In the postwar years, pebbledash was very popular for exterior surfaces. It was often used to conceal unsightly repairs or as a cheap alternative to repointing. Today, pebbledash homes appear very dated and drab, and people want to know how to improve the appearance.
They want a smooth finish or to reduce the texture of their pebbledash, spar dash, or rough cast surfaces. These surfaces can be rendered over, but the existing render must be strongly adhered. First, the condition of the existing pebbledash must be assessed, and if there are areas that are not adequately adhered, they must be hacked off and repaired. This would require a lot of cleaning and preparation work to ensure that any render applied will bond properly. Currently, if at least a quarter of a wall needs to be hacked off, then the insulation of the wall needs to be upgraded.
It is possible to damage the brickwork underneath when hacking off soundly adhered existing render. We recommend the render be removed as sympathetically as possible but there is always a risk of damage occurring, and the better adhered the render is and the softer the underlying brickwork, the greater the risk. Bricks can be replaced by individually cutting them out and putting in new ones, but that can be time-consuming and expensive.
If the property has two or more stories, scaffolding would be required in order to carry out any repairs and prepare the surface properly for the new render. There are a range of different renders and finishes that we can be applied in a vast range of colours.