Lath & plaster
Plaster covers most of the outside of a typical Las Vegas valley house, and a shortcut in it shows for the life of the building. NXG holds the C-17 license and contracts the work under it to licensed plaster partners, so one company answers for the finish.
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01 The layers
Three coats
over a dry wall.Two layers of building paper keep water off the framing, and metal lath gives the plaster something to hold. Then the coats: scratch for grip, brown for a flat plane, finish for texture and color.
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02 Heat
Keep the water
in the coat.Plaster hardens by hydration. A July afternoon pulls water out of a fresh coat faster than the mix can use it, so NXG schedules the work for the early hours, with the elevation shaded and the coat kept damp while it cures.
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03 Cracks
Read a crack
before patching it.Fine hairlines come with plaster over a wood frame, and control joints keep them fine. A crack off a window corner can be the plaster shrinking or the framing moving behind it, so the framing gets checked before anyone patches.
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04 Matching
Prove the texture
on a sample.Texture depends on the plasterer’s hand. The plasterers read the original wall and match it on sample panels before any plaster goes on your house.
Most of what you look at.
What the coats do
A conventional exterior is lath over a weather-resistive barrier, then a scratch coat pushed into the lath, a brown coat floated flat, and a finish coat carrying texture and often color. Each coat has one job, key, plane or appearance, and each needs its own cure before the next goes on.
One-coat systems are a different, proprietary product. Choose between the two on exposure and on what you are matching, and make the choice on purpose rather than by default.
Heat and wind belong in the spec
Plaster cures by hydration, not by drying out. A July afternoon in the Las Vegas valley pulls water out of a fresh coat faster than the mix can use it, and rushed or unprotected work in that heat gives you a weak, dusty, map-cracked surface.
NXG schedules around the day: early starts, shaded elevations, moist curing where it is needed, and stopping when conditions are wrong.
Which cracks matter
Some hairline movement comes with a cementitious finish over a wood frame that shrinks. Control joints, correct lath laps, proper accessories and honest coat thickness keep it hairline.
Diagonal cracks off the corners of windows and doors are the most common crack in stucco, because shrinkage stress concentrates there, and framing that shrinks or twists behind the wall adds to it. A corner crack that keeps widening, or a long straight crack following a framing line, points at the substrate, and resurfacing before anyone checks it moves the problem rather than fixing it.
Matching, which is the hard part
On an addition the technical work is routine and the difficulty is the join. Texture depends on the plasterer’s hand, whether it is troweled or sprayed, so matching a twenty-year-old wall means reading the original technique, aggregate and float pressure, then reproducing it.
NXG has it proven on sample panels before anything goes on your house, so you approve the match while it is still a sample.
- License
- NV C‑17 Lath & Plaster #0092664
- Typical scope
- Additions, replastering, remodel junctions, whole elevations
- Matching
- Sample panels before work goes on the house
- Scheduling
- Worked around heat and wind, which affect the cure
Related
Whole-home remodel
Luxury additions & ADUs
Finish carpentry
Further reading
How to check a Nevada contractor’s license
Talk to us
Tell us what you are building. We will tell you what it involves and where the money usually goes.
Or call (702) 913‑7007 · info@nxgbuilds.com
What owners ask
about the plaster.
Who does the plaster work?
Licensed plaster partners, under NXG’s contract. NXG holds the C-17 Lath and Plaster license, number 0092664, and answers for the work done under it. The number is verifiable with the Nevada State Contractors Board.
Can you match the texture on a twenty-year-old wall?
That is the hard part, and you see the match before you approve it. Texture depends on the plasterer’s hand, so matching means reading the original technique, aggregate and float pressure first. NXG has the match proven on sample panels before anything goes on your house, because a visible join gives a remodel away.
Which cracks should worry me?
Hairline cracks across a wall usually come from the plaster itself and are often cosmetic. Corner cracks at windows and doors are the most common kind and are often shrinkage too, but one that keeps widening, or a crack running straight along a framing line, points at what is behind the plaster. Coating over that moves the problem rather than ending it.
Does summer heat affect the work?
It governs it. Plaster cures by hydration rather than by drying out, and a July afternoon in the Las Vegas valley pulls water out of a fresh coat faster than the mix can use it. NXG schedules around the day: early starts, shaded elevations, moist curing where it is needed, and stopping when conditions are wrong.
Tell us what
you’re building.
Send the details below or call. We reply within one business day.
- Phone
- (702) 913‑7007
- info@nxgbuilds.com
- Office
- 3277 E Warm Springs Rd, Ste 200
Las Vegas, NV 89120 - Hours
- Monday–Friday, 8:00am–5:00pm
Saturday, 10:00am–3:00pm - Licenses
- NV B‑2 #0091645
NV C‑17 #0092664
NV C‑3 #0092662
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