The Best Type of House Render?

 

With a world of possibilities to choose from when it comes to making your house look great on the outside, the decorative finish to go for can be an overwhelming decision.

Our range of house renders is growing, and with expansion comes the need for more information so that customers can make an informed choice about which house render is right for them!

Currently, our render range includes a set of thin coat and thick coat options. In the thin coat category, we currently offer Acrylic, Silicone, Silicone Silicate and Mineral, with (spoiler) more exciting options on the horizon set to hit the shelves in the coming months. As for our thick coat renders, we offer Monocouche and our Heritage Lime Render.

But why would you want to use a thin coat house render as opposed to just a plain old sand and cement render? What are the benefits of different types of house renders, and where can I buy house render?

We have all the answers to all of your questions, so keep reading for more info!

What Does a Thin Coat House Render do?

Thin coat house renders are as the name suggests. They are applied in an extremely thin layer over the top of a specially engineered basecoat, which is designed to work in conjunction with the render to optimise breathability and flexibility.

Thin coat renders, similar to house paint, are available in hundreds of different colours and a range of different textures (for a smooth or rough finish). When we talk about what kind of properties a specific thin coat house render can offer a customer, we are essentially referring to the formulation of the render and its resulting capabilities. Some of these capabilities include vapour permeability, breathability, self cleaning and mechanical resistance (strength).

Thin Coat House Renders and Flexibility

The universal property that a thin coat house render will offer, however, is flexibility. You may have seen a property with cracks in the external walls, and this is caused by a combination of factors including weathering and poor installation of the render, but most likely it’s because the render is not flexible enough to cope with the movements of the house.

The external walls of your home will expand and shrink during cold temperatures and hot temperatures. This is only a tiny amount, but if your house render isn’t flexible enough you can definitely expect to see cracking over time. This is particularly distressing when you’ve paid for a job to be done, and its lifetime is considerably shorter than you were originally expecting. 

When you use a thin coat render, you are guaranteeing flexibility purely because it isn’t applied in a solid, thick layer. The basecoat underneath the render also has fibreglass mesh embedded within it. Fibreglass mesh is really flexible and has high tensile strength, so as your house expands it will hold the basecoat together and prevent cracking of your thin coat render.

House Rendering | Silicone Render

Currently, our top of the range thin coat house render is our Silicone render. Silicone render offers unsurpassed breathability and vapour permeability (it will allow water vapour to escape through it, thereby preventing damp). The inverse of this is that it’s also hydrophobic, so there’s no chance of water getting in. Silicone render is also self-cleaning, so it’s definitely the house render to choose if your house is situated in an area where there are lots of trees and plant life.

House Rendering | Silicone Silicate Render

Silicone Silicate is very similar to silicone in that it offers excellent breathability and vapour permeability. The only real difference between the two is that Silicone Silicate will only offer a limited amount of resistance to organic growth. It’s therefore better suited to properties that do not require a high level of self cleaning capabilities.

House Rendering | Acrylic Render

Our Acrylic coloured render is our most impact resistant. This means that it is extremely strong and therefore great for if you have kids who are keen on kicking footballs against your wall. When rendering your house with Acrylic render it does mean that because of its strength you sacrifice the breathability aspect that silicone offers, so it’s really a balance between which is more important for your circumstances!

House Rendering | Mineral Render

Mineral render is a great choice if you live in a particularly harsh climate. Because of the fact that it’s fast drying, it can be installed in cold or humid conditions, however it does require painting with a silicone paint after it has dried to prevent the formation of lime bloom, which is essentially like a cement disease which makes your house render appear patchy.

Why Choosing the Right House Render is Essential

We always want our customers to make the right decisions and be happy with their finished product, which is why we aim to use these blogs as an informative tool. Choosing the right render is important to ensure a long-lasting finish that will look fresh and nice for the duration of its lifespan!

Approved Installers of Thin Coat House Render

Here at EWI Store, we have a database of installers who have passed our training sessions and have subsequently become approved installers. What this means is that once they are trained in the correct use of our materials and have proven themselves to provide the highest quality of work, we recommend them to our customers.

If you are interested in finding a local approved installer, simply fill out the contact form below and we will be in touch!

 

To learn more about the Rendering service in Brentwood we offer, please contact with us . We look forward to hearing from you soon!

6 Popular Types of House Rendering

 

When considering a house rendering that you want to apply to the outer walls of your home, you should be aware of the options that you have and which ones are best suited for your walls and home.

Below are just some of the most common renders available. Review them and then chat to a qualified professional about how to get started.

CEMENT RENDER

Cement renders are some of the most durable types of renders available. Stronger than a lime render, this sealed or painted render can provide additional support to a building when applied. It helps prevent the penetration of dampness or water through exterior walls.

Using a cement (most common is Portland cement) render is not recommended for an older home as it’s extremely rigid and could crack or break easily.

Cement renders are a popular option for builders and homeowners alike as they are a more cost-effective option compared to lime or polymer renders, cures quicker than most and is typically easier to apply. This is one of the most popular rendering options.

LIME RENDER

Sometimes referred to as a traditional ‘natural hydraulic lime render,’ or ‘NHL’ for short, this has been utilised on all types of buildings for many years. Of all the options available to your walls, this one provides the most breathable render product available, as it’s capable of expanding and contracting with the surface of whatever building it coats. This makes it one of the best choices for wooden or older buildings and surfaces.

POLYMER RENDER

This type of render is relatively new. White cement polymer renders utilises a silicone water repellent as an essential part of the rendering process. While it repels water easily on the surface, it still allows water vapour to pass through it and lets the substrate beneath it breath with ease.

This type of render could be used on most brick and wooden homes.

MONOCOUCHE RENDER

‘Mono,’ meaning one or singular and ‘couche,’ being French for diagonal, put together means, “single layer.” As a render, it provides protection from weather and adds decorative elements.

This modern type of rendering does not require a base coat and is often considered a good fit for new buildings and properties. Monocouche renderings are available in a wide range of colours through adding lime or polymer renders.

INSULATED RENDER

This special type of render is a type of ‘exterior wall insulation,’ or ‘EWI’ that can reduce your homeowner’s carbon footprint. Up to a third of a building’s heat can be lost through walls that aren’t insulated properly. When a wall has no room for a cavity wall insulation, such as buildings with solid walls, single skin walls, steel or timber framed walls, or prefabricated concrete panels, an exterior wall insulation or insulated render is often the best choice to insulate your home.

ACRYLIC RENDER

This render is only used as a finishing coat for previous renders. It contains aggregates, a material formed from fragments or particles loosely compacted together, for design purposes in order to provide a texture that isn’t flat. The size of the aggregates can vary, depending on the appearance you want to achieve. In addition, an acrylic rendering can be used to help seal the surface of the render and surface beneath it and can also be used to help hide alterations or unwanted defects.

When you’re looking to add some value to your home, consider have your house exterior rendered. Whether you’re looking to increase the monetary value or the structural value, this is an excellent option to ensure your home can weather the years ahead.

 

To learn more about the Rendering service in Brentwood we offer, please contact with us . We look forward to hearing from you soon!

7 Tips for Faster 3D Rendering

 

3D rendering is a miracle of modern technology, capable of everything from creating lavish gaming experiences to simulating real-world environments for businesses. Unfortunately, your setup might suffer from lag, or delays that make it aggravating to render anything—but there are some simple changes that can improve your performance.

Why Is 3D Rendering So Resource-Intensive?

Regardless of your application, 3D rendering is incredibly resource-intensive. This is partially because 3D rendering demands multiple components operating in unison, including your graphics cards, your RAM, your hard drive, and of course, the software you’re using. If even one of these components is off, your rendering speed could be negatively affected.

The problem is complicated by the fact that 3D rendering contains so much depth. Intuitively, you know that 3D rendering is more resource-intensive than 2D rendering because it multiplies your graphical needs by another factor. It also typically means you’re forced to render dense items, like textures, from scratch.

How to Decrease Rendering Times

So what steps can you take to decrease your rendering times?

1.       

1.      Upgrade your RAM. First, consider upgrading your RAM. Your PC’s random access memory is a fast type of memory that serves to temporarily store information your software needs in the moment and in the near future. Think of it as a holding cell or decompression chamber for your software’s information. If your RAM doesn’t have sufficient capacity, or if it has slowed over the years, you won’t be able to render things at high speed. Fortunately, swapping out your RAM is a relatively simple operation.

2.      Invest in better software. It could also be that the program you’re running is the root of the problem. Not all 3D rendering or design software is created equal; some have natural inefficiencies that lead them to render things slowly. Experiment with different apps to see if they all have the same delays; if they do, it means the problem lies with your machine.

 

---

 

 

---

 

1.      Tinker with your rendering settings. Your 3D rendering program likely comes with a ton of custom settings—most of which you’ve never touched. Sometimes, adjusting a few of these settings is all you need to speed up the rendering process. For example, you might reduce pre-comps, which require your pixel information to pass through many compositions before rendering to your hard drive. You can also trim certain layers, or use a different codec to make things smoother.

2.      Buy a better graphics card. Most 3D rendering programs heavily rely on your graphics processing units GPUs to form the user interface. If yours are insufficient, or if they’re aging, it may be time for an upgrade. Just like with RAM, this is a relatively simple swap that even someone without technical experience should be able to handle.

3.      Rely on a solid-state drive. There are two main type of hard drives—the previously standard hard disk drive (HDD) and solid state drive (SSD). SSDs are superior in most ways, allowing faster access times, offering greater reliability, and even using less power. The only downside is that they tend to be more expensive. If you want your machine to 3D render as quickly as possible, it’s definitely worth the upgrade.

4.      Close any other programs. This is a simple step, but it’s an important one that many designers miss: close out any other programs you have open. Each program open on your computer is occupying at least some computer resources, which all take away from your 3D rendering potential. While you’re at it, consider giving your machine a full shutdown and restart.

5.      Be selective with your effects. Part of the magic of 3D design and rendering is getting to add custom effects, which might add superior textures or make your design more realistic. However, if you’re trying to optimize for speed, these effects can hog your computer’s resources and bog things down. Be selective about which effects you apply, and consider the time cost as well as the visual advantages.

If you’re still having issues with your 3D rendering, it could mean there’s a problem with your software or files; ask other people running the same program on different machines if they’re experiencing the same issues. If not, it could mean your entire computer is due for an upgrade. It’s not a cheap solution, but it may be a necessary one if you want to reduce your 3D rendering times.

To learn more about the Rendering service in Brentwood we offer, please contact with us . We look forward to hearing from you soon!

HOW TO RENDER A WALL: A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE

 

Whether you attempt to do the work yourself, or hire a contractor, you need to understand the process so that you can plan it around the rest of your project.

1. PREPARING THE WALLS

Before a building is rendered, the walls should be surveyed, with repairs made to structural defects and any movement stabilised, otherwise the render finish is likely to fail. Any new finish is only as good as the wall behind it.

2. EXTERNAL DETAILS

External details such as bargeboards will often have to be removed, along with rainwater and soil pipes and other external details such as alarm boxes. Any vents will need to be extended, and sometimes window sills must be extended too. Metal stop and angle beads are then applied around the window and door openings and corners (or the edges of a terraced property) to provide clean edges for the render. The render system can then be applied.

3. INSULATION

Where external wall insulation is being applied before the render coat, this is usually in the form of rigid boards or slabs. The type of fixing needs to be selected depending on the type of wall — which is either mechanically fixed or glued to the walls.

4. CREATING A FOUNDATION FOR THE RENDER TO FIX TO

A fabric render mesh is then applied over the insulation, bedded into the first base coat layer of render. This mesh acts as a reinforcement against cracking. This is followed by one or two more thin coats of render, usually a primer and a topcoat.

5. BUILDING UP THE RENDER

Different proprietary systems are built up of different layers, using various forms of insulation, including expanded polystyrene (EPS), mineral fibre (Rock Fibre) and phenolic foam (more expensive but superior performance). Different types of render are also used with external wall insulation systems, depending on the application and the desired finish, including polymer cement, silicone and acrylic.

6. RENDER FINISHES

Thin coat render systems are designed to be self-coloured so that they don’t need painting. As well as a choice of colours, different finishes are also available, from very smooth to textured. If you have chosen rendering that needs painting, make sure you choose a weatherproof external paint.

Sandtex Ultra Smooth Masonry Paint in Pure Brilliant White, from £20 for 2.5L, used on this porch, is ideal for painting rendered surfaces as well as pebbledash, concrete and brickwork and if white’s not right for your home, there are 26 colours, too. The door is painted in Sandtex Exterior 10 Year Satin Paint in Seclusion, from £22 for 750ml.

(Image credit: Sandtex)

7. FINAL FINISHES

Finally, the external rainwater and soil pipes etc. can be reapplied. You can expect the total process to take around three to four weeks.

To learn more about the Rendering service in Brentwood we offer, please contact with us . We look forward to hearing from you soon!

How to render walls: a beginner's guide to rendering

 

Knowing how to render walls is a useful skill. Even more useful is knowing when your home needs rendering, and how much it will cost to get it done. And, ahead of spring is a good time to check so you can book someone in to do the work in better weather.

Changing and improving the exterior of your home is actually one of the most effective ways of adding value to your property, and new render is one of the cheapest ways of achieving this. You home’s exterior is the first thing that any visitors or potential buyers might see, so making sure it has got as much kerb appeal as possible is important, especially if the current exterior is in poor condition, or a mixture of different mismatched materials.

Render can be sand and cement or a flexible, breathable polymer modified render for homes with solid walls. It can hide poor-quality or mismatched brickwork on period properties, and create a sleek finish on modern homes. It can come self-coloured or be painted later. Render works well with masonry or timber cladding, to add architectural interest, and can be matched with external insulation to warm up a draughty home.

Find out how to render walls in this guide, and discover more ways to improve the exterior of your home with our essential guide

 

To learn more about the Rendering service in Brentwood we offer, please contact with us . We look forward to hearing from you soon!

GUIDE TO BASIC RENDERING

 

Plaster is coating a surface with cement render or plaster finish on an internal or external wall. Plaster is for decoration and protection of every building.

The role of external plaster is not only to primarily protect the covering structures of the building against the impacts of the external environment (rain, wind, sunshine), but also to provide thermal and sound protection of interior areas. For estimating your requirements please refer to our easy estimator or try our calculator located in the side panel.

·       RENDERING BASICS

Cement based renders on both internal and external walls perform a number of functions. These include better waterproofing, improved fire rating and an improved appearance through the use of coloured or textured renders.

To get the best results it is important that the mix is suited to the background surface, that it is properly applied to the correct thickness in the appropriate number of coats and that attention is paid to curing.

·       2

PREPARING THE SURFACE TO BE RENDERED

Before you start you need to ensure that the surface you are rendering is free from dirt, dust, oil, grease, paint, silicone or friable material. Smooth dense surfaces with low absorption rates like concrete or metal window frames should be prepared with a “dash coat” prior to application of the render.

A dash coat is simply a very strong mix of cement and water which is flicked over the wall or metal window frames creating a surface for the render to grip to. Allow the dash coat to dry for at least 24 hours before you start to apply the render.

Highly absorbant surfaces like sandstone will normally require soaking down to prevent water loss from the freshly applied render.

·       3

MIXING THE RENDER

Firstly you need to decide on the type of render finish you want. Using the chart below you can determine the correct mix ratios and roughly how much material you will require.

 

All render mix ratios are for standard cored clay bricks. All mix ratios are by volume e.g. gauging bucket. Only use good quality plastering sand.

When mixing renders by hand, measure the quantities carefully using the same gauge vessel for all ingredients.

Renders should be mixed on a hard flat surface (concrete slab) or a board, in a cement mixer or wheelbarrow.

Mix up enough render that can be used up in 30 – 40 minutes. If oxides are to be added, then you must follow the manufacturers’ guidelines.

Firstly combine all the dry materials until the colour is uniform. Add only small quantities of water at a time while continually mixing the render. The render should be soft putty-like state and should stick to the float when you turn it up-side down. If the render is too wet, do not use it - discard and start again.

·       4

APPLYING THE RENDER

As a guide for thickness you can nail wooden battens of the correct thickness vertically to the wall which also gives you a clean edge to work to.

Using your steel float, start forcing the first layer of render on to the wall. Keep applying the render until you have reached the desired thickness. Once the thickness has been reached, use a straight edge such as a metal leveler and screed off the render using a sawing motion. Gently trowel smooth with a steel float.

 

 

If you are applying more than one coat, you will need to let each coat dry for at least 3 – 7 days. You will then need to scour each coat with a sharp object to provide a good surface for the second coat of render to bond to.

 

·       5

FINISHING THE RENDER

A number of decorative finishing effects can be achieved using different finishing techniques on the final coat.

Trowel Finish - This is achieved by skimming the final coat using a wooden float to produce a smooth dense surface.

Bagged / Patterned Finish - This is achieved by rubbing a ball of damp hessian into the surface which produces patterns depending on the style of rubbing.

Sponge Finish - Mopping or sponging the hardened surface with a damp sponge achieves a sponge textured finish.

Care should be taken not to let water run down the wall spoiling the finish by washing the cement out of the render.

Roughcast Finish - Throwing and flicking the final coat onto the surface achieves a roughcast finish, no re-touching is carried out, the way it lands is how it looks.

Textured Finish - Textured finishes can be achieved by the addition of a coarser aggregate being added to the mix for the final coat.

·       6

HOT TIP

On days where the temperature exceeds 27oC, it is recommended that you either render early in the morning or late afternoon. If the job needs to be done during the heat of the day, slightly dampen the brickwork with a fog spray before placing the render. This will ensure that the bricks do not suck the water out of the render mix before it has time to adhere to the brickwork.

To learn more about the Rendering service in Brentwood we offer, please contact with us . We look forward to hearing from you soon!

How to Render a Wall

 

If you want to change the look and texture of a wall but don't want to paint it, you can render it instead. Wall rendering is the process of adhering a mixture of wet cement and sand to a wall with a trowel. Rendering gives the wall a solid cement look and can be used to cover up the existing wall material. If you follow the right procedures and use the right materials, you can render a wall yourself.

1

Chip away any old render and paint. Use a cold chisel that is just sharp enough to scrape, chip away any bumps, dripping render, paint, or mortar that's stuck to the wall. Sometimes the old render may flake off and you'll want to scrape it all away before applying the new render. Continue to chip away at the wall until the stone or brickwork is free of bumps.^[1]

2

Scrub down the wall with a stiff bristled broom. Work the broom over the surface of the wall, making sure to displace any dirt or debris that may be on it. Work away any organic material, like moss or mold, that may be growing on the wall. Continue to work the broom back and forth against the wall until it's clean.^[2] You can also add some soap to help break up the material.

3

Spray the wall down with a hose. Use a garden hose and spray down the surface of your wall. This will prevent the water in your rendering mortar from drying out. This is especially important when rendering highly porous materials like sandstone.^[3]

4

Lay down drop cloths around the wall. Drop cloths will prevent dripping render from falling and hardening onto the ground near the wall. Tape the drop cloths to the ground with tape so that it doesn't move around as you work. Laying down drop cloths will prevent you from having to chip away dripping render later.^[4]

·       If you don't have drop cloths you can use tarps, cardboard, or garbage bags.

 

 

To learn more about the Rendering service in Brentwood we offer, please contact with us . We look forward to hearing from you soon!