Years ago there was a product called Surewall and that is exactly how it was used. I hated the stuff
and considered it an insult to my trade. But it did work and all of the buildings I built with it are
still standing some 40 years later.
@jpsb I don't get the percentage. I mean, I have hauled enough hod in my life to have earned my trowel by right (though in fact I am not a mason, I surely do know how it works)...
What is the possible percentage in *not* mortaring? The cost of mortar is a relative pittance, so I guess it is about the labor, or making money on the rise w/o the wait for the mortar to dry... But the labor part of that is the hauling the cinder around part, not the mortaring... And a staggered rise around the building means you never really stop to wait on the mortar (on a decent sized job)... So what the heck is the savings?
The landscaper in me appreciates a dry stack - Properly done, and properly interlocked, it can withstand more than bricks and mortar. And that Surewall product you are talking about seems to lean on that idea (interlocking) , or incorporates it. But the beauty of a dry stack, it's ability to withstand nature, is found in the fact that it is NOT rigid. It can move and settle, and the interlocking keeps it in relative shape - The most magnificent example of that being the ancient cyclopean style of the megalithic era.
But if you coat the thing in stucco, it becomes rigid, and that capacity is lost. Makes no sense to me.