Cement Rendering Costs

Cement rendering is an ideal way to spruce up the interior of your home and leave it looking fresh and new. It will also add value to your home and make it more attractive to buyers if you are thinking of selling.

Want to know how much it will cost?

Have a look through our guide and find out all you need to know about the costs of cement rendering below!

We can also put you in touch with cement rendering experts in your area so that you can get at least three quotes for the job.

How Much Does Cement Rendering Cost?

We’ve written this guide with you in mind. We want to give you the most up-to-date information on cement rendering costs so that when the time comes to pick a professional, you’ll know who is quoting a fair price.

You can pay anywhere between £30 to £50 m², depending on the size of your home and the area you want rendering.

Cement Render Prices

These cement rendering costs are average prices. The cost to render a house will depend on where you live in the UK. Prices in London and the South East are higher than in the North of England or Scotland. These costs include labour.

Types of Cement Rendering

Once you have decided to use cement rendering, you can choose between a smooth, textured, or patterned finish.

Smooth Finish

A smooth finish is created in even layers. But a smooth finish will require painting afterwards.

Textured Finish

Textured finishes are popular when using cement render. A textured finish is normally already coloured, and the surface of the render is scraped to remove some of the surface.

Patterned Finish

Pattern finishes are made by hand and, as a result, produce a one-off effect that can’t be repeated. It is popular in country cottages.

What are the Benefits of Cement Rendering?

Cement rendering protects your exterior walls and, therefore, increases its lifespan. It will also reduce your energy costs because your home will be more energy efficient.

It may also increase the value of your property as the exterior will look clean and well-cared for.

Render Patch Repairs

If you don’t need to renew your render, then it is possible to carry out patch repairs. The most common types of repairs are to make good cracks that have appeared in the render or to re-paint discoloured parts.

If you notice cracks appearing in the render, then it’s important to fix it as soon as possible. Cracked render can let in water, which will cause damp and mould.

The only disadvantage to making repairs is the colour match. Your repair might be a slightly different colour to the original render, but the benefits of repair outweigh the aesthetics in this case.

A tradesperson will charge between £15 to £30 per m² to repair the damaged render, so the total cost will depend on the amount of render that needs fixing. Painting discoloured render will cost, on average, £20 per m².

Additional Costs

There are several other costs you must take into consideration when you decide to cement render your home. Don’t forget to add any extras to your budget.

Removal of Old Render

You must have the old render removed before you apply a new render unless you are going to apply external wall insulation. Have a look at the costs of removing old rendering in the chart below:

Wall Insulation

If you want to avoid the cost of having your old rendering removed, you can have external wall insulation installed. The cost will be more than to render removal. But you have the advantage of an extra layer to your walls. This means improved heat retention, a lower risk of damp and reduced energy bills.

Wall insulation can go over your old rendering even if it isn’t in good condition. But it does mean that you have to use a thin-coat render, and Cement will be too heavy. The cost of wall insulation depends on the size of your property, but you can see from the chart below what the average cost is and how it compares with render removal.

Repairing Poor Brickwork

If, once the old rendering has been removed, you find that your brickwork is in poor shape, then you may have to re-point or replace the bricks.

You may be able to source reclaimed bricks. Look online to find a company in your area. Otherwise, new bricks are between 0.82p and 0.96p at a DIY outlet like Wickes. Handmade or glazed bricks will cost around 3p per brick new or around £1.20 reclaimed.

Repointing costs depend on the amount of work that needs doing, but the average cost is between £23 and £47 an hour. Although some brickwork experts work per M² with prices ranging between £45 and £60 per M².

Scaffolding Installation

Scaffolding will likely be required to remove and renew the cement render. Scaffolding hire starts at around £20 per M² in cheaper areas, but it can go up to £25 if you live somewhere that’s more expensive. Hiring scaffolding for a week will cost between £200 and £800, depending on the size of your property and the amount of scaffolding you need to fit.

Skip Hire

Removing old rendering is a messy task and you will need a skip to get rid of the rubbish. To hire a 6-yard skip, which is ideal for building clearance, you can expect to pay around £200, depending on where you live in the UK. London and the south of England may be more expensive. Skip hire isn’t cheap, so make sure you hire the right size. The staff at the skip hire company should be able to advise you.

Painting

Cement rendering will need painting after it is installed. The average painter will charge a day rate. In London, this may be around £300 to £400. Outside London, a painter can charge between £150 to £200. On top of that, you will have to pay for the paint.

An average-sized house will use between 30 and 50 litres of masonry paint. The cost of paint per litre is, on average, £4.50 a litre. That means paint for the average home will cost a total of between £135 and £225.

Choosing a More Expensive Render

If you want to have your exterior walls insulated, you might have to use a different type of render. Here are the other types you can choose:

• Acrylic Render
• Lime Render
• Polymer Render
• Silicone Render
• Monocouche Render

Rendering Guarantees

Most manufacturers will supply a guarantee or warranty with their product as long as it has been applied correctly. Some manufacturers will give a crack-free guarantee for several years.

But, the product must be purchased directly from the manufacturer and applied by an approved contractor in most cases.

Are There Ways I Can Reduce the Cost of Cement Rendering?

If you are a competent DIY enthusiast, you may want to tackle the entire project yourself. But you will need the time, energy, materials and tools. Hire charges for scaffolding and skip hire won’t change because you are doing the work yourself. But you could save between £1,500 and £8,000 by removing the old rendering on your property. You could also get a discount from a tradesperson if you assist them with the work.

Rendering your property does take skill and experience, so we recommend that you hire a professional for the job. If you feel you tackle it, though, then you’ll save money on labour costs. You’ll still need to pay for materials, tool hire, scaffolding and/or skip costs.

The cost to cement render a house depends on the size of your property. But to buy cement render mix, you’ll be looking at costs between £10 and £15 per m².

This is the average cost for cement render mix, which you can buy ready mixed. But you can also buy concrete and sand separately. Some building material shops will provide a discount for bulk buying, which can reduce the price.

Do Your Own Painting

Cement rendering does require painting after it’s been applied. You could paint the render yourself, which will save you labour costs of around £25 an hour, which is the cost of a painter and decorator.

Masonry paint costs between £30 and £47 for a coverage of between 12 and 16 m²/ltr

How is Cement Rendering Applied?

Before any work is carried out, the exterior wall will need to be prepared. You will need to remove any damaged or loose mortar from the brickwork or remove the old render. The wall will then need brushing to remove any dust, dirt, and debris.

Once the wall is prepared, you can mix the render mix with water at the specified ratios to obtain the correct consistency.

Render is then applied to the wall using a rendering machine or a trowel. You should start at the bottom of the wall and work upwards.

Once the whole exterior is covered, leave it to dry for a few hours, and then apply a second coat.

After the second coat, finish off the render so that the surface is smooth and even. Then, leave the render to dry.

Planning Permission and Building Regulations

If you live in a conservation area or have a listed building, you will need to apply for planning permission. But if you live in a standard home outside a conservation area, planning permission isn’t required.

However, if you are planning to install new rendering or re-render more than 25% of an exterior wall, then building regulations may apply. This is because exterior walls need to have a certain U-value for insulation. If your exterior walls don’t meet standard standards, then you will need to install insulation.

The best way to receive up-to-date information about building regulations is to visit the appropriate department at your local council offices. Explain what you want to do to your home, and they will advise you whether or not building regulations apply in your case.

If building regulations do apply, the council staff will let you know what needs to be done and if there are any fees you need to pay. They will also give you the forms to fill out.

Finding a Tradesman to do Your Rendering Work

If you log into our website, you can enter your postcode and then tell us the type of tradesperson you need and answer some questions about the job you want to do. You’ll then get up to 3 quotes from tradespersons in your area. It’s best to get 3 quotes so that you can compare each one.

When you speak to the rendering specialists, ask them if they have a website or photographs of work they have completed. Reading customer feedback will also help you to make a decision.

It’s also important to ask a few questions. First of all, find out if the contractor has any experience rendering properties. It may be a new company with a person fresh from training, so this is worth finding out.

Ask them if they arrange for scaffold and/or skip hire or if you’ll need to organise this yourself. Also, ask the contractor if they possess third-party liability insurance. If they do, it means that both the contractor and you will be protected if any accidents occur.

The insurance will take responsibility for any claims you make against the contractor in the case of any damage or injury that was caused whilst the rendering work was being carried out.

It’s also an idea to ask how long the job is expected to take and how many people will be involved in the work. If you want to save money by helping the contractor with part of the work, talk to them about this at the quotation stage.

Finally, ask about any guarantees and warranties that come with the rendering work and make sure you are given the documents with the warranty details when the rendering work is complete.

FAQs

Sources

https://mac-rendering.com/rendering/sand-and-cement-render/
https://midrender.co.uk/how-much-does-it-cost-to-remove-render-from-a-house/