging, a finish trick that solved a stubborn problem on a recent job.
