Below are a number of frequently asked questions that we have answered to assist your research and curiosity.

What about the mess?

Of course, when attempting to defy gravity by putting liquid onto a vertical surface, it isn’t always the cleanest process. For this reason, we ensure that any areas that aren’t meant to have render on it – stay that way! We believe that prevention is far better than cure, or in this case – scraping and scrubbing at the end. We will make sure all windows, eaves, ground coverings, doors and tanks are taped and/or protected with 200um thick plastic that remains in place throughout the rendering process. We have a few other tricks up our selves for any areas that may be difficult to protect – such as plants or garden beds. This will be discussed with you prior to the application of render and may require more invasive measures, such as pruning, or temporary relocation.

 

Should we high pressure clean first?

Depending on the condition of the current brick work, it might be recommended to high pressure clean the house prior to rendering. We’ll advise you at the time of quotation whether or not the brick work may need additional preparation prior to the application of render. The render products we use are polymer modified and have superior adhesive qualities, however, its no good if its stuck to a layer of grime or mould on your brick work! There are several factors that can cause issues requiring prior cleaning. We have experienced brick work on houses near main roads have a layer of road dust slicked over them. The fine dust particles find there way covered over the often-rough surface of the brick or lying dormant on the miniature ‘shelves’ created by the raked mortar joins. In these situations, we recommend the use of a cleaning product designed to ‘degrease’ the area to avoid any potential issues later.

In other scenarios we have discovered that shaded, moisture rich southern elevations of a house are often great environments for mould or fungus to grow. In this case, we definitely will insist on a thorough clean. Don’t fear if you don’t have a suitable high-pressure cleaner though, this is something we can incorporate into our quotation as part of the preparation for render readiness.

 

How much does it cost to render a house?

Personally, there is nothing worse than attempting to research the price of an item and not being able to find a pricing “ball-park”. For this reason, we have compiled a gallery of 3D images based on actual houses along with their price here. For render (excluding paint), a ‘typical’ single storey house averages about $7,250 Inc Gst, and a double storey house $11,950 Inc Gst. Of course, I have no doubt you will appreciate that there are a number of variables that can affect pricing. Brick type, finish, size of the house, total area needing rendered, obstacles etc etc.

While new homes are typically priced solely on total square metres, due to the minimal variables that occur when render is completed during a standard building schedule – retrospective rendering on existing houses can be a little more complex. Here at Brisbane Rendering, we are proud to have created a well-considered and objective method for pricing existing houses, that we believe is the fairest and most consistent in the industry. What does this mean for you? It means our pricing structure is consistent, competitive and our fixed price quotes are transparent. It doesn’t fluctuate based on the affluence of your suburb or how full our work schedule may-or-may-not-be. It also means that our pricing is sustainable. Ensuring that important processes won’t get compromised throughout the project, that your project will be prioritised, that our staff are covered and looked after, and that all relevant Home Warranty insurances and warranties will be paid for and registered… but perhaps most importantly, if you have ever experienced something like this in the past – that there will be no attempts at for extra charges, exclusions or nasty surprizes at the end.

 

What about the downpipes?

As alluded to earlier, when rendering is completed at the correct stage during a new house build, there are several services/fixtures that have not yet been installed on the house. One of these items are the down pipes around the house. Typically, the renderer will attend site prior to the soffits/eaves being installed, and any external fixtures – on an existing house, we don’t have this luxury when completing work on existing homes.

Given that your house could be several decades old, the chances that the downpipes currently installed have seen better days are high. Of course, we will inspect this with you at the quote stage. If they are in good condition, there’s a high chance that we can organise them to be removed and reinstalled after rendering without issue.

Typically, the down pipes would have been measured and installed without the consideration for the future rendering of your house, or the additional ‘build’ that render creates to the outer wall surface. This limits the ability to even consider re-using them and leaves us with 2 options;

1. to leave them in place and render up to them, OR,

2. to have them removed and new ones installed after rendering.

Rendering up against the downpipes is not recommended, especially metal downpipes that are acceptable to rust. At one point in the future, they will need replaced – and the future removal and replacement will likely result in the requirement of rendering & painting patching. This of course isn’t impossible, but we like to do whatever we can to avoid you, or the future owner from as many unnecessary headaches as possible. Aesthetically it also can be a ‘tacky’ giveaway that the rendering was an afterthought.

Replacing the downpipes with new ones after rendering is recommended. We can organise this for you. It can be a great opportunity to update from metal to longer lasting PVC downpipes, as well as ensures no future render related headaches if they are replaced.

 

Why not the traditional sand and cement?

Technology! Civilization has come a long way since the first historical record of solid plastering thousands of years ago, and fortunately for us, so has the development of cement-based plaster compounds. Here at Brisbane Rendering we pride ourselves on using only the highest quality and cutting-edge material. Australian made premixed polymer modified cement based renders offer superior adhesion to numerous substrates, excellent workability, accelerated setting time (no more waiting 4 weeks to paint!), error free mixing (no forgetting those important additives), excellent crack resistance, are hydrophobic (reduce water being sucked into the substrate that causes micro cracking and paint peeling) and most importantly – vigorously tested by the manufacture to offer 10-year product warranties for your peace of mind.

 

Do you use PVC angles on your externals?

We sure do! And once again, only the best Australian manufactured PVC angles that are on the market. The PVC angles are installed prior to the render application and are not visible after painting. The PVC angles Brisbane Rendering use are UV stabilised and impact resistance… What this means for you? Straight corners every time, and a much stronger and durable external angle that can withstand those all too common knocks and bumps around the house.

 

Can you quote me for the coloured finish?

Yes we can! We are also licensed painters and can complete your project from start to finish. We are happy to provide an itemised quotation for this during our visit, or should you wish to tackle the painting yourself, can provide you the best quality Australian manufactured paint at the sharpest trade prices.

In your research, it won’t take you long to come across products and services suggesting that the render can be tinted. It can be, and it’s a service we provide. However, we don’t recommend tinted render on residential houses or over brick work except under very rare occasions. The main reason? Price and maintenance.

Given that it is an additional coat, coloured render or tinted texture is more expensive than paint. There are some added benefits in comparison to paint, its design is for added flexibility and for that reason it is a system requirement over lightweight claddings such as blueboard. That’s about where the benefits stop, and even when used for these purposes, it is typically still just tinted as a base colour for subsequent painting coats that give it its real durability and aesthetic beauty.

Maintenance is another reason why we don’t recommend it for application on house exteriors in lieu of paint. Its what they call in the industry “acrylic render”, essentially, it’s paint with graded sand in it creating a consistency only capable of being trowelled applied. The sand grain does three things. Firstly, it provides the ‘guide’ to the thickness of application, typically less than 1mm. Secondly, given that it’s a natural product, each sand grain has its own slightly different colour that can cause a “motley” or discolouration across a wall caused partly by the polishing process in the ‘floating’/finishing stage. Lastly, it’s a grainy finish that when left unpainted, tends to hold on to dust particles and moisture more than a flat painted surface potentially discolouring the job and creating a maintenance issue.

We’d be happy to discuss in further detail the pros and cons of painting and tinted render – but for now, take our word that painting will be your best option for an impressive finish.

 

Is the finished wall flat or will I still see bricks through it?

Flat! Although we offer bagging as an option, we strongly suggest you pull your pennies together and afford the upgrade to a rendered finish. Bagging (or poor man’s render) over face brickwork is often not a great deal cheaper than rendering. Generally your preparation time to tape up and protect wall fixtures and ground coverings is the same, and for the additional money now, it may save you allot of headaches down the track should you decide to change the bagged area to a rendered wall. Unlike bagging, during our rendering process, the application of 2 cement coats allows for any surface imperfections to be solved and the final coat to be flat as a tack.

What about payment?

We offer flexible payment options to suit you. Firstly, unlike many of our competitors – we don’t require a deposit. We do this for your peace of mind, and out of respect that trust is earnt. Upon completion of the project, and your complete satisfaction – we will issue you a tax invoice electronically with 7-day payment terms. While many of our customers opt for payment via EFT, we also offer the ability to pay with either VISA, MASTERCARD or AMEX for no extra fee. On top of this, we have recently become accredited introducers for Humm interest free finance (formally Certegy), so why not take advantage of paying it off over 24-months? Of course, we’ll take it however else you want to give it to us, whether that’s cheque, money order or cold hard cash.