Repair cracked render and refinish, £4k

KG1975

The render on the front elevation of my house is cracked, especially along the top where the coping stones are weathered.

I have been quoted just over £4k inc VAT for the following works:

• Chase out large cracks, and entire area below coping stones.
• Re-render with 2 coats of Ecorend, reinforcement mesh in 1st coat.
• Apply Tyrolean finish to entire existing render, blended in to look the same, colour to decide.
• Cap coping stones in lead.
• Includes labour, material, waste removal, scaffold.

Does that sound reasonable? I am in Bristol.

I'd be grateful for any advice or thoughts.

subjecttocontract

Sounds like a total waste of money to me…....my render cracks occasionally. Every few years I spend around £10 on a tube of flexible external filler, fill the cracks and give it a coat of Sandtex. Chances are, after you've spent £4K the render will crack again, there or somewhere else.

FreeBear

Also need to look at why the render has cracked. The vertical crack between the two windows is no surprise as the two opening are weak points.

At the top of the gable(?) wall, a little more concerning especially if the plaster internally has also cracked.

A tyrolean finish is a pig of a job to paint, and doesn't take that long to start looking grubby. On the plus side, it hides a rough base coat so the filling of the cracks doesn't have to be overly neat. At a lower level, a tyrolean finish is good for removing skin if you are not careful (wouldn't recommend it with small children running around).

£4K isn't excessive if the workmen are having scaffolding put up - If they just plan on using ladders, just say no and find a responsible team of workers.

KG1975

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81994530#Comment_81994530

Thanks for the advice, some very good points!

I had a surveyor look at it last year, and they said the coping stones above the wall are weathered and probably have no DPC, potentially allowing moisture ingress. They recommended to relay on a DPC or cap in lead the next time there's access.

The builder said the same thing unprompted, that the coping stones are probably letting some water in behind the render. So as part of the job, he would cap them in lead.

There's no damp or cracking internally, but both surveyors advised to get the cracks repaired preemptively.

And they would use scaffold, yes, and that's priced in with the quote.

Albermarle

Even if it is reasonable ( I have no idea really) always worth while going back with a counter offer/ask for a discount. Usually with a bit of blah blah about it was more than you expected etc .

stuart45

If you've got a solid wall built in lime mortar, cement render tends to trap moisture in the wall.

Albermarle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81995451#Comment_81995451

Out of interest if you have the original render on an older solid wall house, what would it normally be made of - not cement I guess?

KG1975

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81995451#Comment_81995451

Yes indeed, and I would like to get it replaced with a more breathable render in future, possibly lime.

However, I was advised that patching it in the short term is still better than leaving as-is.

stuart45

It depends on how old the building is. Cement was being added to the mix on some jobs in Victorian days, so a lot of them were cement/lime/sand mixes. A lot of the original renders have been removed over the years and replaced with cement render, so it's not really common to find one with the original lime render.

Over the last 20 -30 years it's become more common to hack off the hard cement renders on old properties and replace with lime render. You sometimes find when you hack off the cement render, where it's blown there's water trapped behind it.

Albermarle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81995919#Comment_81995919

My house was built in the 1920's- the first floor and gable end are all rendered - quite a rough finish, with small stones in it. Obviously I can not be sure it is the original, but the adjoining semi that was built at the same time, has exactly the same. Also I think the house was built to a high standard by the subsequent owner. We still have the same clay tile roof and iron gutters. No damp or cracking of the render, so I am thinking it probably is original.

stuart45

It could well be a lime/cement/sand mix. This is normally a reasonably breathable mix. It was more in the 70's and 80's that builders started using a strong sand/cement mix when working on older properties. The idea of a 3/1 sand/cement mix is that it's virtually impervious, so keeps out all the moisture. Unfortunately it tends to crack and allow moisture in but not out.

One of those ideas that take a few years before the issues are discovered.