What is the correct thickness of cement plaster (stucco)?

Immigration is a hot topic and a big problem in the United States. Everyone has an opinion on what should be done. But is any one person correct?

There are several significant changes with regard to fire-rated walls and the new I codes. Unfortunately, it seems the code has moved in a direction to allow what is known in the industry as “trade-offs.”

The minor innovations in plaster pumps over the decades may have gone unnoticed by some, but not by me.

My wife and I went on a weekend trip with some friends to play golf.

Today’s level of providing smooth walls and hiding the board joints would have seemed almost impossible 40 years ago. Yet, today they are commonplace and expected. Unfortunately, as the finishers got better and tools and materials improved, the owners and architects have kept raising their level of expectation to almost unobtainable perfection. The finishing and final decoration of gypsum wallboard is more complex than most average people in construction are aware.

I am fortunate. I have been on both sides of the fence. In fact, I have been all over the fence, under it, around it and on top of it. The fence I am talking about is the submittal fence.

True today as it was two decades ago, the lack of or improperly designed or installed flashings at transitions should be the primary consideration in designing exterior envelopes. Architects should not dismiss the lessons of the past or tried-and-true details that have proven themselves over decades of service.

There seems to be an unlimited number of methods on how to flash a window. As a contractor, the $60,000 question is “Which is the Right Way?”

I have been reading Walls & Ceilings for almost 40 years. The magazine is part of history, but aren’t we also part of that history?