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Beer Bottle Dash! The best exterior finish!


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#1 Rob Randall

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Posted 12 February 2017 - 10:00 PM

Let's celebrate this uniquely west-coast material, also known as bottle dash or sparkle stucco.

My great grandparents added it to their house in the '50s. What other exterior treatment is maintenance-free for half a century or more?

greenbrowns.jpg

http://scoutmagazine...-vancouver-sun/

Local historian John Atkin further explained that the application of exterior stucco was also seen as a way to “quickly modernize the house and hide the signs of renovations – especially as steel and aluminum windows were being promoted by the same grant program to replace ‘old-fashioned’ wood windows”. Retrofitting new windows of a different proportion often left homeowners with ugly patches in the siding. Stucco could hide such renovation scars. A house “modernized” with a bottle-dash (or other dash) stucco exterior requires little, if any, maintenance. Stucco exteriors from this period (1930s to 1960s) are very durable, as some current homeowners can attest to as they frustratingly try to remove it during renovations.

My house was built in 1963 but and some point, likely the 1970s, a rock dash finish was added, which was larger white, black and green rocks larger (and safer) than crushed glass.
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#2 Matt R.

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Posted 13 February 2017 - 12:08 AM

My grandfather had this on his house on Chandler Ave near Gonzales. Very fond memories!

Matt.

Edited by Matt R., 13 February 2017 - 12:16 PM.


#3 Nparker

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Posted 13 February 2017 - 12:18 AM

Let's celebrate this uniquely west-coast material, also known as bottle dash or sparkle stucco...

The home I lived in for my first 11 years (built in 1966) had this type of stucco finish and even as a child I thought it was hideous...also it hurt like hell if you got pushed or fell against it. I think I still have some scars.



#4 Rob Randall

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Posted 13 February 2017 - 08:13 AM

My grandfather has this on his house on Chandler Ave near Gonzales. Very fond memories!
Matt.


How could a kid not like it? Your house is like the most awesome part of the beach! Unless you brushed against it, of course.

With or without glass, it's a shame those stucco patterns of the past are all but forgotten. The one size fits all acrylic stucco used today is boring and too rough and seems to attract dirt and grunge easily.

#5 Sparky

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Posted 13 February 2017 - 08:30 PM

One of the requirements when we built was that I never wanted to have to maintain the exterior. That's the beauty of a rock dash. This will outlast me.

 

dash.jpg


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#6 Redd42

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Posted 13 February 2017 - 08:35 PM

The last time I looked at buying house I considered it a bonus if it had this finish for the same reason - no maintenance!



#7 jonny

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Posted 13 February 2017 - 09:10 PM

My great grandmother's house in Two Hills Alberta had broken glass stucco siding!

#8 Nparker

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Posted 13 February 2017 - 10:06 PM

Why does the title of this thread make me think it is about some sort of 2017 version of the Ice Bucket Challenge?



#9 Dietrich

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Posted 14 February 2017 - 08:09 AM

I liked this stuff as a kid except as Nparker said, when you fell against it or on it's cast off bits. I used to try and pick the glass bits out; I get nostalgic when I see it on an old house.


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#10 nagel

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Posted 14 February 2017 - 08:26 AM

One of the requirements when we built was that I never wanted to have to maintain the exterior. That's the beauty of a rock dash. This will outlast me.

 

 dash.jpg

I've painted my exterior 3 times in 10 years.

 

Although to be honest it never needed it for wear.  Did it the first time after purchase cause it was ugly.  Then we did a huge reno, adding a storey, and painted it right before stucco went on to some sections.  They said they could poly over it.  Yeah right!  Stucco got everywhere and I had to paint it again.  The good thing is stucco paint is ridiculously cheap and only needs 1 coat.



#11 lanforod

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Posted 14 February 2017 - 10:03 AM

Painting stucco is not a great idea though. It's supposed to breath. Shouldn't be painted. There is special paint for it, but still better to not paint it.

 

I love my HardiPlank siding. Dunno if I'll ever need to do anything to maintain it. I think its about 10 years old now, and looks fantastic, all I've ever done is a hose off once in a while in certain areas only.



#12 nagel

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Posted 14 February 2017 - 10:09 AM

Painting stucco is not a great idea though. It's supposed to breath. Shouldn't be painted. There is special paint for it, but still better to not paint it.

 

I love my HardiPlank siding. Dunno if I'll ever need to do anything to maintain it. I think its about 10 years old now, and looks fantastic, all I've ever done is a hose off once in a while in certain areas only.

Older house so I don't have a vapour barrier.  I don't think it would matter in that case.  Regardless I would paint it anyways rather than live with hideous stained white stucco.



#13 Dr.Doinglittle

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Posted 14 February 2017 - 10:23 AM

I have beer bottle dash on my 1936 house - I never knew that's what it was called.

 

It's 81 years old now and quite a few pieces of glass have fallen off. But still going strong!



#14 Jill

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Posted 14 February 2017 - 10:43 AM

I've only ever heard it called pebbledash. A neighbour's house had it when I was a kid. Fond memories of picking at the pieces of glass. Then again, my husband bought a brick of Velveeta in a fit of ill-advised nostalgia for those Kraft commercials voiced by Ed Herlihy. Some things are better left in the past.


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#15 tedward

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Posted 14 February 2017 - 10:45 AM

Let's celebrate this uniquely west-coast material, also known as bottle dash or sparkle stucco.

 

So Ottawa is on the west-coast now? Pretty sure that the house I lived in as a young child had this on the exterior walls. Hurt like hell if you scraped against the wall.


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