Rendering and external weather proofing

Rendering buildings                            

Rendering is the action of applying plaster to external walls. The plaster is usually a mixture of cement and possibly pigments for a smooth coloured covering or without pigment for a non-coloured render. Some renders have materials added for a textured surface.

When you walk down a street in the UK, you will most probably see buildings (houses, shops and offices) built at different times and in some cases, you’ll see period buildings (grade 1 listed and grade 2 listed) amongst newer builds.

Some of the buildings are made from brick, others from cement blocks or a combination of both and others you may not know because they are covered in a coating that hides the material beneath. This material is the render that is applied to the building material of that house, shop or office to give it a uniform look and a smoother coating that covers the mortar too.

Rendering can be applied to any part of an external wall. So, you could have the bottom area of a building rendered and leave the top floors un-rendered to display the brickwork or stonework beneath

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What is the purpose of rendering a property?

There are many benefits to rendering external walls of buildings.

Giving your home a facelift

The main reason to add a render coat is to give a building (or a wall) a face lift to brighten it up a bit and enhance its looks, especially if the building is looking rather tired.

If you are adding an extension to a home, then rendering the extension can look stunning! There are many coloured renders you can choose and each one is a personal choice.

Some properties may be built from various materials of differing colours and textures which in some cases can look a bit messy so giving a coat of render to the outside will give a smooth uniform finish, making the area look clean and tidy.

Back in 1970’s UK, the popular choice was pebbledash which in some areas is still preferred but mainly you will now see smooth light coloured render.

If you have just bought a newly built house, the planning departments of that area may have insisted some or all the houses and garages be rendered, to match or enhance the surrounding houses or buildings in that town or village.

You will probably notice on some new housing estates a mix of brick-built houses (with no render) and others that have been rendered in different colours. This is to create the look of an organically growing community, where over the year’s some home owners would have added a render coat to their brick house to give it a fresh new look.

Depending on weather conditions, how your house was built in the first place and how old the render is, you may need to re-render. Especially if the coating has become cracked. It is possible to fill in the cracks in a render, but you’ll never get an invisible mend so the only way to re-render a property is to have all the cracked or damaged render stripped off the brickwork or blockwork and then re-applied on the exposed walls.

As well as the aesthetics of the external walls of a house, shop or office, external rendering gives a level of insulation, waterproofing and can increase your buildings fire rating too.

Insulating properties

Rendering your property can give your building a level of added insulation, however if you are rendering, it is a good time to also consider full external insulation to give your property an added level of protection.

External solid wall insulation is an expensive job – but so is rendering, and if scaffolding is going up and is being done, then it’s the best and cheapest time to look at external insulation to be done at the same time. Ask our rendering experts if there are any grants that may be available to you for external wall insulation. We’re happy to offer advice on external wall coverings and help where we can.

Protecting walls against weather

Another benefit to rendering a home is to reduce water ingress and penetrating damp. Some forms of stone and brick buildings, especially in exposed areas, can be liable to damp if they are battered by the elements over a prolonged period of time. Mortar can be damaged and fall out. And water can get through the solid brick or stone walls which can then penetrate through to the inside of the house. Internal damp issues in a home can cause numerous other issues, including damage to internal decoration and plaster work not to mention the health concerns that come with damp and mouldy interiors.

So, adding a layer of render to the outside wall of the home blocks the path of water in to the property and prevents this form of damp from occurring. Of course, this is only really the case on older solid brick or stone properties. If you have a cavity wall, you shouldn’t be getting penetrating damp. But if you are in any doubt whether to get your building fully rendered or even half rendered, give M Coatings a call and we can help you with impartial advice on the best route to take.

Remember – if you have damp issues before rendering your property, let us know and we can take a look for you, so you know the best course of action. In some situations, render will not be the answer, and where rendering is appropriate, the type of render used will be important – so get in touch with our plastering and rendering experts if you are trying to deal with damp. 

Which render is the best one for my home?

Choosing the right render for your building is very important. Not only is the colour and texture important but so is the material used in the render mixture. You need to make sure that it suits your building type and age. We can help you decide and using our extensive knowledge you know you'll be in good hands. We specialise in a variety of rendering and external wall coverings including:

• Traditional sand and cement smooth render
• Pebbledashing / rough cast 

We also specialise in more modern wall covering and rendering systems such as:

• Monocouche
• STO
• Creepe
• K-Rend
• Coloured render

Visit our gallery to see examples of rendering and external wall coverings by M Coatings.

Need help deciding which render is best?

To request a quote for rendering, insulation or plastering, please contact our plasterers or fill in the form below and we will contact you to discuss your property. We can then advise the best type of rendering for your external walls and if you need internal plastering work done at the same time, we can have a chat about this too.