The cost to render a house typically ranges from £2,500 to £8,500 depending on a variety of factors.
In this guide we will be considering house rendering costs and the factors that might affect them.
Rendering the outside of our homes is an increasingly popular exterior design choice. It allows you to choose from a range of colours specifically to make your own stamp on your home’s exterior.
Rendering an external wall also increases it’s fire resistance rating meaning that an external fire can be extinguished faster. It also makes the walls more durable and therefore better protected from damp and condensation effects.
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Contents
How much does house rendering cost?
House renderers will quote based on the job size and the amount of labour required to complete it.
Property type | Approx cost | Approx timescale |
Small bungalow | £2,000 – 3,500 | 4 – 7 days |
Terraced house | £2,500 – 4,000 | 5 – 8 days |
3 bedroom house | £3,000 – 6,000 | 5 – 8 days |
4 bedroom detached house | £6,000 – 8,500 | 8 – 14 days |
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Factors that will impact your house rendering cost
Location
As with any trade, homeowners in London and the south-east can expect to pay more for a daily rate than those elsewhere in the country.
Size of property
Quite simply, the bigger the job, the higher the quote. Rendering a whole house compared to a garden wall or just the front of your home is going to take longer, require more labour and materials therefore naturally incur higher costs.
Some people are now opting for only the front of their property to be rendered, or using a mix of brick or wood and render.
This can look very striking and reduce costs compared to rendering the whole exterior of your property.
Scaffolding
You should expect to pay around £500 per week for scaffolding, depending on location.
It is likely that you will need to employ the services of a scaffolder for any exterior work that involves heights, such as a full double-storey render.
You may need to organise this yourself, or your rendering company may be able to recommend a company to you.
Costs will vary depending on ease of access, location, duration of job and availability.
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Insulation
When at least half of your home’s walls are being rendered you are required to add insulation. Cavity walls may be filled, or plaster boards added, and this will incur additional render costs.
Harder to heat homes may particularly benefit from an external wall insulation system.
This involves a process of fixing insulation boards to the outside of the property before adding mesh reinforcement, a base coat of render and a decorative finish.
The layering allows for a more robust defence against the loss of heat through your walls.
Render itself improves a home’s thermal properties as an additional layer is being added to the external wall structure. It helps to stop heat from escaping from inside. Insulating render can further increase this benefit.
The Great British insulation scheme provides more information about support that may be available to insulate your home.
Design complexity
The average 3 bedroom house will cost between around £4,000 – 7,000 to pebbledash and take around 6 – 10 days to complete.
Any special finishes such as brick effect or pebble dash will require a higher level of detailed craftsmanship that will take longer to complete than a smooth finish, increasing labour costs. They are also more difficult to maintain.
Brick effect render can be used to provide all of the benefits of a breathable, insulating render with the same visual impact of brick.
A range of colours are available. After application the brick effect is created using careful measurements and timing.
Types of render and their cost
Type of render | Properties | Cost per m² |
Cement | Strong and cost-effective but can crack easily on older homes. | £11 |
Lime | Most suitable for older properties as it is breathable, allowing trapped water to evaporate and prevent damaging effects of damp or condensation. Allows for more flexible movement than cement or monocouche renders. |
£23 |
Monocouche | A single layer cement based render with a colour pigment mixed through. It does not require a base coat and is a popular choice because it can be manipulated to make specialist finishes such as brick effect. It is water resistant but not crack resistant so unsuitable for use with older walls more prone to movement. |
£40 |
Polymer | Uses silicone to make render water repellent on the outside therefore allowing water vapour to escape the home. | £34 |
Acrylic | A resin based coat that is durable, flexible and weather resistant. Not suitable for older properties as it is not breathable. |
£34 |
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Labour costs will be incurred on top.
How much does it cost to render a garden wall?
The approximate cost for rendering garden walls may be between £25 – 40 per m².
Rendering is becoming an increasingly popular method of protecting and ‘finishing’ garden walls as well as the exterior of our homes.
Often people opt to have the same colour added to their garden walls as they have chosen on the exterior of their homes to provide an impressive ‘curb-appeal’.
It is advised to install the lighting before you get an external wall rendered of the garden. Depending on the height of the wall, you might need a small amount of scaffolding.
The job can also been done at the same time as your house render if you wish, and can be included in the quote.
Can I render a wall myself?
There are many DIY guides to rendering a wall yourself. If you are DIY savvy you may be tempted to give it a try to save on the costs of rendering your home.
Here are some things to consider before you start your project.
- Rendering is a skilled profession. It takes time, training and experience to complete the job to a high standard with a smooth finish.
- It can be fiddly, time consuming and physically demanding without the correct tools and knowledge.
- An experienced trades professional will take into account the weather conditions in your area and size and exposure level of your wall in order to select the correct type and application of render in order to achieve maximum durability.
- Finally, if you need to employ the services of a professional to rectify any mistakes, it could prove more costly overall.
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About our data
We survey home owners about their rendering quotes, and renderers about how much they charge. We use this data to help create our rendering cost guides.
Author
Written by, Adam Clark, trade specialist at My Local Toolbox.