pebbledash vs Brick House

gingercordial

Our house is pebbledashed in Canterbury Spar, which are the small chips rather than the big pebbles.  I don't particularly like it and we will want to change it in due course.

It was built this way and so as others have said it's unlikely the underlying brickwork is pretty enough on its own.  I am told that bricklayers who knew the house would be pebbledashed probably wouldn't have taken as much care, so chipping it off and leaving it as brick isn't an option.

Removal and flat render is one thing we might consider but likely to be expensive to chip it all off and have it removed.  I believe there are building regs considerations for that too in terms of insulation, but might be wrong as I haven't checked in a while.  Alternatively render over the top for a flat finish, or have it spray painted as easier than with a brush.  

I did come across this recently which is having it sprayed with a coating made of cork as an eco-friendly solution available in lots of colours.  However I have no idea if their claims are true or if they are any good, it's only a link I've saved for when we finally get round to looking at this properly.  https://corksoluk.com/latest-news/render-replace-or-paint-solutions-for-pebbledash-covered-houses/

FreeBear

gingercordial said: Removal and flat render is one thing we might consider but likely to be expensive to chip it all off and have it removed.  I believe there are building regs considerations for that too in terms of insulation, but might be wrong as I haven't checked in a while.  Alternatively render over the top for a flat finish, or have it spray painted as easier than with a brush. 

Building regs and insulation only apply if you are stripping more than 25% of the entire outside back to brick. If you are only removing the top layer and/or working on less than 25% of the total wall area, there is no need to involve Building Control.

Cork insulation (or any other external wall insulation) is certainly worth considering.. You do need quite a thick layer (25mm or more) to make it worthwhile - Based on what little information I can find on this spray cork stuff, the typical coating thickness is around 4mm. So minimal increase of thermal insulation of the wall.

lincroft1710

RelievedSheff said:

We actively avoided houses with render or pebbledash when we were looking. We didn't want the extra maintenance involved.

I doubt we are alone in that.

My parents lived in a pebbledash finished brick built house for 40 years and the pebbledash needed no maintenance

Alter_ego

I always consider that pebbledash is there to hide something.

Cash-Cows

I had a pebbledash house and it was a semi. To colour or remove it would look odd if neighbours didn't match, so we left it. Maintenance wise it was better than the brickwork because the brickwork needed repointing. 

Jaybee_16

Sold my flat last year which was pebbledashed. It was covering quite porous bricks as those without pebbledashing had bricks crumbling and the need to hack out and replace. Pebbledash is not always a bad thing.

hazyjo

Alter_ego said:

I always consider that pebbledash is there to hide something.

Possibly, but it's usually just for fashion. Obviously not a current fashion lol! I had a house with it on. It might have been slightly less appealing, but it most certainly wasn't worth 30% less. In fact, it was pretty much comparable with everything else on the market.

Pok3mon

Pebble dash / Render I have had both houses give me brick any day. The few Issues I have had or witnessed. 
Modern render or dashing if not done properly can fail very quickly.
Render / dash over 50 years could be starting to fail and can be expensive to repair or replace.
Painting can be a pain in the butt ATM I live in a painted pebbledash detached house that is10m at the eves it takes about 6/7 large tubs of sandtex to paint it every 7/8 years and I hate ladders it also takes about a week.
My first house was brick. I never touched the outside in 12 years!
My new house is brick!

searchlight123

my first house was a 1930's mid terrace in the early 80's. the brickwork was in bad need of repointing so we decided to pebbledash the house as it was a cheaper option. i regretted it from the day it was done. IMO a nice bare brick frontage is so much more attractive.

NameUnavailable

Pebbledash may have been applied as a possibly less expensive alternative to having the facade repointed. On an older property it's not a good idea to cover the bricks with render or paint as it will stop the property from breathing giving rise to damp issues.

The problem with it or render is if it blows and traps moisture causing damp. Render and painted homes need repainting every 4 years or so to keep them looking tidy.

Personally I prefer a brick exterior.