Fresco Harmony Application Guide Techniques
The look, texture, and depth of the design is found in the application technique of the base coat and the primary coat. Let’s take a look at some of the different techniques you can do with Fresco Harmony.
1) Light Technique – very faint lines, minimal depth, no aggressive lines.
2) Medium technique – more aggressive and defined lines. You’re leaving a texture.
3) Aggressive technique – high depth. Exaggerated texture. Very thin mud on second coat.
The base coat covers the existing texture and sets the substrate for the second coat of mud. I start by using a 14” round-edged trowel or pool trowel, a 12” hawk, a 6-inch pallet knife, and various assortments of smaller plastic knives. The plastic knives can be cut and shaped into various sizes that allow me to access harder-to-reach spaces. I then either have a helper roll the base coat out with a roller and follow as the applicator, or simply apply the base coat myself, smoothing the base coat out with a pool trowel while it is still moist. This abstract consistency of the lightening bolt texture is important to the final appearance. I can achieve large amounts of square footage without any break lines or color differences from one batch of mud to the next.
Applying the base coat:
Applying the Second coat:
The second coat is also known as the sculptural coat. Mix your mud thinner on the second coat. On this coat you want to leave less texture. Leave the wall as smooth as possible. There are 3 predominant techniques for the second coat.
- The Layering Method. Using the same color as the base coat just skim out the wall and leave as smooth as possible.
- The Swirl. Add a small bit of metallic to your mud mixture as you work the wall. There’s a better explanation in our YouTube videos.
- The Aggregate Method. Add 48oz of silica sand to your mud mixture to create amazing coverage and a more organic looking finish.
More on The Swirl Technique… This method is unique to joint compound. Because of the soft consistency of the medium, I can swirl either two colors of joint compound together or various assortments of metallic to achieve a one-of-a-kind look. This is done by using one scoop of mud with the six-inch knife on the hawk, a small pancake-sized amount of metallic, and swirling them together on the wall. If I’m swirling two colors of mud I use a three-inch knife to scoop the accent color and a six inch knife to scoop the dominant color then give the two colors a quick swirl on my hawk. I am careful not to swirl too much as the mediums will blend too much and loose the desired effect. I then apply it to a 3 x 3 foot section of the wall surface. I start in the upper left hand corner and work left to right across the surface. For left handed applications, start in the upper right hand corner and work right to left or counter clockwise.
“The Swirl”
Applying the Sealer
You can achieve Fresco Harmony with out sealing but your finish will be very soft. We have a satin and gloss sealer available in quart or gallon sizes. Our sealer is very durable and easy to use. The sealer is applied with the same tools used to achieve the Fresco Harmony system. Simply put on and take off.
Swirl: For the swirl we recommend adding the same metallic to the sealer that you used on the second coat (see more videos on this on our YouTube page.) Sealer will finish approximately 600 – 700 sq/ft depending. The Aggregate System will use twice as much sealer so order accordingly.