Blockwork outer skin - no render

[Tom84]

Hi All,

 

My first post - hopefully it can spark some discussion!

 

I am building a timber frame house, and have been advised that switching from cladding (various fibre-cement planks, hung tiles etc.) to a blockwork outer skin will open up a lot of lenders to be able to finance it. 

 

I'm on a penny pinching drive, and wondered if I could, for some large areas of wall which are not really visible, apply waterproof paint to the block external wall directly (rather than render), this would save a decent chunk. I can't see an issue given the cavity between timber and block wall will be ventilated anyway, but I do wonder what building control would think on it. 

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks,

Tom

 

[Russell griffiths]

You will need to use a fair face block which doesn’t have all the little dimples in it, painting onto standard concrete blocks will give it the appearance of a cheap garage. 
 

the time you have paid the extra for the blocks and the paint and painted it you could have had it rendered. 

[Mr Punter]

No.  Render and paint please.

[Mike]

A fair-face block is indeed what you need if you want to skip rendering, but most of them still have the appearance of a garage - just a posher garage. A true fair-face block won't be a problem for building control, but planning may well object. Much better to stick to painted render if you can.