The year was 1994: I just arrived in Vancouver, British Columbia, and was discovering the differences between the United States and Canada. On my whirlwind tour of the city, it was apparent that stucco was more popular than I thought in the Great North. Even old buildings had stucco on them. I discovered differences in construction and different terms to describe items. The Canadians called our MarbleCrete finish a “rock or slop” dash, called rain gutters “eavestroughs” and the use of soap was a common practice in cement plaster.
I was quickly introduced to the leaky condo crisis that had recently gripped Vancouver. Groups like the Canadian Housing and Mortgage Corp. were frantically trying to discover why there was a sudden rash of leaky buildings throughout the city. I sat in a symposium and heard one expert claim to know what the problem was. He held a picture of a more traditional stucco home. He emphatically stated, “This is the problem.” I clearly remember being perplexed and curious what he would say next. He went on to explain that particular style of house was fine for the southwestern United States but not appropriate for climate in that region. At that time, I had no idea if he was correct or not. The presenter then focused on his three prime issues for the recent rash of leaky buildings: