advice on pebble dash

huwy123

hi there,
I've recently had some remedial wall tie work done on my 1950s pebble dashed house.
I thought the pebble dash was pretty ugly before but now its got lots of lines through it where cracks have been filled (see pic)
I was wondering what people would recommend? I was thinking of painting it a cream colour but I understand this is a big job and it will need redoing in a few years.
Am grateful for any advice on this. Are there any other options to make my house look nicer!
Cheers,
Huw

Avoriaz

huwy123 wrote: »

....Are there any other options to make my house look nicer!../....

Have you thought of using one of these?




:whistle:

Avoriaz

Or you could paint a nose and a mouth to match the eyes.

jeff_chandler

It would cost a fortune to re dash the house. I can see the patching was not of good workmanship but to replicate it would be almost impossible.
I`m a plasterer and do a lot of dashing, I have also patched up houses like yours but again to replicate the work that was done back in the 50s would be impossible.

There is some external paint especially designed for properties like yours but comes at a price. It is very durable and looks fantastic on pre war houses. Look on the web and you will probably find something to suit. It will be a lot cheaper than to remove and re dash.

Kind regards Jeff

Avoriaz

On a more serious note, a cream coloured paint would look nice but it is a lot of work and will need regular redoing.

How is the existing pebbledash coloured? Is that the colour of the pebbles and cement or was it painted?

tanith

I hate pebbledash but our house has it too... we have brick above the windows and we and our neighbour painted the pebbledash white , its needs doing about every 5yrs or so.. but I have a very able and kind grandson who will come and do it for us.. the white paint kinda makes you forget (well almost)about the pebbledash underneath.. (we bought the house despite the pebbledash as it was exactly where we wanted).

huwy123

thanks for all the replies guys.

So it looks like painting is the best option. I realise that it will require a few coats at first but I would have thought it will only need 1 new coat in a few years time.

Does anyone have any advice on what paint to use and/or how to apply it? Would spray painting save time?

Below is a close up of the pebble dash. I believe its Pea shingle (?)


Cheers,
Huw

stef73

Our house has the same pebbledash our was painted over before we moved in. i use sandtex maisonary paint. it lasts about 3 years before it looks dirty again. it takes alot of paint what ever it says on the tin for coverage for your area double it. I get my dad to use his oap discount on wednesday for b&q to buy it . Ours needs doing this year it takes about 2 coats and use a bristle brush. Never priced spray an its only cost is paint, brush and my afternoon. If you paint it white do it when the suns off the wall you soon get sick of the glare.

nickj_2

painting unpainted pebbledash is a nightmare . to start with you will have to make sure the surface is clean , give it a good hose down , as it's great for trapping dust , then if the sand and cement is powdery you will have to seal it with a stabilizer , and then paint - you can use either dulux / sandtex trade stuff , don't bother with the diy sheds , the first coat needs to be thinned down by around 30% to fill in all the gaps , any further coats need to be thinned as well to prevent paint from going on too thick and then "mudcracking", apart from covering up windows and doors etc the only other thing you need to take care over is not to do it on a really hot day as the paint will have drying lines all over it if it dries too quickly .
the pebbles only look like pea shingle so you should be able to get a quality roller sleeve on it without too much hassle ,

tanith

Looking at it close up thats going to be some job as nickj says, if it were me I think I learn to live with it as it is, especially if you are doing it yourself . Ours has been painted probably 3/4 times and its not so bumpy, doing it from scratch as it were, must be so much harder looks like a huge expanse of wall there..good luck whatever you decide.

cyclonebri1

Painting will be a nightmare, probably about 1/2 the cost of re dashing.

I did our previous semi some 20 years ago, it had been done before but still took 10 gallons for 1 coat.

The roughness of that dashing means it will absolutely drink the stuff.

Mine lasted 10 years before needing a recoat, but I think that was exceptional but I did use good materials.

My daughter had a big house repainted 2 years ago, they used a Santex product, resin based, called 365 if I recall.

Needs special primer, thinner and cleaning chemicals.Cost over £1200 in materials alone.

If you really want it to look it's best I would check out the cost of redashing, if you can get some help in removing and skipping the existing stuff that should 1/2 the bill. There is a caveat to that;
if it was put on correctly in the 1st place you may do more harm than good in trying to remove it.:A:A