Bellcast - Is it needed?

[SeumasMor]

Hi folks,
Just about to render my new house with a sand & cement scratchcoat, then powerwall smoothband, then powerwall sand finish for the final coat. I dont particularly want to put a bellcast on as i want the same uniterrupted finish and colour from top to bottom and i think a bellcast will break that up. Does a bellcast serve any real purpose at the DPC level? Can i just render over the DPC so that you cant see the edge of it?
Cheers

 

[roughcaster]

Hi folks,
Just about to render my new house with a sand & cement scratchcoat, then powerwall smoothband, then powerwall sand finish for the final coat. I dont particularly want to put a bellcast on as i want the same uniterrupted finish and colour from top to bottom and i think a bellcast will break that up.

Does a bellcast serve any real purpose at the DPC level? Can i just render over the DPC so that you cant see the edge of it?

Seumas,
Bellcast bead is usually fitted at or above DPC level to allow rainwater to drip clear of the wall.They can also be fitted above windows for the same reason.They also give the render/roughcast a neat finish,and in my opinion add to the look of the finished wall.So Bellcast serves a very useful purpose,as do all other types of beading.You mentioned about rendering over the DPC to give the wall an uninterupted finish and colour from top to bottom.I think if you render over the DPC line it will probably crack along it,and that will also bridge the DPC.

Roughcaster.

 

[Micilin]

Just as an additional comment to Roughcasters, you don't necessarily have to have a bell cast finish to the bottom of the render (which I also prefer), but you should have some form of drip . For example, with Monocouche renders, you can use a drip bead which is just the same thickness as a stop bead so that the render is one flat plane but the water cannot run back along the bead to the wall. To be honest , this is mainly used because of teh nature of teh H- framing and rubbing up of Monocouche type render

The main points are

1 not to bridge the DPC

2 form a drip to throw the water off the bottom of the wall.

You could render the plinth and paint it the same colour, but bear in mind that you will get splashes of dirt etc up along it when it rains and so on. This is why the plinth is usally painted black or a dark colour.

I suppose if your heart is set on it, you could have an expansion joint , with a back to back stop bead along the DPC , filled with mastic, to allow you to have an almost continous render face down the elevation to the ground, but not bridging the DPC. Bear in mind you are introducing element which could cause problems structurally , for aesthetic reasons.

I wouldn't go for it, and would prefer the traditional bell cast.


Don't think