ARTICLES: Rendering

Rendering is a very easy way to keep your home up-to-date and hide any surface flaws. Render can be applied on both old and new homes that will keep a modern look that is really low maintenance. It can be neutral, coloured or painted which will always help to keep the home as modern as possible. Render can be applied to many different surfaces such as brick, concrete, cement or stone surfaces. It can also be applied to earth type surfaces also such as mud brick walls etc.

There is indeed a correct way to prepare a surface before render can even be applied. Dirt and any nastiness needs to be hosed off. However, if there are any signs of mould then deffinitley use a fungicidal wash on the walls. Render will not stick to paint though so you will also need to remove any excess paint there might be on the surface you wish to render. Any render that might be old or falling apart also needs to me removed as well as loose pointing. But there's no need to worry because when you hire a professional, they will do all of this prep work for you!

Two types of renders are Cement and Acrylic. Cement render is made up of lime, sand and cement. Lime makes the render more workable and helps with cracking issues once it is hardened. If in any case you are leaning towards a coloured render then you should have the professional make a sample and let it completely dry before continuing with the job. Acrylic cement of course uses acrylic in the cement which makes it more resistant to cracking than other renders. This render is fast drying; it will only take 2 days while almost any other render will take up to 28 days to fully dry!

Solid plastering or wet plastering is a soft material used as finish work, not anything structural or anything. When the professional applies it, it goes on wet and hardens while it dries. Plaster can be finished in many different textures and colours and should always be used by a professional.

When you hire a rendering professional you need to make sure they are licensed and qualified. It would be in your best interest to get some kind of quote so you know how much the job will cost. If it is an option, ask for any previous work or references to ensure you they know what they're doing.