Rendering in Lilliput

Repairs. Render that has blown, meaning it has parted from the wall behind, has to be hacked off back to a sound edge. We cut the edges square, prepare the background, and build the patch back up in coats to match the thickness and the texture around it. A crack on its own can often be cut out and filled, as long as the render either side is still bonded.

Full re-renders. When too much of a Lilliput wall is hollow, patching stops being good value. We hack off the old render, clean down and stabilise the brick or block, then apply a basecoat with a mesh embedded in it, a bead at every corner and a bellcast over the damp proof course, and a topcoat.

Which system. A through-coloured silicone thin coat render is the usual choice in Lilliput now. It sheds water, resists algae and does not need painting. Monocouche is a one coat, through-coloured render with a scraped finish. Traditional sand and cement is painted, and still suits some houses. On a solid wall, an older building or anything built with lime, we use a breathable lime render, because a cement render on a wall like that traps moisture behind it.

Pebbledash and texture. We can repair pebbledash, dash or tyrolean finishes on a Lilliput house to match, or replace them with a smooth or float finish if you prefer. We put up a sample so you can see the colour and texture on your wall before we commit to it.

External wall insulation. Where a Lilliput wall is solid and cold, insulation boards can go on under the render, with the render carrier system built over them. That brings building control and Approved Document L into it, and we will say whether it is worth it for your house.

When we would talk you out of it. A green wall often only needs cleaning and a biocide, not new render. We will tell you if that is all it is.

No rate per square metre, because the square metres are the easy part; what is already on the wall decides the price.

Getting to it. A two storey house with a drive takes a straightforward scaffold, while a house on the slope above the harbour, with a tall rear elevation over a stepped garden, needs a scaffold built for the ground. A bungalow gable comes off a tower, a three storey elevation wants a scaffold, and the platform has to stand for the whole system rather than a day. The work at height rules are why it is a priced line rather than something folded into a rate.

What is already on the wall. Rendering over sound brick is one job. Hacking off blown sand and cement, or a pebbledash that has parted from the background, is another, and it is the part nobody can see from the road. We tap the whole elevation before quoting, because the hollow areas set the hours.

The system, and what the wall behind it needs. Silicone thin coat over insulation, monocouche through-coloured, or traditional sand and cement all price differently and behave differently. On a solid wall that has to breathe, a plastic-rich modern system traps moisture and moves the problem inside, so the right system is a wall decision rather than a colour decision.

Comparing quotes for a Lilliput render? Ask which system is being quoted and how many coats, whether the old render is being hacked off or overlaid, whether beads, bellcast and stop ends are included, whether the scaffold is in the price, and what happens to the existing sills and pipework.

We cover Lilliput and all of BH14, along Sandbanks Road and Lilliput Road to Evening Hill and Salterns, and on to Whitecliff, Canford Cliffs and Penn Hill. BCP Council is the planning and building control authority, and our base in Boscombe is about five miles away.

You are dealing with Bournemouth Roofing & Building, the trading name of Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719, which you can look up in a minute. Thomas Hannen's business, and he is the one who comes out to price the job, not a salesman. A verified customer's 10 out of 10 on Checkatrade. The visit and the written quote are both free. Before you book a visit in Lilliput, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Most repairs in Lilliput need no application at all. What decides whether a change to the outside of your house does is who the council is, whether a conservation area or a listing applies, and whether the place sits in a protected landscape.