Greenfield is one of southwest Edmonton's mature, tree-lined neighbourhoods, named for former Alberta premier Herbert Greenfield and built largely in the 1960s, with a further wave in the 1970s. Roughly three-quarters of its homes date from the 1960s, which means much of the original stucco in Greenfield is now around sixty years old. Six decades of prairie weather leave their mark, and the homeowners here, in single-family homes, bi-levels, two-storey houses, and four-level splits, need a stucco contractor who knows how to care for genuinely old exteriors.
What sixty years of weather does
Original 1960s stucco has endured about sixty Alberta winters. Freeze-thaw cycles have opened fine and stress cracks, decades of sun have left finishes dull, chalky, and sun-bleached, and grey streaks and dirt patterns have settled into the surface. On many Greenfield homes the original sealant and caulk are long past their life, letting water reach vulnerable points, and the original 1960s parging on foundations has cracked and chipped, sometimes with chunks falling away and efflorescence, the white salt staining, showing at the base. None of this is unusual for a home this age. It simply means the exterior has reached the point where informed care makes a real difference.
Stucco Can Last Decades With Care
Well-maintained stucco can last roughly 40 to 50 years, and with attentive repair and refinishing many original stucco walls remain serviceable even longer, which is why sixty-year-old Greenfield homes can often be repaired rather than fully re-clad.
Efflorescence Signals Moisture Movement
The white salt staining called efflorescence appears when water travels through masonry or parging and evaporates at the surface, leaving mineral deposits. It is a visible sign that moisture is moving through the wall, which is why it is treated as a clue rather than just a cosmetic mark.
Hidden Rot Starts at Small Cracks
When small stucco cracks go unsealed for years, water can reach the wood sheathing and framing behind the wall and cause rot that stays invisible from outside. That is why early crack sealing and moisture checks matter most on the oldest homes.
On a sixty-year-old home, the right move varies wall by wall, and Depend Exteriors offers the full range. Sound stucco with surface issues can be repaired, patched, and repainted with durable acrylic and elastomeric finishes that stand up to prairie sun. Walls that have genuinely failed, with loose or spongy stucco pulling away from the sheathing, are candidates for re-cladding with a modern EIFS or cement board system. Foundations get fresh parging, masonry and stone are repaired or added for feature walls and entries, and old caulking is renewed. Matching the approach to each wall's real condition is what keeps the work sensible and the cost fair.
Watching for hidden moisture
The most important thing on an old stucco home is what you cannot see. When stucco loosens or cracks let water in over years, moisture can reach the wood sheathing and framing behind the wall, causing rot that is invisible from outside until a patch is opened. Signs like soft or spongy wall spots, wet or dark areas after rain, and cold spots on outside walls can point to hidden moisture. Depend Exteriors looks for these during its assessment, because addressing a moisture problem properly, rather than just skinning over it, is what protects the structure of an older Greenfield home.
Experienced, and accountable
Depend Exteriors has been a family-run business since 2013, led by journeyman plasterer Hasan Yilmaz, who trained under his father and works on site with his crew. Older homes reward that kind of experience and hands-on ownership, and the work is backed by a 3-year workmanship warranty, 5-year manufacturer material coverage, and written estimates that break down materials, labour, scope, and schedule. Homeowners looking for a stucco contractor in Greenfield get a free on-site assessment and honest guidance on what each wall actually needs.
Caring for a mature neighbourhood
Greenfield's homes have character and history, and their sixty-year-old exteriors deserve care that respects both. Whether the answer is repairing original stucco, re-cladding a failed wall, restoring parging, or adding stone, the goal is an exterior that protects the home and suits the mature, established feel of the neighbourhood for years to come.
For stucco, EIFS, masonry, or parging in Greenfield, call Depend Exteriors at (780) 710-3972 for a free on-site assessment and a written estimate.
About Stucco
Construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water
Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture. Stucco can be applied on construction materials such as metal, expanded metal lath, concrete, cinder block, or clay brick and adobe for decorative and structural purposes.[2]
In English, "stucco" sometimes refers to a coating for the outside of a building and "plaster" to a coating for interiors. As described below, however, the materials themselves often have little or no difference. Other European languages, notably Italian, do not have the same distinction: In Italian, stucco means plaster, and serves for both.[3]
Stucco used as an exterior coating on a residential building.Rock dash stucco used as an exterior coating on a house on Canada's west coast. The chips of quartz, stone, and colored glass measure approx. 3–6 mm (1/8–1/4").
The basic composition of stucco is lime, water, and sand.[4]
The difference in nomenclature between stucco, plaster, and mortar is based more on use than composition. Until the latter part of the nineteenth century, it was common that mortar as well as plaster, which was used inside a building, and stucco, which was used outside, would consist of the same primary materials: lime and sand.
Animal or plant fibers were often added for additional strength. Sometimes additives such as acrylics and glass fibers are added to improve the structural properties of the stucco. This is usually done with what is considered a one-coat stucco system, as opposed to the traditional three-coat method.
In the latter nineteenth century, Portland cement was added with increasing frequency to cover surfaces in contact with soil or water. At the same time, traditional lime plasters were often being replaced by gypsum plaster. Lime is almost as good in balancing humidity as clay. It prevents moisture accumulation inside the building as well as in the wall by its excellent permeability, and is more elastic and workable than cement render.
Lime itself is usually white; color comes from the aggregate or any added pigments. Lime stucco has the property of being self healing to a limited degree because of the slight water solubility of lime (which in solution can be deposited in cracks, where it solidifies). Portland cement stucco is very hard and brittle and can easily crack and separate from the surface if the base on which it is applied is not stable. Typically, its color was gray, from the innate color of most Portland cement, but white Portland cement is also available. Today's stucco manufacturers offer a very wide range of colors that can be mixed integrally in the finish coat. Other materials such as stone and glass chips are sometimes "dashed" onto the finish coat before drying, with the finished product commonly known as "rock dash", "pebble dash", or also as roughcast if the stones are incorporated directly into the stucco, used mainly from the early 20th through the early 21st centuries.
As a building material, stucco is a durable, attractive, and weather-resistant wall covering. It was traditionally used as both an interior and exterior finish applied in one or two thin layers directly over a solid masonry, brick, or stone surface. The finish coat usually contained an integral color and was typically textured for appearance.
Then with the introduction and development of heavy timber and light wood-framed construction methods, stucco was adapted for this new use by adding a reinforcement lattice, or lath, attached to and spanning between the structural supports and by increasing the thickness and number of layers of the total system. The lath added support for the wet plaster and tensile strength to the brittle, cured stucco; while the increased thickness and number of layers helped control cracking.
The traditional application of stucco and lath occurs in three coats—the scratch coat, the brown coat and the finish coat. The two base coats of plaster are either hand-applied or machine sprayed. The finish coat can be troweled smooth, hand-textured, floated to a sand finish or sprayed.
Originally, the lath material was strips of wood installed horizontally on the wall, with spaces between, that would support the wet plaster until it cured. This lath and plaster technique became widely used.
In exterior wall applications, the lath is installed over a weather-resistant asphalt-impregnatedfelt or paper sheet that protects the framing from the moisture that can pass through the porous stucco.
Following World War II, the introduction of metal wire mesh, or netting, replaced the use of wood lath. Galvanizing the wire made it corrosion resistant and suitable for exterior wall applications. At the beginning of the 21st century, this "traditional" method of wire mesh lath and three coats of exterior plaster was still widely used.
In some parts of the United States with a warmer climate (like California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Florida), stucco is the predominant exterior for both residential and commercial construction. Stucco exterior (with wood frame interior) became a popular alternative in the southwestern United States during the 1970s, as the masonry labor costs for adobe rose.[5]
Iranian relief plaque with confronted ibexes; 5th or 6th century AD (the Sasanian period); stucco originally with polychrome painting; Cincinnati Art Museum (Cincinnati, US)
Maya wall panel depicting Ix K'an Bolon; c. 790 AD(Late Classic period); limestone, stucco and paint; from Pomona (Tabasco), Mexico) Dallas Museum of Art (Dallas, Texas, US)
Stucco has also been used as a sculptural and artistic material. Stucco relief was used in the architectural decoration schemes of many ancient cultures. Examples of Egyptian, Minoan, and Etruscan stucco reliefs remain extant. In the art of Mesopotamia and ancient Persian art there was a widespread tradition of figurative and ornamental internal stucco reliefs, which continued into Islamic art, for example in Abbasid Samarra, now using geometrical and plant-based ornament. As the arabesque reached its full maturity, carved stucco remained a very common medium for decoration and calligraphic inscriptions. Indian architecture used stucco as a material for sculpture in an architectural context. It is rare in the countryside.
In Roman art of the late Republic and early Empire, stucco was used extensively for the decoration of vaults. Though marble was the preferred sculptural medium in most regards, stucco was better for use in vaults because it was lighter and better suited to adapt to the curvature of the ceiling. Baroque and Rococo architecture makes heavy use of stucco. Examples can be found in churches and palaces, where stucco is mostly used to provide a smooth, decorative transition from walls to ceiling, decorating and giving measure to ceiling surfaces. Stucco is an integral part of the art of belcomposto, the Baroque concept that integrates the three classic arts, architecture, sculpture, and painting.
The Greco-Buddhist art of modern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan made extensive use in monasteries and temples of stucco for three-dimensional monumental sculpture as well as reliefs. These were usually carved from a rough modelling over a framework and then painted. Similar techniques are used for the life-size statues decorating the gopurams of Hindu temples in modern South Asia.
Since stucco can be used for decoration as well as for figurative representation, it provides an ideal transitive link from architectural details to wall paintings such as the typically Baroque trompe-l'œil ceilings, as in the work of the Wessobrunner School. Here, the real architecture of the church is visually extended into a heavenly architecture with a depiction of Christ, the Virgin Mary or the Last Judgment at the center. Stucco is used to form a semi-plastic extension of the real architecture that merges into the painted architecture.
Because of its "aristocratic" appearance, Baroque-looking stucco decoration was used frequently in upper-class apartments of the 19th and early 20th century.
Beginning in the 1920s, stucco, especially in its Neo-Renaissance and Neo-Baroque materialization, became increasingly unpopular with modern architects in some countries, resulting not only in new buildings without stucco but also in a widespread Movement [de] to remove the stucco from existing tenements.
Stucco was still employed in the 1950s in molded forms for decorating the joints between walls and ceilings inside houses. It was generally painted the same colour as the ceiling and used in designs where a picture rail or rat rail was in use.
Modern stucco is used as an exterior cement plaster wall covering. It is usually a mix of sand, Portland cement, lime and water, but may also consist of a proprietary mix of additives including fibers and synthetic acrylics that add strength and flexibility. Modern synthetic stucco can be applied as one base layer and a finish layer, which is thinner and faster to apply, compared to the traditional application of three-coat stucco. Imitation stone stucco can also be produced using the traditional application, but with marble dust being added to the mixture.
Applying stucco
As with any cement-based material, stucco must be reinforced to resist movement cracking. Plastic or wire meshlath, attached with nails or screws to the structural framing, is embedded into the base coat to provide stiffening for the stucco.
Where stucco is to be applied to a structure of wood-framing or light-gauge steel framing, the framing is protected from moisture damage by applying a cement based primer, or a vapor-permeable, water-resistant weather barrier; typically an asphalt-saturated paper or one of a variety of manufactured plastic-based sheets, known as "building wraps" or "stucco wraps". The properties of the weather barrier must not only protect the framing from rain and moisture, but at the same time allow the free passage of any water vapor generated inside the building to escape through the wall.
A wide variety of stucco accessories, such as weep screeds, control and expansion joints, corner-aids and architectural reveals are sometimes also incorporated into the lath. Wire lath is used to give the plaster something to attach to and to add strength. Types include expanded-metal lath, woven-wire lath, and welded-wire lath.
The tools used to plaster walls
If applied during very dry weather, the layers of stucco are sprayed with water for one or more days to keep a level of moisture within the stucco while it cures, a process known as "moist curing". If the stucco dries too soon, the chemical hardening ("hydration") will be incomplete, resulting in a weaker and brittler stucco.
Ling, Roger, ed. (1999). Stuccowork and Painting In Roman Italy. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Wadsworth, Emily (1924). "Stucco Reliefs of the First and Second Centuries still Extant in Rome". Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome. 4 (4): 9–102. doi:10.2307/4238518. JSTOR4238518.
Beard, Geoffrey (1983). "Stucco and Decorative Plasterwork in Europe". cite journal: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
Greenfield, formerly known as Petrolia, is a residential neighbourhood located in southwest Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. There is a small shopping centre, Petrolia Shopping Centre, located in the neighbourhood. The neighbourhood was named for Herbert Greenfield, the Premier of Alberta from 1921 to 1925, during the reign of the United Farmers of Alberta political party.[6]
The neighbourhood is bounded on the east by 111 Street, on the west by 119 Street, on the north by 40 Avenue, and on the south by 34 Avenue.
Most of the residential construction in the neighbourhood occurred between 1960 and 1980, with roughly three out of four residences (77.0%) being constructed during the 1960s and another one in five residences (20.6%) being constructed during the 1970s.[7] The most common type of residence in the neighbourhood is single-family dwelling, which accounts for approximately nine out of ten (92%) of all residences. The remaining residences are split equally between apartments in low-rise buildings (4%) and duplexes.[8] While all the apartments and half the duplexes are rented, most residences (91%) are owner occupied.[9]
There are three schools in the neighbourhood. The Greenfield Public School is operated by the Edmonton Public School System and St. Stanislaus Catholic Elementary School is operated by the Edmonton Catholic School System. In addition, there is the Academy for Maths and Science now located in the Petrolia Shopping Centre.
In addition to the Petrolia Shopping Centre, residents have good access along 111 Street to Southgate Centre.
111 Street also gives residents access to the LRT stations at Southgate and Century Park. Currently ETS route no. 707 and 708 are running through this area. Both the routes commute between Southgate and Century Park
The community is represented by the Greenfield Community League, established in 1967, which maintains a community hall, outdoor rink and tennis courts located at 114 Street and 38 Avenue.[10][11]
In the City of Edmonton's 2019 municipal census, Greenfield had a population of 3,628 living in 1,504 dwellings,[12] a -1.6% change from its 2016 population of 3,687.[13] With a land area of 1.53 km2 (0.59 sq mi), it had a population density of 2,371.2 people/km2 in 2019.[12]
^Income is for all persons in the household. So, if there are two persons in the household and each person earns $15,000, the household income is $30,000
My Greenfield home has original 1960s stucco. Can it be saved?
Often, yes. Sound stucco with surface cracks and fading can be repaired and repainted, while walls with loose or spongy stucco pulling away may need re-cladding. Depend Exteriors assesses each wall's real condition, since a sixty-year-old home usually needs a mix of repair and, in places, replacement.
How do I know if there's hidden moisture damage?
Signs include soft or spongy wall spots, wet or dark areas after rain, and cold spots on outside walls, which can mean water has reached the sheathing behind the stucco. Depend Exteriors checks for these during the assessment, because addressing moisture properly protects the structure of an older home.
What is efflorescence, the white staining on my foundation?
Efflorescence is a white salt stain left when moisture moves through masonry or parging and evaporates, depositing minerals on the surface. It signals water movement through the wall. On 1960s Greenfield foundations it often appears with cracked or chipped parging, which Depend Exteriors can restore.
