Stucco Restoration in Old Oakville
Repairing and restoring stucco in the heritage district between Robinson Street and the lake, matched to the wall you have. With the Town's permit and grant rules in plain words, and a fixed quote in writing.
- Stucco, 54 lots
- Horizontal siding, 25 lots
- Everything else, 49 lots
Stucco is the most common wall in Old Oakville
42%
That's the Town's own count in its Old Oakville district study: 128 lots between Robinson Street, Allan Street, the lake and Sixteen Mile Creek. Around St. Andrew's Catholic Church the study names white and grey stucco as a main material of the street.
So stucco restoration here means keeping a wall that belongs to the district. It's also why we check your address before we quote. For the same job on a house elsewhere in town, start with our Oakville page.
What the age of your house says about the wall
What the Town found
68 properties, 53% of the district. Mostly one and a half storeys, in stucco or wood siding. Many started in siding and got stucco later in the 1800s.
What we look at first
What the coat is sitting on. It can be old boards, so a loose patch tells you more about the wood behind it than about the stucco.
What the Town found
A building boom in wood frame, finished in stucco, shingles or brick, usually plain vernacular houses with little ornament.
What we look at first
Hollow spots. We tap the wall and mark where the coat has let go, because a stucco repair only holds on a sound edge.
What the Town found
New Traditional houses, many built under the district's first plan from 1982, so a house can look far older than its wall.
What we look at first
Which system it really is. If foam sits behind the finish, it's fixed the way our EIFS repair page sets out.
Which stucco jobs need a heritage permit
Properties in the district are designated, so changes likely to affect its heritage attributes need a permit first. The sorting below follows the Town's heritage permit guide, applied to stucco.
Usually no permit
- Filling a small crack or a chipped corner to match. The guide calls this routine maintenance and minor repair.
- Repainting painted stucco in the same colour.
- Swapping standard, non-historic eavestroughs and downspouts that are soaking a wall.
Permit first
- Replacing the stucco on a wall, or re-cladding it in anything else.
- Changing the paint colour.
- Altering chimneys, trim, porches or other exterior details as part of the job.
Staff can approve some permits themselves, and the guide says that typically takes under 5 business days. If it goes to Council, Council has 90 days to decide unless both sides agree to more time.
Not sure which side you're on? Heritage planning staff make that call, at 905-845-6601 or planning@oakville.ca. They'll want photos, and may ask for samples of the material.
What the Town's heritage grant does to the bill
The heritage grant program covers up to half of eligible conservation work, to a maximum of $15,000, while funding lasts. Stucco is named in the list of eligible cladding. Here's the sum at four job sizes, if the whole job is approved.
The rules that lose people the money
- Work started before the grant is approved doesn't count, except documented emergency work.
- You need at least two written estimates. Ours is free, so it can be one of them.
- The money comes after the job is finished and staff are satisfied.
- The work has two years to finish from approval.
- Re-insulating and minor repairs aren't eligible.
- Boards, then lath
- Scratch coat, keyed into the lath
- Brown coat, which trues the wall
- Finish coat, the colour and texture you see
How an old stucco wall gets put back
The clearest Town wording on this is in the First and Second Street district plan, a different Oakville district, and it's how we'd plan a wall in Old Oakville too. Ask heritage staff what applies to your address.
- Record the texture and colour of the wall before anybody touches it, with close-up photos.
- Find out what's failed: the finish, the coats behind it, or the boards and lath.
- Repair what's behind the stucco first, so the new coats have something solid to hold.
- Keep every sound part of the old coat. Patch with material that matches it in strength and look.
- Where a wall has to be replaced, go back with the same kind of stucco, typically three coats, in the original finish, colour and texture. Our page on acrylic and traditional stucco explains the difference.
- Renew the caulking at windows and trim, then use a paint that lets the wall breathe if the stucco was painted.
That plan doesn't permit EIFS as a stucco replacement, on the grounds that foam looks wrong on these houses and can hold moisture in walls built to dry out. Budget for real stucco on an old house here.
What the work costs at our published rates
A typical stucco repair, depending on what's behind the damage.
Rebuilding a water-damaged section back to the substrate.
New stucco installed, our residential range for a full wall.
Our usual range for whole-house stucco restoration on an average GTA detached home.
Old houses are often small and awkward, with mature trees close to the walls, so the wall has to be seen before it's priced. After the visit you get one fixed price in writing.
Show us the wall
Text the photos to (905) 973-6470 or attach them to the quote form. The line is open 24 hours, 7 days a week, and Musa usually calls back within a day. The visit and the written quote are free.
- Your street address, so we can see where it sits in the district.
- One photo of each side of the house, from across the street or the yard.
- A close-up of the worst spot, with a coin beside it for size.
- The year it was built, if you know it.
- Any letter or permit you already have from the Town.
Old Oakville stucco questions
Do I need a heritage permit to repair stucco in Old Oakville?
Can I get a grant for stucco restoration in Oakville?
Can EIFS go over old stucco on a heritage house?
How much does stucco restoration cost in Old Oakville?
Where is the Old Oakville heritage district?
Ready to upgrade your exterior?
Tell us about your project and get a free, fixed written quote. Oakville-based, serving the whole GTA. Open 24 hours.