Render Preferences (Wet Dash , Dry Dash, Textured)

[soapstar]

Hello Folks,

 

What is everyone's preference when it comes to render? It seems the options we are narrowed down to is wet dash which is our preference, then we have dry dash and finally textured (smooth?)

 

We like the look of wet dash as it seems a fool proof application which cant go wrong and is quite common here in Scotland. Our only worry being that one mans wet dash seems to be different to another, one house is never the same. I assume you can use different size chips in with the mix? I just worry we ask for wet dash and get a horrible lumpy texture like that you see on old fishing cottages for example!

 

Dry dash has put us off slightly simply due to the fact the stones falling off the wall! Still looks nice when new.

 

Textured looks very nice however can this be achieved without the need for special systems such as k-rend etc?

 

This inevitably brings us to 'K-Rend', they seem to boast there renders are far superior to that of the normal mortar renders. My builder opposes this and states its money wasted which could be spent elsewhere. I somewhat agree with this, does the extra cost really benefit us in the real world? It would seem there are plenty of houses which have had the 'old fashioned' methods applied and they are doing just fine...

 

Any thoughts or photos of examples would be great!

[Declan52]

It all comes down to what look you want.

Wet dash is bullet proof. Not the prettiest to look at but it seals the wall like nothing else and won't come off unless you hit it with a sledge. 

With a dry dash you can mix different aggregate to give it a different look. I have a dry dash on my house which contains some quartzite so when the sun shines the wall sparkles. But obviously you get some stones fall of the wall but after 5 years in mine your talking maybe a handful of aggregate so not worth talking about. 

K rend and other smooth types look very nice on modern type builds where they want a nice crisp clean white look. You can have issues if the plasterer doesn't put it on correct, same with every method to be fair. If you have plenty of trees or its shaded they can go green with algae but can be cleaned off if this happens. 

[the_r_sole]

where are you in scotland?

Wet dash for me is the most robust and durable, k-rend seems to go green very quickly on damp sites (i.e. most of scotland) wet dash is far more forgiving!

I recently did a smooth, lime finish but it's definitely not as sharp as the k-rend type of application

[soapstar]

5 minutes ago, Declan52 said:

It all comes down to what look you want.

Wet dash is bullet proof. Not the prettiest to look at but it seals the wall like nothing else and won't come off unless you hit it with a sledge. 

With a dry dash you can mix different aggregate to give it a different look. I have a dry dash on my house which contains some quartzite so when the sun shines the wall sparkles. But obviously you get some stones fall of the wall but after 5 years in mine your talking maybe a handful of aggregate so not worth talking about. 

K rend and other smooth types look very nice on modern type builds where they want a nice crisp clean white look. You can have issues if the plasterer doesn't put it on correct, same with every method to be fair. If you have plenty of trees or its shaded they can go green with algae but can be cleaned off if this happens. 

 

Perhaps we are a little premature with presuming the stones will all fall off! 

4 minutes ago, the_r_sole said:

where are you in scotland?

Wet dash for me is the most robust and durable, k-rend seems to go green very quickly on damp sites (i.e. most of scotland) wet dash is far more forgiving!

I recently did a smooth, lime finish but it's definitely not as sharp as the k-rend type of application

We are in the north east, Aberdeenshire, about half mile from the coast so can get a fair bit of wind/rain etc in the winter. Close to trees also at one side so perhaps k-rend wouldn't be great for us anyway?

 

I assume wet dash can be painted?

[dpmiller]

@Declan52 is there any way of getting that clean blueish-grey that the local wetdash tends to be, in a rubbed up coat?

[Declan52]

6 minutes ago, dpmiller said:

@Declan52 is there any way of getting that clean blueish-grey that the local wetdash tends to be, in a rubbed up coat?

The blue tinge comes from the aggregate that is used so not sure how to do that in a rubbed up plaster. If you use a dye it will eventually lighten up with the sun hitting it and you could have different colours on 3 sides of your house. 

[nod]

We have a dry dash job to start in a couple of weeks 

I can’t remember the last one 

Mostly wet dash nowadays 
 

Just for information 

5-7 colored chipping £5 per bag 

1.5m2 per bag 

[soapstar]

6 minutes ago, nod said:

We have a dry dash job to start in a couple of weeks 

I can’t remember the last one 

Mostly wet dash nowadays 
 

Just for information 

5-7 colored chipping £5 per bag 

1.5m2 per bag 

 

Thanks.  Can you confirm the different options with Wet Dash? I assume the texture is changed by using different size chips?

[nod]

3 minutes ago, soapstar said:

 

Thanks.  Can you confirm the different options with Wet Dash? I assume the texture is changed by using different size chips?

The dry dash is where the stones are hurled onto a top coat dry 

Wet dash is similar but the stones are mixed in with the cement and hurled on in a runny concrete type mix 

 

In the Lake District we are usually asked to either use white cement and silver sand with limestone clippings to give an off white finish 

or granite chippings to give a blueish green finish 

 

Most of the modern houses use a k dash Lots of colours Can be sprayed on 

 

not great pictures 

but this is one we finished over lockdown Left natural colour

[Simplysimon]

6 hours ago, soapstar said:

I assume wet dash can be painted?

not something you want to start doing, as @nod says k rend dash will be self coloured

 

4 hours ago, soapstar said:

I assume the texture is changed by using different size chips?

you can use any size stone from whin chips (small) to larger granite or a smooth one like a dry dash. if you intend to paint it go for a smooth stone, you really, really don't want to paint whin...

[recoveringbuilder]

We had wet dash on our last house, messy job and we wanted it white which it didn’t turn out, more of a dirty white, not as bad as a chap nearby mind, his was pink ! We eventually painted it white which would be about 6 years ago and it’s still looking crisp.

[nod]

5 minutes ago, Christine Walker said:

We had wet dash on our last house, messy job and we wanted it white which it didn’t turn out, more of a dirty white, not as bad as a chap nearby mind, his was pink ! We eventually painted it white which would be about 6 years ago and it’s still looking crisp.

Wet dash is the most durable of all the render finishes 

[recoveringbuilder]

1 minute ago, nod said:

Wet dash is the most durable of all the render finishes 

Yes definitely agree, I think it depends on the style of house right enough, we don’t have it this time as it just wouldn’t have suited the modern style.

[soapstar]

Are there any real life examples of the cost differences between say k-rend and a comparative traditional render (for example wet dash k-rend / traditional wet dash)? I will be getting quotes however it would be good to know if im getting taken for a ride! ?