I am wondering what you all might think of the following. At the base of a McKim, Mead and White Building I have a rough granite foundation wall, partly buried in a hillside, partly exposed, enclosing a mechanical room. The interior space is unfinished. Originally the exterior was finished with a lime putty stucco,which had fallen off some of the six exposed faces of the wall. I proposed removing the rest of the stucco and replacing it in kind. The contractor has already done a test panel of replacement lime putty stucco. The remains of the stucco came off the first three walls easily. The remainder turn out to be a later replacement portland cement stucco which remains very well adhered, so much so that the contractor is having a very hard time removing it and has already sp ent two days longer on this task than he intended. The room is very dry. For that reason I don't think the portland cement stucco is a problem - its relatively good condition may be due to that, or partly to the presence of a breathing stucco on 50% of the walls. I am wondering if it is a good/bad idea to put a lime stucco over the remains of the portland? Any comments? -- To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to: <http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>