There are many schools of creating the marbling effect with stucco; I'll present what is in my view the most reliable technique, which lets a single person achieve a marble effect with a mirror-like finish over any large surface.
This technique is called the "Zero Method".
If I were you, I'd read the article, then watch the video to consolidate the knowledge. Finally, read the FAQ section (quick questions and answers). Order the smallest package of stucco from the video and practise the knowledge gathered here on a piece of plasterboard. Save the title of this article, because you'll come back to it or to the video more than once. By its title you'll easily find it on Google.
By training on a small area you'll make sure it's easy (how could it not be, once you already know everything). Then you'll get the idea to do it on a wall in your own house/flat.
Once you do, show off your work online, write your region and tag us – Mybudio – in the post. We'll share it on our site, and you'll build recognition in your region and probably land more than one job.
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Venetian stuccos and marbling-effect sets
1. Preparing the surface
You've probably heard many times how the surface should look before you start work. I'll repeat it, because it's important.
- Cleaning: Remove all dirt, dust and grease.
- Priming: Absorbent surfaces such as renders, gypsum and plasterboard must be primed. Primer strengthens the surface, prevents excessive absorption and increases the adhesion of subsequent layers.
- Primer drying time: ranges from 4 to 8 hours depending on the product used.
2. Applying Uno-Mass
The base coat is optional. Masters don't use it; they prefer levelling compounds for the surface, which they then prime specifically with deep-penetrating primers.
Uno-Mass is applied with a smoothing blade, a handy tool because it's very easy to obtain a smooth, even surface even without sanding. Once dry, you sand the Uno-Mass surface with paper or mesh of grit 400.
After dusting off, you prime the surface twice. Levelling the absorbency of the surface with primer is very important. The compound consists mainly of marble flour, and marble, as we know, absorbs a lot.
3. Applying the layers of Venetian stucco
Prepare the mass, mixing it thoroughly by hand or mechanically. For application, use professional INOX steel trowels or a smoothing blade. If you bought a Venetian trowel for less than €25, you'll certainly need to sharpen the edge.
Professionals value trapezoidal Venetian trowels and smoothing blades.
At the Crativo stucco training by Pigio, we applied type 1100 stucco with a smoothing blade 25 and 40 cm wide. You can also do the polishing with this tool if you don't have a sharp, flexible Venetian trowel to hand.
Application should be carried out at a temperature from +5°C to +30°C. Tools should be washed with water immediately after use.
How masters work with stucco - the "Zero" Method
The main premise of this application technique is keeping the layer of stucco as thin as possible.
The process of applying Venetian stucco involves three key stages:
Layer I – base layer
Onto the prepared surface, using a large (Venetian) INOX trowel, apply the first layer of Venetian stucco smoothly and evenly, working your strokes towards the centre of the freshly applied mass.
The base layer forms the background for the pattern and can already be tinted.
According to the "zero" method, after applying about 1-2 m² you spread the stucco to the thickness of the aggregate, i.e. you try to lay the thinnest possible layer.
Drying time: 4–12 hours. The stucco must be dry.
Gentle sanding of the surface with 400 or 500 paper
Layer II – building the background
Once dry, apply another thin layer over 1-2 m², using whatever tools are comfortable for you (Venetian trowel or smoothing blade). Sticking to the principle that every subsequent layer is always equally thin.
The layers should overlap until an even surface is achieved. We remove excess product by drawing the clean edge of the trowel across the surface.
Repeated pulling, i.e. smoothing, lets you achieve a perfectly smooth surface and already a very nice stucco sheen.
You apply the pattern according to your own concept and the client's vision. A photo of what the client expects comes in handy. Better craftsmen show the client a 60x40 cm sample board where they can see what they can ultimately expect.
This stage should, but doesn't have to, be done in two layers.
If you apply one more layer over the background, the white will be whiter and the black blacker.
In any case, the final layer of the background stage is polished. The best method is to apply about 1-2 m² of stucco and keep pulling and smoothing it using controlled force (you don't want to tear it off the wall or crease it on the wall).
The video illustrates this process perfectly. Be sure to watch it.
Instructional video: Venetian stucco with the Zero Method – step by step
The video shows every stage of creating the marbling effect with Venetian stucco – from surface preparation, through applying successive layers, to waxing and achieving the mirror effect.
Layer III – creating patterns, veins, shadows
This is the artistic part, where you give the marbling effect its depth.
On stucco that has already been polished, but not yet waxed, we can create many patterns. The most popular include:
Shadows - are usually made with an airbrush (an ordinary one for about €87.50 does a great job). The outline of the shadows is usually applied by spraying onto the wall using a torn piece of cardboard or stiff card.
You hold the card with its irregular edge against the wall and spray stucco thinned with water onto that edge. Part stays on the card and part ends up on the wall.
The edge of the shadow is finished with a vein of a contrasting colour.
Another school allows shadows to be made by hand using a sponge and a piece of cloth, e.g. microfibre.
With the edge of the sponge you apply thinned stucco very thinly, and with the microfibre you rub it out and shape it into something resembling a shadow. This method is very popular in South America, less so in Europe.
Veins - an absolute "must have" of any marbling. In Polish, every marbling effect must have veins. The material for the veins is prepared by thinning stucco with water to the consistency of milk (almost like water, but it doesn't run down the wall).
You paint them with a special thin brush used by artists to paint e.g. animals' whiskers (with larger sets we include such a brush for free).
It's accepted that the outline of the previously made shadows is finished with veins.
You paint the veins as you see fit and imagine.
Metallic veins - is another method for veins that shine with a metallic sheen. There can be many colours of such veins, but the most popular are two shades of gold: intense gold and light gold, and silver. I've seen purples, rubies and navy blues. Personally, though, they weren't to my taste, and I see they're rather not used.
How to make gold or silver veins on stucco like a master?
There are two professional methods and one amateur one, borrowed from structural plasters.
The amateur one is to carve grooves in the stucco, e.g. with the head of a nail or screw, and fill them with metalizer, i.e. paint in the colour of metallic gold or silver.
I call it amateur because ruining the stucco requires no skill, and filling the veins always dirties the surface of the stucco - not very aesthetic visually and unpleasant to the touch (those grooves left by the veins).
Meanwhile, professionals who use metalizer paint the gold veins with a thin vein brush. The same one mentioned above. The downside of this method is that you have to apply the metalizer twice, because one coat may not cover the vein completely. The upside is the aesthetics.
The second professional method for gold veins is to use gilding adhesive and metal flakes. In Poland these are popularly called schlagmetal. You paint the shape of the vein with adhesive in one go and after 3-5 minutes a tacky film forms; you press the flakes onto it and remove the excess by brushing the surface with a soft paintbrush (natural bristle, so as not to scratch the stucco).
The schlagmetal stays where the adhesive was; the rest crumbles and falls to the ground.
It's the craftsmen's favourite method.
Layer IV – display layer – optional
This process is optional. It's really a different school of marbling that doesn't fit this guide.
I won't go into it because it wasn't covered in the video. You can skip it and carry on.
In general, it involves finishing the background, patterns, shadows and veins in matt and applying a final thin layer of white stucco, which is then polished. This layer is ultra-thin, and therefore transparent. I'll write another guide about it and record a video.
It was worth mentioning because it's a method used not only to create a minimalist marble effect, but also to renovate several-year-old stucco that has been waxed with a soft wax.
Layer V – Waxing
First of all, it should be added that you always wax twice. The first improves the mirror effect and protects the stucco well, but the second layer doubles the gloss effect and creates two protective layers.
And most importantly, you use a hard wax (consistency like a soft candle) of good quality. Car wax will do, but for stucco from Jeger.
Let's agree that we do things well or very well.
Professional application of stucco wax. You apply the wax with a piece of microfibre over an area of 1-2 m² and immediately polish it with a car polisher (even one costing about €75), important - on the second gear.
If you apply wax over too large an area, it will harden and you won't be able to buff it out; it will leave a matt shadow. And so you do the whole wall. Then you repeat the treatment, doing a second layer. You don't have to wait until the next day.
We recommend a product with tradition, i.e. Monocere, durable and inexpensive. 1L is enough for even 25 m² over 2 layers.
Why don't we recommend liquid wax? For the investor's sake, because liquid quickly loses its gloss. And for the craftsman's sake: a wall protected with hard wax in two layers, after 6-7 years you buff in a single pass with a polisher on the second gear and the wall looks like the day it was made.
On top of that, stucco renovation is well paid, the average price is about €25/m² and the job is shorter and easier than painting that surface with paint.
