External rendering in Farehamthat holds tight through Solentsalt, wind and rain.
Silicone, monocouche and traditional sand-and-cement render systems specified for coastal Hampshire weather. Insurance-backed, mesh-reinforced, finished with the manufacturer's full system warranty.
Permaguard accredited · 30 yrs Hampshire weather · Full manufacturer warranty
- 300+Houses rendered
- 30+ yrsSteve on the tools
- 24 hrQuote turnaround
- InsuredPublic liability cover
What this service is, and who it's for.
What it is
External rendering is the protective and decorative coat applied to the outside of a building - typically a basecoat, embedded glass-fibre mesh, then a coloured topcoat. Done correctly it shields the masonry from driven rain, locks the wall thermally, and lifts the kerb appeal of the property by a generation. Done badly it traps water against the wall and rots the brick behind it.
Who it's for
Owners of 1930s pebble-dash houses whose render is now blown or stained, buyers of mid-century semis upgrading kerb appeal before sale, self-builders specifying render on a new shell, and landlords trying to consolidate a multi-coloured row of brick repairs into one clean facade.
When you need it
When render is hollow when tapped, when hairline cracks have widened into stepped fractures, when pebble-dash has lost stones across a panel, when rain staining tracks down below windows, when the existing render has been painted so many times it's holding moisture, or when you're extending and need the new shell tying into the old elevation.
Why professional matters
Render is one of the few trades where the wrong product on the wrong wall causes the structural problem you were trying to prevent. Sand-and-cement on a solid Victorian wall traps damp and accelerates brick decay. Silicone over an unprepared monocouche fails inside three years. Mesh skipped at openings cracks within one winter. Choosing the right system for your wall is most of the job.
What happens when these problems are left.
Cracking that lets water into the wall
Once a hairline crack opens to a fingernail width, every Solent rainstorm pushes water in behind the render. It freezes, expands, and pops more render off. Left a winter or two, you lose whole panels - and the brick behind them goes soft.
Pebble-dash that's lost its stones
Bald patches in pebble-dash aren't cosmetic - they're the basecoat exposing, weathering and crumbling. The longer you leave it the more of the wall you eventually have to replace, not just re-stone.
Render painted year after year
Each layer of masonry paint reduces the wall's ability to breathe. Trapped moisture eventually pushes paint and render off together in sheets. Stripping back and re-coating with a breathable silicone system fixes the cause.
DIY render bridging the DPC
Render run down across the damp-proof course is one of the most common causes of "sudden" rising damp inside. We see it on a quarter of our re-render jobs. Correct bell-cast bead at the base solves it permanently.
Mismatched repairs after extension work
Patches around new windows, around bay extensions, around removed chimneys - all visible from across the road if the original render isn't fully redone. A unified re-render gives you one elevation, not a patchwork.
How the job actually runs, step by step.
- 01
Survey & system specification
We walk the elevations, sound-test for blown areas with a small hammer, check moisture, photograph existing defects and specify the right system (silicone, monocouche, or traditional sand-cement) for the substrate. Written quote with the manufacturer named.
- 02
Scaffold, prep & beads
Scaffold up, plants and paths protected, existing render hacked off where blown. Window and door reveals beaded, bell-cast bead set above the DPC, stop beads at junctions, mesh corner beads at every opening.
- 03
Basecoat & full mesh embed
Polymer-modified basecoat applied at the manufacturer's specified thickness with a full sheet of alkali-resistant glass-fibre mesh embedded across the whole wall - not just at corners. This is what stops the cracking.
- 04
Topcoat application
Coloured silicone, silicone-silicate or through-coloured monocouche topcoat applied at correct thickness in continuous panels, edges kept wet so the joins don't show. Texture worked consistently across the whole elevation.
- 05
Snag, scaffold strike & warranty
We snag the job ourselves before you see it, strike the scaffold, clean the site, and hand you the system warranty paperwork from the render manufacturer.
What you actually get.
Decade-plus weather defence
Modern silicone systems carry 15–25 year manufacturer warranties when installed to spec. We install to spec.
Self-cleaning facades
Silicone systems shed rain and dirt rather than absorbing it - your walls stay looking new for years longer than masonry paint.
Real kerb appeal lift
Buyers respond strongly to a clean, modern rendered elevation. Estate agents in Fareham routinely tell us it's the single highest-ROI exterior upgrade.
Bridges old patches & repairs
Decades of brick repairs, mismatched re-pointing, removed chimney scars - all disappear under one consistent finish.
Breathable wall systems
Silicone-silicate finishes let moisture escape from the wall while keeping driven rain out - the right physics for Solent weather.
Insurance-backed warranty
Through approved installer schemes you get a written warranty from the manufacturer that follows the property, not just us.
The materials, methods and situations.
For homeowners, specifiers and surveyors who want to know exactly what they're commissioning.
Render systems we install
K Rend silicone, Weber silicone-silicate, Parex monocouche, Permarock through-coloured systems, and traditional sand-and-cement render with a coloured silicate topcoat. We specify based on the substrate, the exposure rating of the elevation, and the look you want.
Methods
Mechanical hack-off of blown render to sound substrate, EML (expanded metal lath) bridging across dissimilar substrates, full mesh-embedded basecoat at 6–8mm, then 1.5–3mm grain topcoat depending on texture chosen. Scaffold rather than ladders on anything two storeys or above - non-negotiable.
Variations of the service
Full house re-render, single-elevation refresh, render repair and over-render of sound existing work, render on insulation (EWI) systems, render over new blockwork on extensions, and decorative render bands or quoins for period-style detailing.
Situations it applies to
Coastal Gosport and Stubbington properties facing salt-laden onshore wind, exposed north-facing elevations in Fareham and Portsmouth taking the brunt of driven rain, render over rough cast pebble-dash on 1930s semis, and modern blockwork extensions needing the basecoat-and-topcoat treatment from new.
Residential vs. commercial
Residential work is scaffold-and-finish on detached, semi or terrace properties, usually 1–2 weeks. Commercial render - schools, retail units, light-industrial - runs to phased programmes with traffic management, sometimes night scaffold strikes, and stricter colour-match tolerances. We price both, but we never under-spec the commercial side to win the job.
Honest answers to the questions we get most.
How much does external rendering cost in Fareham?
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A typical 3-bed semi in Fareham comes in around £6,500–£11,500 for a full silicone re-render including scaffold, depending on storey count, prep work needed and elevations exposed. We give a fixed written price after a site visit - no surprises mid-job.
How long does a render job take?
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Most semis run 7–14 working days on site, weather-dependent. Larger detached or three-storey properties can run 3–4 weeks. We share a day-by-day plan so you know exactly when scaffold goes up, when prep happens, when topcoat goes on, and when we're off site.
What's the warranty?
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Silicone and monocouche systems carry 15–25 years from the manufacturer when installed by an accredited installer.
Can you render in winter?
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Topcoat application has a minimum temperature window (typically 5°C and rising). We work through winter on prep, beading and basecoat, then stage the topcoat for the right weather. We never apply finish coats below the manufacturer's spec - it ruins the warranty and the wall.
Do I need scaffold?
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Yes for almost every render job. Ladders aren't safe or quality-feasible at height - render needs continuous wet edges across a panel, which you can't get hopping ladder to ladder. Scaffold is included in our quote.
Can you render over existing render?
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Sometimes - if the existing render is sound, well-keyed and free from blown areas. We hammer-test it and tell you straight. If more than 20% is blown, it's cheaper long-term to fully strip and start clean.
What colours can I have?
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Silicone systems come in essentially any RAL or BS colour - we send you a sample board for sign-off before mixing. Lighter colours weather more cleanly in Hampshire; dark colours on south-facing walls can develop thermal stress cracks.
Will it stop my damp problems?
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External render done correctly massively reduces driven-rain penetration. But if the damp inside is rising damp or condensation, render won't fix it - we'll tell you honestly which problem you have before quoting.
Often booked alongside this work.
Local to you across Hampshire.
Can't see your village? Call 07907 511080 - we cover the surrounding ring as well.
Render that survives the Solent. Quoted within 24 hours.
Free site visit, written specification naming the system and warranty terms, no hard sell.
Checkatrade · Permaguard · Fully insured · 30+ years on the tools