What Is Roughcasting, and How Is It Different From Harling or
Four words, two methods, and a lot of confusion when you are getting quotes. Here is what each one actually me
Read thisWhy no figure on this page
A rate times the wall area would be the easiest thing in the world to put here, and it would be close to useless. The area of the wall is rarely what the job turns on.
Two houses of exactly the same size can be a straightforward re-dash and a full strip with the background made good, and those are not the same job or anything like the same price. The honest version is to tell you what moves it so you can judge any quote you get, including ours.
How much of the old coat has to come off
This is the big one. A sound wall that wants a new finish is one job. A wall that has debonded across two elevations is another, and the only way to tell them apart is to tap the wall and listen: sound render rings, render that has let go sounds hollow.
A wall can look perfect and be hollow across half of it. That is why we sound it before quoting and show you where the line falls, rather than finding it on day two with scaffold up and a changed price.
Access
A bungalow off a wide drive and a three storey townhouse over a conservatory need different access and different days on site. Scaffold is a real cost and on some jobs it is most of the first day's work.
How many elevations are on show from the road matters too, because a gable nobody sees and a front elevation are held to different standards whether anyone says so or not.
The background, and what is hiding in it
Bare stone showing through, blown areas, openings where frames have been changed, old vents and blocked up windows all add work before any finish goes near them.
Stone, block and brick each want a different build up, and a house that is part one and part another is the awkward version.
The finish you choose
A plain white dry dash, a speckled black and white, a golden mix and a through coloured smooth render are not the same material cost, and the labour differs too: smooth is less forgiving than dash and the levelling takes longer.
How to read a quote
Ask what happens if more of the coat is hollow than expected, and get the answer before anybody starts. Ask whether scaffold is in the price. Ask what the finish is, by name, and ask to see a wall they have done in it.
A firm that prices a re-dash over the phone without seeing the wall is guessing, and a guess is usually low until they are standing on it.
Want somebody to look at yours? Ring 07501 844432, or send a photograph of the wall on WhatsApp. If it is not a job for us we will say so.
Straight answers
Questions on this
Why will you not give a price over the phone?
Because the number turns on how much of the existing coat has let go, and that cannot be heard down a phone. We can tell you what it depends on, and we will come and look for nothing.
Is a quote the same as an estimate?
Not really. We would rather look at the wall and give you a figure we will stand behind than an estimate that moves once the scaffold is up.
Does the time of year change the price?
Not the price, the timing. Render does not go on in a frost or into driving rain, so winter work is planned around the weather.
More guides
Other things worth knowing
Is It Worth Removing an Artex Ceiling?
Usually yes, and almost never by scraping it. Here is how the decision actually goes.
Read thisSkimming or Replastering: Which Does Your Wall Need?
One is a tidy day and a thin coat. The other is a skip. Which you need is decided by tapping the wall, not by
Read thisGet in touch
Tell us about the wall
Tell us what the wall or the room looks like now and we will come back to you with a price and a straight answer about what it needs.
Call us for your instant, no obligation quote
07501 844432. Or send a photo of the wall on WhatsApp.