my first rough stucco wall

[redcanary01]

Oh hello forum of sage advice, I have more questions! But first of all, thank you for everything so far. One of these days, I'll get around to posting pics of my newbie adventures...

I am hand painting my first rough stucco wall, roughly 18"x8', and was wondering about prepping and brush recommendations. It will be vertical slab serif text spanning the width that goes down to eye level so it needs to look "clean." The stucco is really rough and with tiny popcorny (that's a technical term, right ) texture. The space is slightly recessed by an inch, so I'm basically filling in a building design element with a sign.

Other than just cleaning and priming, is it possible to sand it down at least somewhat smoother using a grinder? or maybe even just chiseling it a bit?

I was going to use a basic exterior primer and semi-gloss latex exterior house paint, I used this on a garage door sign with no trouble before. Any other recommendations?

And if by chance they don't want me to grind down their wall, would stiff bristle fitches be the best? Any recommended brushes in particular? I'm guessing I'll need to cut carefully, not stress when it looks like an uneven mess, then go back over to fill any gaps patiently with a smaller brush?

Any other tips?

Thanks in advance!

 

[visual800]

part of the joy in painting a rough wall is it being rough and not vinyly looking. I do quite a few walls and I use a 2" or 1" purdy housepainting brush to cut in and use a good bit of 3/4" tape to make it look clean over rough edges. As soon as you paint and edge rip the tape off. I do not tape rounded edges likes O's or P's it takes too long. I do all my cutting in first and come back and fill in with larger brush depending on size of letters

I use only latex paint and prime if only necessary. you will be suprised at how clean this will come out doing this tape method

 

[Craig Sjoquist]

The trick in lettering a rough wall is slowly.
Follow the curves & bends to get less runs, do not fill your brush with paint little amounts when doing edges.
There is a fine balance between thin enough to cover & thick enough to hold & cover

Latex works well now & will last.. start with white surface ( primer ) then color

 

[Jillbeans]

I would definitely use fitches or you will be there forever.
Keep a can of water nearby to store the brushes so they don't dry up, and clean them often during the job.
I am not a huge latex fan but I think you would be better served with that.
What about Nova paint?
They use that on walldog jobs...I will be attending my 1st Walldog meet this summer and am curious to try it.
I would not grind or sand down.
Love....Jill

 

[Gino]

The first thing wanna do is make sure you have plenty of touch-up paint the exact color and finish of the wall itself. You're bound to need to cover drips, mistakes and runs.

 

[redcanary01]

Thanks for the tips! I'll let you know how it goes--looks like I'm taking a deep breath and putting brush to wall (armed with water and touch up paint).

I just got color swatches from Nova but haven't tried any yet...