Render removal

lauraj27

Hi there, 

We have a three bed semi-detached house which is rendered and we have had it confirmed that they aren't cavity walls. 

The render is in a really bad state of disrepair and we had hoped to get external wall insulation under the green homes grant scheme and although we were issued with a voucher the company who is supposed to be doing the work has been ghosting us. 

We are really struggling to find a reliable / willing company to come out and give us a private quote for EWI - I have tried pretty much all the companies listed on Checkatrade and Trustmark and despite leaving messages we are not having much luck.  We did manage to get one company to come out and are awaiting the quote, however, the surveyor did state that the existing render would need to come off and that the cost of that would be astronomical so I am worried about what the quote will be. 

Given how bad the render is and the fact that there are damp patches appearing in the interior where the render has failed / blown/disintegrated we are thinking of just trying to find someone who can remove the render in its entirety and maybe put some kind of seal on the brickwork. 

I just wanted to check if this is something a plasterer could do? Most of the ones I have found don't mention on their websites about render removal so I am feeling a bit lost / overwhelmed. 

I appreciate that the company may only be interested in the job if they can also re-render but we aren't keen on re-rendering as it just seems to be very problematic. 

stuart45

 Hacking off the render will probably leave the brickwork in a mess. 

FreeBear

If you are removing render on more than 25% of the exterior and rerendering, building regulations kick in - They would probably require you to add EWI as part of the rerender. Just removing the outer layer and/or patching up the cracks and applying another layer of render doesn't trigger the BC requirements.

Having chipped off the pebbledash on one wall here (just the outer layer), I can attest to it being a dirty and time consuming job. Going back to bare brick would have been even worse. And as rendered walls generally use all the ugly & crappy bricks, it won't look pretty once the render is removed. Chipping off the render is also likely to damage the surface of the bricks, adding to the ugly appearance.

If your render is well attached to the walls without any major blown areas, it should be possible to apply a render-grip primer followed by a thin coat render on top (once any cracks have been dealt with).

lauraj27

There are a lot of areas that are majorly blown so it won't be possible to apply the render grip primer and a thin coat. 

Chunks of render are falling off and the brickwork underneath is in a reasonable state.  We have also been told by the EWI company we have managed to get to come out that in order for the EWI to be applied the render needs to be removed in its entirety and that there is no other option available and that this will mean that the quote they provide will be extremely high. 

We would obviously long term look to get EWI or a re-render but as stated above we are having a lot of difficulties in sourcing someone to provide a quote and carry out the work so I was hoping to be able to start something off in the meantime. 

With a re-render we have had previous quotes about 18 months ago which have been in the region of £25K-£30K. 

We are really struggling with this and in desperate need of assistance but are not having any luck :-( 

stuart45

You could hack it off and put a shelter coat on protem.

Bendy_House

Hi Laura.

I'm surprised you are struggling to find a crew who'll remove your render. Unless it's just part of the current symptom of a general lack of builders.

Yes, it's a horrible job, but it's also one that's being done dozens of times each day around the country; render fails, and needs removing. Fact of life.

I'd have thought that plasterers themselves would either have this job under their belt too, or would know someone who'll do it (if they don't like doing such unpleasant and semi-skilled work...) There cannot be a plasterer in existence who hasn't also needed render/plaster removed first!

Assuming you get it done and the walls insulated, what finish do you hope to give it afterwards?

fenwick458

Pictures would help. If they said it would astronomical, maybe theres a good reason why it will be very labour intensive to remove all of it.  I can't see why the loose bits cant be knocked off (and levelled up if needed) before the external wall insulation goes on

grumbler

I am no expert, but I don't understand why it has to be removed for adding external insulation. I am pretty sure it's screwed to the wall, not glued to it.

grumbler

Any chance they offered to remove the plaster themselves?

Again, I am no expert, but I think the surface doesn't have to be perfect. Pealing plaster can be easily removed and all significant holes and areas with missing plaster can be easily filled. Then everything will be held in place by the boards/panels and the screws.

MalMonroe

Hi, Laura, you said this - "the fact that there are damp patches appearing in the interior where the render has failed / blown/disintegrated we are thinking of just trying to find someone who can remove the render in its entirety and maybe put some kind of seal on the brickwork"

- which made me wonder if you could possibly claim for work to be done to put this right through your buildings insurance?

That is, the render has failed, so the brickwork is exposed and water is coming through. 

What does your policy say and could you get someone to assess it for a claim?

Many apologies if I'm leading you down the wrong path but the first thing I would do in this situation is look carefully at all the small print in my buildings insurance policy. 

FreeBear

MalMonroe said: - which made me wonder if you could possibly claim for work to be done to put this right through your buildings insurance?

That is, the render has failed, so the brickwork is exposed and water is coming through. 

Highly unlikely the insurance company would agree - They will say it is a maintenance issue, therefor, the home owner's problem to sort out.