By Gordon Lee
The exterior walls on your home have seen better days, and they need a fresh new coat of render. After getting a couple of quotes, you’ve weighed up your options and decided to do it yourself. It’s a big step to take, and it’s important to remember that rendering as a form of plastering is a skill. It takes a skilled plasterer a long time to improve their skills so they can make the job look effortless. Below are some of the details of the process to better understand what you need to do.
The Rendering Process
The different steps of mixing, applying, and finishing the render are all reasonably lengthy, so we will outline them briefly for you to go away and utilise some of the wealth of how-to guides available online. The main steps from beginning to end are as follows:
- Prepare the surface – remove any loose debris or mould and scrub with a bleach solution.
- Correctly mix your first coat of render – if you don’t have access to a rendering machine, then a paddle attachment for a hand drill works well also.
- Apply first or scratch coat of render.
- Scratch the first coat using a scratching tool.
- Leave to dry for 24 hrs.
- After mixing the second coat, apply it to the wall.
- Float the topcoat with a floating tool.
- Finish with a damp sponge.
That’s the rundown on the steps that make up the rendering process, and now you are acquainted with what is required, it’s essential to equip yourself with the right tools to do the job.
The Right Tools for The Job
Being a skilled task, the tools used by plasterers or rendering are specific to the task at hand, and you must invest in the correct bits of kit. The equipment can be expensive, and if you are unlikely to use them again, you may want to consider renting them instead of buying them. However, if you do buy them, once the task is complete, you can always sell them as there is always a healthy market for second-hand quality tools online, so you should be able to get some of this money back. The essential tools to render successfully are:
- Stainless Steel Trowel – for smoothing and finishing the render.
- Square Notched Trowel – Used to apply an even coat of render.
- Bucket Trowel – Handy for scooping or distributing the render.
- A Hawk – to store the wet render when in use.
- Render and Sponge Floats – Used in the floating stage of the process.
- Mixing Buckets – Purpose made large plastering buckets work best.
- A scratching tool – For scratching the first coat.
- Straight edge tool or Spirit level – to make sure your surface is flat.
Using the Right Render
As well as the right tools, it’s also essential that your render has all the right ingredients, and it can take some time to make sure what texture and finish you want. You need to ensure you select the correct render and do your research before buying any of it until you know the finish and how it looks. Make sure you use proper plastering sand as normal sand isn’t up to the job, and also make sure your render has the correct waterproofers and cement to make up a good mixture that will apply well.
