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Hi everyone, I’m having a small retaining concrete block wall rendered soon. Once it’s been rendered I will need to paint it. One of the chaps who came around to quote mentioned that I should prime the wall with a product before painting it as he said it will make it easier to clean. He even said you can use a pressure washer on it. Any ideas what the primer might have been or any other suggestions before I paint it? Many thanks, Ed

I'm trying to work out best option for external render onto an ICF woodcrete block (Isotex). Architect has recommended K Rend but their tech suppot does not seem to have experience of the woodcrete type ICF block and their recommended build up is based on a Polystyrene type ICF build. Has anybody used K Rend or similar on a woodcrete type ICF block? What basecoat/topcoat would work best?

I'm pleased to say finally we are insulated and have render. Credit to our plasterer who has been brilliant and done an amazing job. The colour is Ecorend marble white so is a very clean white looking colour rather than the yellow/grey looking off whites we saw but we like it. The plasterer came in the early hours before the sun as it was blinding trying to apply it in direct sun over the past couple of weeks. Once we have the aggregate round the house and plants etc I don't think it will look too crazy. Waiting for the anthracite guttering to be fixed on and some of the plastic work and roof edging needs some TLC and if I hear the word 'mastic' again - which seems to be the answer to everything cladding and plastic related I'll strangle the builder. Also need fan covers attaching and our lights putting on which should be next week. Thought I'd share these pics. We have started to apply Bitumen paint on the bricks below DPC and this has smartened up the area where the bedroom/dressing room is where it is the split level inside with steps and rooms are higher than the rest of the house. We haven't finished all the way around yet. Loving the front door now with the render. Despite it being black in a silver frame and the anthracite windows we think it looks fine. This is the back of the house into our utility with the stable door. The hose pipe isn't on the render it's fixed onto a galvanised post. Of course we still have lots of garden work to do, no double garage and no dressing room etc but prices so high we have shelved things for now. Probably the most exciting non-house related news is we bought a boat which took a chunk out of the house budget!

Hi there, looking for some advice on rough costs of block and render for a 1.5 storey self build, approx 13m x 6.5m. We’d originally planned to to timber cladding but I understand that getting mortgages for entirely timber clad houses can be tricky. We’re after a crisp, clean finish so might want to go with a silicone-based render, but happy to be advised otherwise! Thanks

Could someone advise me on what these red bricks are running along the front of my house wall? They look like vents maybe however i already have air vents at the bottom of the wall if you see the picture. I want to remove the red bricks but not sure if i should or not. All the houses down my street are the same style/design however mine is the only house with these odd red bricks vents. Please advise. Dean

We've finally approved the drawings for our timber frame house and the erection is slated for January. Time to order our windows. The supplier and the price are both sorted, but something that cannot be agreed upon is whether the windows are installed before or after the house is rendered. MBC and Velfac are adamant the property should be rendered first. Our renderer says not. What has everyone else done in this situation?

Any ideas how to render this off nice and neat to flat roof trim. Walls were built without considering the fall of the flat roof hence why roof timbers are above wall. Haven't managed to ask the plasterers yet.

Morning Chaps. I had the plasterer come to see me ..Nice chap ..seems to know his onions! And he was discussing the "first Fix" (Board up single side phase) ..and he rightly pointed out areas and edges that need battening and finished so he can lay good board ..so I made notes He told me that I would need 18mm ply here and there for strength ...which was good advice I guess and then was asking me questions about the Plumber, Chippy and Sparks and when they were coming in ...so obviously a planner..if not a little "picky" which i dont mind So Discussion was made of 2 part payments one for first Fix and second for Finish board and Skim... its a new build and I am not sure what really to expect for Finish and skim and whether it has changed a lot from the old days of Browning scratch coat and then that Thistleboard super-smooth one I remember when i left school and TRIED to be a good labourer I have been told it would be better for me to buy the materials as I could claim the VAT back on my build, SO I said fine ...but the Labour seems to be a VERY different between the 3 quotes i have had .... I know its hard to visualise ....but its not a MASSIVE house ...its 3 bedroom detached with the only WEIRD bits worthy of note is that: a) it has a Sunroom (5x3m) which is about 50% glazed area ..the rest will need plastering b) 2 of the bedroom ceilings are "vaulted" I know this "blue-skying" ....but what would you EXPECT to pay for labour only to board and skim ... Does anybody have a good guess for me ?

That's the thing about building a house; there are too many choices. And I'm at the bottom of yet another really steep learning curve. Hence this post. We need to render the internal space between the ceiling and first floor to make sure this area is airtight before we fit the POSIs. At this stage in our decision making process, I usually turn to the online version of SPONS and look at what's available. Comprehensive though the section on rendering is, there's no mention of rendering to provide simple air-tightness. For this small section, the look of the render and surface finish is irrelevant, and thickness is only important in so far as air-tightness is concerned. Waterproofing isn't relevant. I've come to understand that this process, however humble it may be, is key to keeping our future living cost down. So it's important to get it right. Could you just give me some starters to help me widen my research, please? So far I have Looked through SPONS for trade names and researched those that I found : Tyrolean Finish, Cement and sand, SIKA waterproof render, Sto External render, Armat Classic Basecoat, K-Rend. Done an internet search and come up with this interesting article: maybe we should simply render over an airtight membrane. Visited the GBF and read this article, but it's mainly about air-tightness tapes: it raises important issues though about finding plasterers who are keen on attention to detail. Knotty one that. Found out that there's stuff called undercoat plaster......... This hill is steeper than I thought. Ian