What's behind the pebble dash?

janbanan

We just found a house which we quite like - an early 1900s terrace in London. Only problem is that's pebble dash front and back. I don't really mind the look of it but am worried about what it could be hiding.
It looks like about a third of the houses on the road have some sort of rendering. Those who don't look to be in an OK shape.
What would be the main reasons for pebble dashing on these houses?
We won't proceed without a full 'building survey' but would it necessarily pick up on any serious structural problem?
We also noted that a tree about 4m from the property has quite recently been removed (and another planted)

new_home_owner_3

I pebble dashed my toilet the weekend, i couldnt really see what was in it, it was kind of a self leveller, especially after a curry and a load of ale.:D

clutton_2

wise thoughts... i also dont like buying rendered houses.. especially gable end houses...

but if the rest of the row look ok that is a good sign

render is cheaper than repointing which is a very labour-intensive high-cost repair - i guess that is why folks did it..

but you can get a damp patch in a house and you have a much smaller chance of finding it behind render as the water cannot be seen leaving trail marks on the outside brickwork. so you don't ne3cessarily know where the leak has originated from

it was also a fashion for a while.. thank goodness it not any more....

GDB2222

Lots of houses in London were built around 100 years ago with pebble-dashing. We owned one at one time. If it's original pebble-dashing, you can't take it off because the bricks underneath aren't facing bricks. If it's sound, it'll be fine and it adds an extra layer of insulation to a house that of course wasn't built with cavity walls. You either like it or loath it.

StudentMoneySaver

There was an article about pebble dashing a few weeks ago on the BBC website. I can't find it now (typical) but the jist of it was that sometimes pebble dashing was used to cover up dodgy brick work and it went in and out of fashion. I'm fairly certain it said that was the case on later houses than 1900 but I can't be sure.

The terrace I live on is pebble dashed. My mum was quoted about £3,000 to have it redone for her end of terrace house (built around 1900 too). I'd imagine it would be cheaper for a mid terrace.

You're not by any chance looking to move to a South East London borough, there are a couple of similar houses to what you have described up for sale near me (although the market is dead around here apparently, so maybe not).

diable

Pebble dashing can crack and it can hold water/moisture, I personally hate the stuff not as much as stone cladding ;p

janbanan

GDB2222 wrote: »

Lots of houses in London were built around 100 years ago with pebble-dashing. We owned one at one time. If it's original pebble-dashing, you can't take it off because the bricks underneath aren't facing bricks. If it's sound, it'll be fine and it adds an extra layer of insulation to a house that of course wasn't built with cavity walls. You either like it or loath it.

Houses in the area weren't originally pebble dashed. Quality of bricks on other houses, where exposed, range between good and OK.
Not sure what made them want to pebble dash it later on. Hide structural problems/cracks? Bad taste? ...

dander

How old is the pebbledash? Maybe they used it to cover up the mess left behind when they removed the stone cladding.

Wee_Willy_Harris

Would it be too much to hope that beneath that peppledash is a layer of lovely marzipan?

LandyAndy

The houses I grew up in were pebbledashed and they were built in the 1950s. It was the fashion at the time.

If it gets damaged it can be very difficult to achieve a proper, matching repair.

goggle

Pebbledashing was very trendy in the 60's/70's along with stone cladding. It may simply have been that the owner of the property then was following the same sort of trend as everyone who has decking nowdays Does it have a brick/stone fireplace too? another sure sign of trendiness of the time

You will prob want to get your surveyor to inspect the quality of the pebbledashing - it can be used as a cheap fix for dodgy brickwork, or as a purely aesthetic "feature"