We thought that we would be able to coat our exterior coating but we had two problems. The first being that nothing would stick well enough to the fabric and the second, the exterior coating started to what I call “raisin” in spots. It was coming lose and puckering. You can see it in some of the pictures.

   We are peeling off the exterior coating and applying a product called Stuc-O-Flex, an acrylic stucco, directly to the foam. It is easy to trowel and provides a great protective layer from the sun and hail for the foam. 

With extension ladders Jim, Bill Gunther and I worked our way around the dome. We applied the stucco as far as we could reach. When we could not reach any higher we rented a boom lift. Unfortunately we could not get to all the areas with the boom lift. We had to resort to climbing up the ropes that we had secured into the cement. We thought hard on what to use and found what we were looking for at a sporting goods store in the boat section. They have a long, metal U shape with a metal chain attached and a hundred foot rope weaved through the chain. Jim tied knots every few feet and then we cut off the extra rope. The ropes make it easy to pull yourself up to the top. They are also great to hook your safety harness to. You can see the ropes in some of the pictures.