Rendering in Woodlands, starting at the bottom

Where the render stops at the bottom. A render should finish clear of the ground on a bellcast bead, which kicks the face out so water drips off rather than running back behind the coat. Run into the soil and the render becomes a wick.

On the older properties in Woodlands the render often goes straight into a flower bed or a raised path, and that alone causes a lot of the damp on these walls. Approved Document C is the standard that deals with resistance to moisture from the ground, and the principle behind it is simply that the wall has to be able to stay dry at its base.

Ground levels and what sits against the wall. Part of a Woodlands job is often not render at all. A path laid over the old one, a bed built up against a bungalow, a soakaway discharging next to a gable: those get pointed out and noted on the quote, because re-rendering over them is spending money on the symptom.

Tapping and hacking off. Sound render rings and blown render sounds hollow. We tap the whole face of a Woodlands wall, take off what has parted, then clean down, prepare, stabilise anything dusty with a primer and cut a key where the background is too smooth. Brick spalled at the arris is cut out and made good before a basecoat goes near it.

The system on top. On a sound Woodlands cavity wall a silicone thin coat is the usual answer: primer, a mesh and scrim reinforced basecoat, then a through-coloured topcoat scraped or floated to a texture off a sample board. Monocouche suits a long plain bungalow elevation. Sand and cement still does for garages and plinths, and older acrylic and polymer rich finishes are the ones you find crazed.

Lime where the wall is old. A period Woodlands wall built pre-1919 is solid and breathable, and a plastic rich coat leaves moisture trapped in it, which on damp ground is the worst possible combination. Those elevations get a haired lime basecoat, a soft topcoat and limewash or a breathable mineral paint so the wall can dry through its face.

Insulation, cracking and staining. On a cold cavity wall, EWI, external wall insulation board with a render carrier and mesh, is worth pricing alongside a plain re-render, with Part L setting the thermal standard. Otherwise the routine faults are a crack wide enough to take a coin, a coat starting to delaminate around it, pebbledash or Tyrolean hiding both, and green algae staining a shaded elevation, which is a clean, not a render job, unless the wall behind is wet.

Measuring the wall is quick. Knowing what is under the old coat, and how the platform stands, is what fixes the figure.

The platform. On firm ground a Woodlands bungalow wall can be done from a tower. A two storey house on soft clay needs its scaffold standing on sole plates, and a back wall reached only through a side gate means carrying every bag. The scaffold stays up for the whole system, coat after coat, which is why the work at height rules put it on the quote as its own item.

The old coat. Many houses built here in the fifties and sixties still carry their original render, and on walls shaded by trees it tends to stay damp and blow first. Sound render can be patched and coated. Blown sand and cement, or pebbledash that has come away from the brick, has to be hacked off back to the wall, and that is slow, noisy and heavy.

The system. A through-coloured monocouche, a silicone thin coat and traditional sand and cement cost different amounts and behave differently. A pre-1919 cottage with solid walls needs to lose moisture outward, so lime usually suits it better than a sealed modern finish.

The details. Every bead, stop end, bellcast over the damp course and window sill adds hours.

Ask any rival quote which render and how many coats, whether the old coat comes off, and what the scaffold and beads add.

We render houses in Woodlands, Ashurst, Bartley, Netley Marsh and the other villages on the northern edge of the Forest, broadly SO40. Rendering that changes a building’s look is a matter for the National Park Authority, and insulated render also involves New Forest District Council building control.

Our base at 80a Wolverton Road, Boscombe, is 17.8 miles away. The work is done by Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, company number 15471719, registered in England and Wales. It is Thomas Hannen’s firm, and he prices every rendering job after tapping the walls himself. We have a 10 out of 10 on Checkatrade from a verified customer. The visit and the itemised written quote do not cost you anything. Before you book a visit in Woodlands, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Most repairs in Woodlands 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.