Bottle-Dash Stucco Vanalogue

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https://vanalogue.wordpress.com/2014/02/03/bottle-dash-stucco/
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bottle-dash stucco
Posted on February 3, 2014
There are several architectural features that quite distinctly define Metro Vancouver: the Vancouver Special,
forests of glass condominium towers, west coast modernism and the oddest one of them all bottle-dash stucco.
Predominately found in Vancouver, bottle-dash stucco appears throughout the Lower Mainland and occasionally in
the rest of the province.
Bottle-dash stucco exterior on house in East Vancouver. Photo: C. Hagemoen
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Also known as beer bottle stucco, broken bottle stucco or crushed bottle stucco, bottle-dash stucco is
something of an enigma.*** If you are not familiar with what it is, houses with bottle-dash (unlike pebble-dash)
have bits of glass (most often brown beer and green pop bottles), instead of the more commonly used rock bits,
embedded in the exterior stucco finish. I have been curious about bottle-dash stucco since I was a child and first
saw it on my great aunts house in East Vancouver. Back in the 1970s and into the 1980s, it was quite common to
see it on Vancouver houses of a certain era. When I decided to research bottle-dash stucco, I found that there
was very little historical information about it.
Broken brown beer bottles and green pop bottles make up the colour portion this bottle-dash stucco
sample. Notice how the glass catches the light compared to the pebble-dash. Photo: C.Hagemoen
But after a bit of digging, I found out a few general facts about stucco from local historian, John Atkin and a local
website called the Stucco Doctor.
Basically, stucco is comprised of an aggregate, a binder, and water. It is applied wet and hardens to a very dense
solid. Stucco in some form goes back to ancient times, however, the form of stucco that most of us are familiar
with, made with Portland cement, was invented about 250 years ago.
In the 20th C, the process was to apply stucco onto wooden lathe (new construction) or it was applied on
galvanized chicken wire attached over existing siding. Stucco is traditionally applied in 3 coats the scratch coat,
the brown coat and the finish coat. It was the finish coat where the colour and/or texture was added and creativity
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could shine. For dash stucco, after the first two coats were applied and dried, a final mixture of cement and lime
was applied, and while still fresh had aggregate dashed into it with a scoop.
In BC, it wasnt until the 1920s and 30s when stucco became the popular choice for houses. According to John
Atkin, it was a key element of the French and English revival styles popular in North America. Initially, this style of
stucco was part of the structure of the house. It was a little later that stucco became more decorative, as various
dashes were added to its surface.
In the early days the aggregate for dashes was mostly just simple beach or river gravel. In the earliest example of
this style of finish, one can occasionally find sea shells, crab legs and other such bits. Starting as early as the mid
1930s more refined crushed rock (like white quartz and black obsidian) was used to impregnate the surface. This
style of finish is known as pebble or rock dash.
Sample of salt and pepper dash stucco. Pieces of black obsidian and white quartz are imbedded into the
surface. Photo: C. Hagemoen
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Rock-dash or pebble-dash stucco with a green, black and white stone finish. Coloured rock like this
green chartruese example and other colours like pink, were available in the 1960s and 1970s to add
colour thus replacing the use of the hazardous broken glass. Photo: C. Hagemoen
Like most things west coast, we did things a little differently. Bottle-dash stucco shows up in new construction
and on older houses in the 1930s and 1940s. An apparent local variant to rock-dash, bottle-dash was used to add
some colour and sparkle to the stucco finish. Crushed glass (brown beer bottles, green pop bottles, clear milk
bottles and blue milk of magnesia bottles) was added to a white quartz aggregate.
Some rock-dash stucco can be quite dynamic (especially the later versions of it), but it seems that the addition of
glass really steps it up a notch.
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Broken bits of green bottle highlight this salt and pepper dash stucco garage exterior in east Vancouver.
Photo: C. Hagemoen
In her 2004 book, Bungalow Details: Exterior, author Jane Powell comments on her first experience with
bottle-dash stucco:
When I first saw this product in Canada, it looked like a variant of pebble-dash with some kind of
shiny pebbles in it. But, no, it was explained to me in the sort of hushed tones that
preservationists usually reserve for aluminum siding, [Bottle-dash stucco] was retrofitted onto
numerous Canadian homes with the encouragement of the government. The shiny pebbles were,
in fact, crushed beer bottlesI guess you have to admire the recycling aspect.
For older buildings (like the one in the photo below), rock-dash or bottle-dash was an inexpensive way of insulating
houses. The stucco-ization of older wood frame houses was encouraged by the government. Federal
government grants were available to homeowners through the 1970s to encourage its use. John Atkin 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 the scars of renovation.
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An Edwardian wood frame house with two types of dash stucco bottle-dash and salt and pepper dash,
west side of Vancouver. Photo: C.Hagemoen
As many current homeowners can attest to, maintaining a painted wood siding home is a large commitment. So,
after two World Wars and the Depression the lure of easy upkeep and modernization must have been very
enticing for local homeowners. A house updated with a bottle-dash (or other dash) stucco exterior requires little, if
any maintenance.
Green and brown bottle shards in the stucco of this garage (and house) in east Vancouver. Notice how
the painted surface ages and the bottle-dash stucco still looks in good shape. Photo: C. Hagemoen
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Unlike regular rock-dash stucco which was quite common in North America, bottle-dash stucco seems to be a
purely Pacific Northwest phenomenon. I would suggest that it must have been a Canadian invention, though I have
found no confirmation of that fact. On a couple of online discussion forums I found some references to instances
of bottle-dash stucco appearing in the Lower Mainland and occasionally in the rest of the province. There was also
mention of bottle-dash stucco cropping up on a few homes in Alberta and Washington State. Historian, John Atkin
believes the reason you dont see much of bottle-dash stucco in the States was due to the popularity of aluminum
siding in the post WW2 period.
Bottle-dash stucco sparkling in the afternoon sun on the exterior of a multi-dwelling building in East
Vancouver. Photo; C. Hagemoen
Historic Hoy House in Quesnel, B.C. is early evidence of bottle-dash stucco appearing outside of the Lower
Mainland. It was the home of C.D. (Chow Dong) Hoy and his family. C.D. Hoy (1883-1973) was one of Canadas
most famous early photographers. Between 1909 and 1920, Hoy took more that 1,500 photographs of
the Chinese, First Nations, and Caucasian pioneers in Quesnel and the Cariboo region. At the time of its
construction in 1934, Hoy House was the first house in Quesnel to have a stucco exterior, or more specifically, a
bottle-dash stucco exterior. In her 2009 biography, I am Full Moon: Stories of a Ninth Daughter, Lily Hoy Price
recalls the day in 1934 when her family showed their new house to the community.
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They admired the intricate exterior stucco which my father described in his journal to his
children: The red colour is from the rocks packed in from Red Bluff just outside of Quesnel and
carefully screened by hand. The green in the stucco is made of crushed ginger ale bottles and the
amber is from smashed beer bottles. The white is marble brought in by train from Vancouver. A
man named Frank Hill applied the stucco. While most people admired the house, others eyed it
skeptically. They believed a stucco house couldnt and wouldnt withstand the frigid Quesnel
winters and, consequently, wondered about my familys sanity.
Close-up of multi-coloured bottle-dash stucco exterior. Photo: C. Hagemoen
My personal memories of bottle-dash stucco centre around my great aunts house on East Georgia in Vancouver.
My mother told me that my great Aunts house was purchased as a new build in 1946 already covered in the
bottle-dash stucco.The exterior of her house was similar to the house above from a distance it was a spotty,
light reddish brown. But up close, that was another story!
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Stills from home movies of my great aunts house in east Vancouver ca. 1957 & 1964. The exterior was
multi-coloured bottle dash stucco applied when the house was newly constructed in 1946. My great
uncle drinks a beer, possibly providing material for future bottle-dash applications.
Predominated by bits of brown and green glass, my aunts house also had bits of blue glass dotting its stuccoed
surface. My mother once told me that when she was young, she recalls rare instances when bits of red glass
were found. When I was a child, I was fascinated by the bits of coloured glass on my great aunts house and was
scolded for picking out the bits of glass. I even made several attempts to try and find the rare bits of red amongst
the sea of coloured glass a futile effort not unlike my childhood searches for a lucky four-leaf clover (who didnt
spend their childhood looking for those!)
I never found the elusive red glass bits in the stucco on my aunts house, probably picked out by a previous
generation of children. So I cant tell you how excited I was to find a piece of it in the stucco of a house (see photo
below) just down the street from where I currently live. Small victories.
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Multi-coloured, broken-glass dash stucco includes the elusive red glass! Photo: C. Hagemoen
I was disappointed by the limited information on bottle-dash that I was able to glean. As I still have many
unanswered questions. For example, why broken glass was ever chosen as a dash medium in the first place?
Perhaps it is a simple case of an excess supply of glass? An early attempt at recycling? Or simply a cheap way to
add some colour to stucco? Under the often dull, gray skies of Vancouver the aesthetic appeal of coloured glass in
stucco might have been a cheap and cheerful way to brighten things up. If anyone can shed some more light on
the subject, I would be delighted to hear from you.
I was surprised, however, to discover that when you are actively looking for it, you can still see many examples of
bottle-dash in Vancouver today. A testament to its durability. Though I suppose as the years continue to go by and
property prices increase, the instances of bottle-dash will diminish as older homes are torn-down, renovated or
restored, and even painted. My great aunts house still stands, but the current owners have chosen to paint the
exterior, in an attempt to bring the house into the 21st Century.
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Painted bottle dash exterior in east Vancouver. Photo: C. Hagemoen
According to John Atkin stucco is a fascinating topic and a misunderstood building material. I have to agree,
especially here in Metro Vancouver, where we have been plagued by the leaky condo crisis. During the
condominium construction boom of the 1980s and 1990s, acrylic stucco was improperly applied, resulting in mass
building envelope failure. Stucco is a reliable building material when done correctly bottle-dash stucco houses
are a perfect example of this. I guess they just dont make em like they used to!
*** UPDATE: A reader, Neale, informs me that the commercial name for bottle-dash was Sparkle Stucco. Neale
says his friend told him that his father and uncle were the Vancouver area distributors of this stucco in the
1950/60s.
POST SCRIPT: Since I wrote this post in February 2014, Ive gotten a lot of questions (see comments) from
people about how to remove, repair or fix their bottle-dash. Im sorry, but I cant offer any help there. Im not a
stucco specialist, a contractor or even a home owner. My only experiences with bottle-dash are my childhood
memories and my appreciation of it from a far.
UPDATE Here is a DIY tip from a reader in Victoria about how to patch your bottle-dash:
After removing a deck, I tried to hire someone to patch my bottle-dash in Victoria and was told by a couple
professionals that it is no longer manufactured. Here is a possible simple solution: take a short 2X4 and scrape
off loose pieces all around the house, catching them on a tarp. I did this and came up with a wheelbarrow full of
bottle-dash. The original stucco work is so well done, I couldnt tell the difference between where I had scraped
and where I hadnt. Once you have enough chips, repair your area with stucco of similar color, and then throw
the chips on.
.
.
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This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged architectural history, B.C., beer bottle stucco,
bottle-dash stucco, bottles, broken bottle stucco, C.D. Hoy, Canada, exterior stucco, glass, history,
houses, John Atkin, Metro Vancouver, pebble-dash stucco, photographs, Quesnel, rock-dash stucco,
sparkle stucco, stucco, Vancouver, vintage vancouver by vanalogue. Bookmark the permalink
[https://vanalogue.wordpress.com/2014/02/03/bottle-dash-stucco/] .
58 THOUGHTS ON BOTTLE-DASH STUCCO
Elaina
on February 3, 2014 at 7:09 pm said:
Painted!!??? Curse those current owners! I also remember trying to pick out bits of glass
from that house. I have some photos taken of the inside and outside in about 1997 when I
was living there. Ill try to track them down to show you.
vanalogue
on February 4, 2014 at 2:24 am said:
Yes, though I didnt indicate itL the blue painted bottle dash image at the end of
the post is Nellies garage. It doesnt look that bad, but it isnt the same. Id love
to see images of the old place.
Ralph
on February 3, 2014 at 7:53 pm said:
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