What Actually Drives the Cost of Rendering a House

Ask three renderers to price the same semi-detached house and you can easily get three numbers thousands of pounds apart. That does not automatically mean two of them are trying it on. More often it means they have priced three different jobs, and only one of them has looked properly at what is underneath.

Here is what actually moves the number.

Access is the quiet one

Rendering is not really a wall job, it is a scaffold job with a wall job attached. A two-storey front elevation that opens straight onto a driveway is quick to reach. The same wall three feet from a boundary fence, over a conservatory roof, or on a corner plot with a public footpath, needs a different scaffold design, sometimes a licence, and more time to erect and strike.

If one quote is noticeably cheaper, the first question to ask is what scaffold it includes and who is paying for it. A price that assumes ladders on a two-storey elevation is not a cheaper price. It is a different, worse job.

The state of what you already have

Fresh render onto sound masonry is straightforward. Most houses are not that.

• Existing render that is blown or hollow has to come off. Tapping a wall tells you a lot: a dull, hollow note means the render has lost its grip and rendering over it just buys you a few years.
• Pebbledash either comes off or gets built over. Both are legitimate; they cost very different amounts.
• Damp, salts and staining need the cause found first. Render is not a damp treatment and putting it over an unresolved problem traps the moisture rather than curing it.
• Cracks need reading before they are filled. Fine surface crazing is one thing; a stepped crack following the mortar joints is telling you something structural.

A quote written without anyone tapping the walls is a guess with a number on it.

Which system you choose

The three systems most Essex homes end up choosing between behave differently, and price differently.

• Silicone render is a thin-coat system over a basecoat and mesh. It is breathable, water-repellent and flexible, which is why it copes well with hairline movement. It is usually the choice where the finish and the long-term maintenance matter most.
• Monocouche is a through-coloured single-coat render, so a chip or scratch shows the same colour underneath rather than a pale scar.
• K-Rend is a well-known silicone-based range, applied as a system with its own detailing.

The material difference between them is real but rarely the biggest line on the quote. Preparation and access usually are.

The detailing nobody mentions until it is missing

The parts of a render job that fail first are almost never the flat walls. They are the edges.

• Bellcast beads at the base, so water leaves the wall rather than tracking behind it
• Stop beads and movement joints where they are actually needed
• Window and door reveals finished properly, not bulked out
• Sills and drips that throw water clear
• Enough clearance above ground level, and render that does not bridge the damp-proof course

A quote that itemises beads, joints and reveals has been thought about. One that says "render to front elevation" and nothing else has not.

Comparing two quotes properly

If you have prices in front of you, put them side by side and check the same five things:

1. Scaffold — included, and designed for this house?
2. Preparation — what is coming off, and what happens if more needs to?
3. System — which one, and how many coats?
4. Detailing — are beads, movement joints and reveals written down?
5. Making good — who reinstates the ground, and who takes the waste away?

Nine times out of ten, the cheaper quote is not cheaper. It is just shorter.

Getting a straight answer for your house

The honest position is that nobody can price your property accurately from a postcode. What you can get quickly is a written quote based on photographs and a proper look, setting out exactly what is included so you can hold it up against anything else you have been given.

Send through a few photographs of each elevation, anywhere you have noticed cracking or damp, and a rough idea of the finish you want. You will get a clear breakdown back, and no pressure attached to it.