Pebbledash is one of those relics from the 60s and 70s that has stuck around, unlike the dress sense. You can walk down almost any street in the country with older properties and you will see it. It is everywhere.
Unfortunately times have moved on, fashions have changed, and pebbledash is almost universally hated by everyone these days. But render lasts a very long time. Pebbledash lasts even longer. It is an incredibly strong, resilient system that will last many decades in most cases, as evidenced by how much of it remains on our walls to this day.
Are there any benefits of pebbledash?
One benefit is that you don’t need to paint pebbledash regularly like you do with a standard render. Great news because paint inevitably peels over time and deteriorates. Pebbledash just keeps on going. It is often used in exposed areas as it is extremely hard wearing.
How do you get rid of pebbledash?
So it is finally starting to crack or lift off the wall? Or perhaps you just hate it enough to get rid of it anyway. What are your options? The obvious answer is to get a new render job done on the property. But what does that involve?
Applying a product like EWI Pro’s OCDC over the top of the pebbledash before painting/rendering will give the entire property a smooth finish with minimal effort.
If you current pebbledash render is in a state of disrepair that makes this impossible, the only solution is to strip all that render off the wall to create a good smooth surface ready for the new render layer to be added. This is a really slow laborious job that takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears for a labourer, and you won’t get many people queuing up to do this. The very reason that makes pebbledash stay on the wall decade after decade also makes it really difficult to remove.
Don’t be surprised if you see costs to re-render at £80-100 per square meter. Most of that cost is in the stripping!
What other options are there?
The alternative would be to externally insulate the wall. The advantage of doing this is that you don’t need to strip it in most cases- just fix the insulation over the top.
Insulation carries a reduced VAT levy of only 5%, whereas render work will have a VAT rate of 20%, so by combining this saving with the saving from not stripping the insulation, you get a very competitive price that means insulating actually makes more sense than just rendering – that is without even considering the saving you will get from the insulation and the added comfort of living in a warm, comfortable home.
Can I get new pebbledash?
Some people may live in a street where everyone is pebbledashed, which means you would look a bit out of place with a smooth rendered finish. Or, you may actually like pebbledash (a bit like a person who gets an avocado bathroom in 2016!). We don’t like to judge, so we can actually install new pebbledash, or indeed pebbledash on top of insulation.
Is pebbledash making a comeback?
We certainly hope not! It’s a bit of a pain to install, and even harder to remove. Plus we think it just looks awful. Give us a call if you want to get rid of it. Along with our partners the EWI Store. We can insulate or re-render your property – however you see fit.
Installing solid wall insulation
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I need to replace a top terraced house window double glaze window, what would the approx cheapest price. Approx the same size as in your third advert under related blogs on guide to external walls installation. Nothing fancy
You can go over pebble dash with many renders. You can also have a stone or brick finish done over it. Have you seen Decopierre Stonecoat ? It even goes over external insulation so the walls can be returned to their original look.
I have Pebbledsh render on my garage which is steel interior. The pebbledash is awful. Can i use the stuff your suggesting ie Decopierre stonecoat over the top of the pebbledash to make it look better ?