Huge maintenance costs for house render which we don't even like - what are our options please?

blizeH

Hi, we bought a house a couple of years ago ago knowing that the outside had to be repainted, but didn't realise that the paint apparently needs removing. We've had a few people take a look, and realistically we're looking at £20k+ to get it stripped and repainted - my wife tried to paint over a 'good' patch with some Emperor masonry paint and the paint underneath has already started coming away from the wall

We'd both love to get a brick or stone exterior if we can - I'm not sure how viable that is, as various searches on Google just shows people wanting to restore back to the original brick and stone under the render which isn't an option for us since half of the house's outer shell is just blockwork and render.

We're looking at cladding, and my wife is open to getting a kinda Cotswold stone thing, but I'm worried we'll spend lots of money and it'll look awful. We also had some feature timber removed from our old house and replaced with plastic/cladding, and it faded after just a couple of years.

I want something that'll look good but also that's hopefully future proof and will last. The thought of spending potentially upwards of £20k just to end up with a painted rendered house is depressing... I'd much rather spend double that and have something that looks good and will last if that's possible?

Would welcome any suggestions, thank you

FreeBear

Chipping render off any wall is hard work, and you will damage the brick/blockwork behind in the process. The end result will not look pretty, so it should be rendered again to hide the damage.

Your options are -

• Strip off the existing paint either with sand/soda blasting or a DOFF machine, then repaint.
• Clad, but please not with that naff stuff that was all the rage in the 1970s.
• Grind back the existing surface with a diamond cup wheel & angle grinder, then skim with a thinset render.

If you clad, Building Regulations would require insulation to be added unless you can demonstrate that it would cost more than any energy savings over the next 15 years.

I had a rough cast render on the upper half of my property - Over time, patches had blown, and paint was flaking off in other areas. Didn't help that Sandtex type paint had been applied over the top of limewash... Attacked it with a diamond cup wheel and got the top coat off, then skimmed with a thinset render. Made a lot of mess doing it, and I don't think the neighbour was too happy with all the dust

ThisIsWeird

Hi Belize.
Could we have some pics of the house elevation in question, please - there are folk on here who I think could give good, experienced, opinions on what would/could look best.

Albermarle

 We also had some feature timber removed from our old house and replaced with plastic/cladding, and it faded after just a couple of years.

Good quality UPVC cladding should not fade after just a couple of years. It must have been some kind of unbranded cheap stuff.

If it is manufactured correctly by a reputable company, you can even get guarantees in excess of 10 years. For example ( not the only one ),

 Guarantees | External Cladding | Freefoam

blizeH

FreeBear said:

Chipping render off any wall is hard work, and you will damage the brick/blockwork behind in the process. The end result will not look pretty, so it should be rendered again to hide the damage.

Your options are -

• Strip off the existing paint either with sand/soda blasting or a DOFF machine, then repaint.
• Clad, but please not with that naff stuff that was all the rage in the 1970s.
• Grind back the existing surface with a diamond cup wheel & angle grinder, then skim with a thinset render.

If you clad, Building Regulations would require insulation to be added unless you can demonstrate that it would cost more than any energy savings over the next 15 years.

I had a rough cast render on the upper half of my property - Over time, patches had blown, and paint was flaking off in other areas. Didn't help that Sandtex type paint had been applied over the top of limewash... Attacked it with a diamond cup wheel and got the top coat off, then skimmed with a thinset render. Made a lot of mess doing it, and I don't think the neighbour was too happy with all the dust

Thank you! Don't mind the idea of cladding but yeah it sounds like a bit of a minefield with building regs. I guess the people doing the install will hopefully know what they're doing with that though. Glad yours is sorted now though, good job!

Albermarle said:

 We also had some feature timber removed from our old house and replaced with plastic/cladding, and it faded after just a couple of years.

Good quality UPVC cladding should not fade after just a couple of years. It must have been some kind of unbranded cheap stuff.

If it is manufactured correctly by a reputable company, you can even get guarantees in excess of 10 years. For example ( not the only one ),

 Guarantees | External Cladding | Freefoam

Thanks, sounds good and I'll take a look - I guess part of my problem is that with stone or brick you likely won't have to touch it for at least 20 years, probably longer. Whereas render and cladding it'll be far more often than that. I'm definitely leaning towards cladding over render though

ThisIsWeird said:

Hi Belize.
Could we have some pics of the house elevation in question, please - there are folk on here who I think could give good, experienced, opinions on what would/could look best.

Thanks! Here's a photo of the worst wall:

stuart45

You can get brick slips for cladding if you like the look of brickwork.

FreeBear

Personally, I wouldn't go near uPVC cladding. Way too much plastic being used in homes already. No need to add yet more - It also burns very nicely, giving off toxic fumes as it does so.

If you go with cladding, have a look at Hardie Planks (similar products available from other manufacturers). Non-combustible, self coloured, so won't burn and should only require minimal maintenance in your lifetime.

Albermarle

FreeBear said:

Personally, I wouldn't go near uPVC cladding. Way too much plastic being used in homes already. No need to add yet more - It also burns very nicely, giving off toxic fumes as it does so.

If you go with cladding, have a look at Hardie Planks (similar products available from other manufacturers). Non-combustible, self coloured, so won't burn and should only require minimal maintenance in your lifetime.

UPVC is naturally fire retardant and definitely will not burn very easily at all. It is totally different to the cladding that caused the Grenfell disaster. PVC doors and windows are actually OK to use in escape routes from homes.
How Fire Resistant are uPVC Windows and Doors? (twguk.co.uk)
If the house is on fire and very high temperatures are being reached, then it will melt/char and give off toxic fumes. However by that time you will have escaped or be already dead.

Also I think nowadays nearly 50% of all removed UPVC cladding and windows are recycled. For example
Eurocell Recycling | Sustainable Building Product Solutions