Render, paint best option for exterior of my house

stupidflanders

Hi we're in a dilemma. Our house is the shabbiest on our street. It was (i'm guessing) sprayed with a thick coat of paint stuff in the 70's over soil pipes and everything. There are a few areas where this has flaked off and patches where we've had new windows. We've had 3 quotes for rendering between £3250 and £5250, the higher quote man talked about metal mesh the lower quote guy showed me some flimsier mesh that they use. Does anyone know what kind of difference this make to the end result? What I'd really like to do is abandon the idea of rendering full stop and either take the house back to brick and paint it like my neighbours have Or patch and paint what I have is this dooable do you think more importantly is it cheaper? HELP going round in circles here.

Doozergirl

I doubt you will get it back to brick. The brick will end up too damaged.

Patching what you have? It is going to be pretty hard to find something that will give you the same characteristics.

Rendering probably is your best bet for a half decent finish. I donmt thinknwhich mesh you use is important, but a silicone based render is likely to last longer than cement based, but it will cost more again than your quotes.

External insulation and render will give a really crisp finish.

Do it once, do it right though. If you are genuinely the worst house, it is going to take some cost and effort to raise the standard.

In all honesty, our house is similar. We painted it with some rather expensive type of paint with textured beads in it to try and keep the texture. The result was awful, lol! The colour is better but the wall still needs addressing. We might as well have just painted it with Sandtex. The render on ours is so thick and hard, I suspect the house would come down if we tried to remove it. At some point we will insulate the outside to go over it, but it is not a priority. Typical house that belongs to builders

Davesnave

You probably won't be able to 'go back to brick' because removing the render will damage the bricks to some extent.

If re-rendering I'd want stainless steel for all metalwork, like corner beads and mesh. Frankly, I don't trust some of the galvanised stuff produced now, but the choice might also depend on how long you plan to own the house. Some corner beads on my property, installed in 1990 were rusting by 2010.

zoothornrollo_2

You could get a good decorator to quote for a patch and paint job? It's obviously not going to look perfect but I'd think you will be improving it vastly, it will look transformed. Compared to which rendering could be diminishing returns from escalating cost?

vw100

Getting the house rendered will give the house a good neat look if done properly. Sand and Cement render cheaper materials but more on labour and need greater skill. Good practice to use mesh to stop the render cracking and using beading for neat sharp corners. Will also have to paint it after.


K-Rend best to insulate the property first and then render, cheaper labour as it is quicker to apply but materials are expensive (saying that the labour will still be quite expensive anyway). K-Rend comes in different colours.


So you need to weigh up the pro's and con's of both.


Removing render will damage the bricks no doubt.

stupidflanders

Thanks for all your comments you've been very helpful. I'm getting a painter in to see what they say and one more rendering quote, then I'll have to decide.

VfM4meplse

Doozergirl wrote: »

External insulation and render will give a really crisp finish.

What is this external insulation you speak of?

Doozergirl

stupidflanders wrote: »

Thanks for all your comments you've been very helpful. I'm getting a painter in to see what they say and one more rendering quote, then I'll have to decide.

Don’t search for rendering on just price! Being the cheapest doesn’t help when it looks awful.

Doozergirl

VfM4meplse wrote: »

What is this external insulation you speak of?

https://www.thegreenage.co.uk/tech/external-solid-wall-insulation/

VfM4meplse

Doozergirl wrote: »

https://www.thegreenage.co.uk/tech/external-solid-wall-insulation/

I learn so much on this forum!

I need to invest in this when money allows. Will sort out all my heating woes (although at the moment it feels like I'm basking in the Med in my south facing conservatory!). Wish that I could conserve this heat

road2manchester

back to brick..... yes you can, Breathable brick effect render by companies like Decopierre.
metal mesh has to be stainless steel not mild steel.
Fibreglass mesh is cheaper but still OK as long as the wall is sound.
The current surface needs to be investigated as renders do not stick to vinyl type coatings.
NOT A CHEAP FIX but how much is KERB APPEAL worth.