The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
First Aid For The Ailing Houses
Baseboards are a problem in many homes. The wood has often warped away from the plaster, or the molding has pulled up away from the floor as it settles. To repair warped boards, special cement nails should be used to nail the strips back to the studs (see section on Cement Nails).
Moldings that have separated from the flooring may be pried away from the baseboard and renailed. To prevent the same occurrence, the nails should be driven into the molding at an angle that will fasten them to the floor instead of the baseboard. This will allow the molding to move with the floor if the settling continues.
MASON AND STUCCO WALLS
PORTLAND-CEMENT STUCCO is usually applied in three coats. These coats consist of a first or scratch coat completely surrounding the lath, a second or brown coat 3/8 inch thick, and a finish coat 3/8 inch thick, or of a thickness necessary for the desired texturing. The mixture is 1 part cement, 3 parts sand, with the possible addition of lime or other material to increase smoothness and workability and coloring matter.
Stucco can be applied directly to poured concrete or concrete blocks, brick, or hard-burned clay tile. For a frame house it should be on a metal-lath base. A wood-lath base is not satisfactory; for should moisture penetrate the wood, the movements of the lath in swelling and shrinking will result in cracking. Rotting of the lath itself is also probable.
Stucco will crack from settlement of the house, from improper mixing and application, from movement in the lath or base. A crack in stucco should be repaired to prevent the rusting of nails and metal lath, and because the injury will be made worse by the freezing of water within the wall.
Cracks in portland-cement stucco can be repaired by cutting out the crack and packing with patching mixture, which should match the old stucco in color and be finished in the same texture (see section on Concrete Repairs).
Stucco that is cracked all over but still firm on the lath can receive a new stucco surface, the old stucco first being thoroughly cleaned and so prepared by roughening, if necessary, that the new stucco will bond. Should the old stucco be on a base of wood lath, this being responsible for the cracking, a new and dense surface will check the absorption of water. In addition, the surface should be waterproofed.
