Rendering in Beckenham and South East London
Our rendering service covers house walls across South East London: blown or cracked render cut out and patched to match. The visit and written quote are free, and our own team can paint the render once it has dried.
- Blown and cracked render repaired
- Painted afterwards by our own team
- Free visit and a written quote
- £5 million public liability insurance
4.9 out of 5
From 38 MyBuilder reviews
Get a quote for your rendering
Sand and cement, thin-coat or pebbledash: the render on your walls
Most house rendering is one of three kinds:
Sand and cement
The traditional render, laid in two or more coats and left smooth, textured or painted.
Thin-coat render
A modern coloured finish, applied thin over a base coat and mesh, that usually isn't painted.
Pebbledash
Small stones thrown into the wet top coat. Patches are hard to match.
Older houses may have lime render, which is best repaired with lime: see lime plastering.
Repair or re-render?
Render usually fails in patches. Render that sounds hollow when tapped or bulges has come away from the wall: this is called blown render. Cracks let water in behind it and can lead to it. We cut it back to sound edges and render the patch to match.
When blown areas spread across the wall, the whole elevation (that side of the house) may need re-rendering. Either way, whatever let the water in, such as a leaking gutter or cracked sill, needs fixing too.
Pointing that has failed on a wall you'd rather keep as brick is repointing, not render, and dirty or stained brick may only need brick cleaning.
What re-rendering a wall involves
- 01
Strip and check
Old render hacked off and the brick or block behind it checked and repaired.
- 02
Prepare
Dust brushed off, the wall wetted or primed, and mesh fixed over any weak or mixed areas.
- 03
Beads
Metal or plastic strips at corners, around windows and along the bottom edge, for straight, protected edges.
- 04
Coats
A base coat scratched to give a key (a rough surface the next coat grips), then the finish coat.
- 05
Making good
(finishing the edges neatly) around sills, pipes and fittings.
New render has to dry before it's painted, just as new plaster does: see plaster skimming.
Permission and Building Regulations for rendering
What Planning Portal says:
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- Repairs don't need planning permission.
- In a conservation area, a National Park, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty or the Broads, you need planning permission before cladding the outside of your house with render or pebbledash.
- Elsewhere, it may go ahead without an application if the materials look similar to those the house was built with.
- A listed building needs listed building consent for any significant works.
Some streets have their own rules: see plastering in Bromley.
Approved Document L, the Building Regulations guidance on energy efficiency, counts rendering an outside wall as renovating it. The whole wall should then be improved to a set heat-loss standard (its U-value) if either:
- more than half of that wall is renovated, or
- more than a quarter of the external building envelope (the house's whole outer shell, not just its walls) is renovated.
Where that isn't technically or functionally feasible, or wouldn't pay back within 15 years, the wall should be improved as far as it can be within those limits.
Listed homes and homes in conservation areas don't have to comply fully where that would unacceptably alter their character or appearance.
Re-rendering more than half a wall? Check with building control first: your council's, or a private registered building control approver.
Why book us for your render
Render and paint from one firm
Our own team can paint the new render once it has dried; see exterior painting.
A written price first
A free visit and a written quote, and a reply within one working day.
Easy to check
Registered at Companies House in 2007, £5 million public liability, on Checkatrade and verified on MyBuilder.
Three steps to a sound rendered wall
Tell us about the wall through the form.
We visit at no charge and send a written quote.
We repair the render, then paint it if you'd like.
The full process is on our plastering page.
What the price of rendering depends on
Area and height
the wall's size, and any tower or scaffold.
Size of the repair
one patch or blown areas across the wall.
The wall behind
repairs to the brick or block.
The finish
the type of render and the detail around windows and corners.
Insulation and paint
whether the wall should be insulated, and painting afterwards.
Request a callback
Painting a brick wall instead? See our painting brickwork guide.
What customers say
4.9
out of 5 from 38 reviews on
“They were on time and did a fantastic job. I would most definitely come to them in the first instance for any other decorating jobs!”
“We’re really really impressed with the level of finish and found them to be extremely courteous and respectful. We’d highly recommend them and would definitely use them again next time we need some work doing.”
“Such high quality work, very impressed Helped sort a few other issues as well when they were there”
Questions about rendering
Call 020 8249 7303
What is render and why is it used?
A coat of mortar spread over an outside wall. It keeps the weather off the brick or block behind it and gives a smooth or textured finish.
Can you render on render?
Sometimes. If the old render is sound and still bonded to the wall, a new coat can go over it once cleaned and prepared. Loose or hollow render has to come off first, or the new coat fails with it.
Should I render my house or leave the brick exposed?
It depends on the wall. Render can tidy up weathered or patched brickwork, but it's hard to undo. In a conservation area, a National Park, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty or the Broads, rendering the outside needs planning permission. Sound brick may only need repointing or cleaning.
Do I need planning permission to repair render?
No. Planning Portal says repairs and maintenance don't need planning permission. Rendering the outside of a house is different: in a conservation area, a National Park, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty or the Broads it needs permission first. A listed building needs consent for any significant works.
Plastering in Beckenham and South East London
Plastering in Beckenham and South East London from a family firm. Free visit, a written quote and tidy work.
Get a free site visit and written quote
Tell us where the job is and what needs doing. Every inquiry gets an answer within one working day.