Sound the wall
Tapping across the elevation to find where the render is still stuck and where it has let go, then marking the real edge of the failure.
What render and roughcast repairs is, and when you need it
A render repair is not a filling job. If render is cracked, hollow or has come off, something put it there, and the repair has to deal with that or it comes back.
Black streaks running out of a crack mean water is getting behind the render and travelling. Bare stone showing through a gable means the coat has debonded rather than worn thin. A hollow note under the hammer means a section has let go even though it looks perfect. Those three things change what the job is, and they are worth finding out before anybody quotes you for it.
Finding the edge of the failure
The repair starts by sounding the wall and working outwards from the damage until the hollow note stops. That line, not the line of the visible crack, is where the cutting back goes to.
It is nearly always bigger than it looks. Cutting back to the visible damage and no further is the single most common reason a render repair fails again in the same place.
Gables, and why they go first
Gables fail before front walls do. They take the driving rain, they usually have no overhang to shelter them, and on an end terrace there is a whole elevation of them facing the weather.
A gable only job is a perfectly sensible thing to do and we do plenty of them. The honest part of the conversation is the colour: a renewed gable will not match a front wall that has weathered for twenty years, and on some houses that matters and on some it does not.
Repairs round new windows and doors
New frames nearly always take some of the dash out with the old ones, leaving a damaged band round every opening.
Those can be made good on their own, and on a back wall that is often the right answer. On a front elevation a ring of fresh dash round every window will be visible for years, so re-dashing the elevation is usually the better value even though it is more work.
How we do it
Start to finish
Find out what caused it
A blocked gutter, a failed sill, a bridged damp course or just an old coat at the end of its life. Repairing render over an unsolved water problem is money thrown at a symptom.
Cut back to sound work
Everything hollow or cracked comes off, back to the line we marked.
Rebuild the background
Stone made good, blockwork dubbed out, beads set where the repair meets the old work.
Backing and finish
Built back up in coats, finished to match the existing texture and aggregate as closely as the material allows.
Three ways to start
Ring, message, or send the details
Ring 07501 844432
You get Fraser. Tell him the wall and he will tell you what it probably needs.
Call nowSend a photo on WhatsApp
A photograph of the wall tells us more than a paragraph of description can.
Open WhatsAppSend us the details
Fill the form in at the bottom of this page with a photo or two and we will come back to you.
Go to the formPast work
Render and roughcast repairs jobs we have done
Dash made good round new windows, then re-dashed
Roughcasting and dry dash, Render and roughcast repairs
See this job
Failed render round a garage and balcony put right
Render and roughcast repairs, Smooth render
See this job
Stripped back to bare render, then fully re-dashed
Roughcasting and dry dash, Render and roughcast repairs
See this job
Pebble dash to cream render with stone surrounds
Smooth render, Render and roughcast repairs
See this job
Failed gable dash renewed in a golden mix
Render and roughcast repairs, Roughcasting and dry dash
See this job
Rear elevation re-dashed in white
Roughcasting and dry dash, Render and roughcast repairs
See this jobBefore and after
The same wall, both ways
Failed gable dash renewed in a golden mix. Drag the handle to see the before.
Dash made good round new windows, then re-dashed
Old brown dry dash patched round new windows and finished in white and black
Failed render round a garage and balcony put right
Cracked, black streaked render round a garage and balcony renewed
Stripped back to bare render, then fully re-dashed
Terrace stripped back to bare render and fully re-dashed in white
Pebble dash to cream render with stone surrounds
Brown pebble dash replaced with clean cream render and stone surrounds
Straight answers
Questions about render and roughcast repairs
There is one crack. Is that the whole job?
Possibly not. A crack is where the render failed first, not necessarily where it has failed. We sound the wall round it, and the hollow area is usually wider than the crack. We will show you where the line falls before anything comes off.
Why is there a black streak running down from the crack?
That is usually water getting in at the crack, running behind the render and bringing dirt and organic growth out with it. It is a sign the water has a path, which means the repair has to stop the path as well as fill the crack.
Will the repair match the rest of the wall?
The mix and the aggregate can be matched closely. Weathering cannot. On a gable or a rear elevation this is rarely a problem; on a front elevation it is worth deciding up front whether you would rather do the whole wall.
Can you repair someone else's render?
Yes. It makes no difference to us who put it on. What matters is what is behind it and how far the failure runs.
Get in touch
Get a price for putting your render right
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.