Plastering/rendering work for front of house

[Aco]

Hi there,

Just looking for some advice re plastering/rendering the front of our house and front garden wall.

We had our front garden done a year ago (from gravel to paving stones) and in the process of removing the gravel and leveling the surface beneath, the garden is now lower than before, leaving some plastering/painting to be done.

Could anyone kindly advise how to rectify this situation? Is it a fairly simple job or should we hire a professional?

Many thanks,

Anna

 

[Doggit]

First thing; if you dig the stones out, how deep will the gap be. It's not going to be easy, but with a stiff render mixture, it shouldn't slump too much, and you can then smooth it out as it starts to go of. Second thing, wrong type of stones; the small ones soon get clogged up with dirt, and no longer allow water to drain through. You want at least 1" diameter.

 

[vinn]

Best practice is for render to finish 150mm above the ground on a Bellcast - to stop capillary bridging of the DPC.
So cut away any render below the white painted render. Do this all around the building and garden walls.
The black effect seems to be a bitumen paint? Is it?
Leave the brick raw dont do anything further to it after, as above, removing the render.
The stones, in what might have been an attempt at a French drain, will do. Leave them alone.

Its a very simple DIY job.

Do you have any damp issues inside the house?

 

[Aco]

Thanks for the replies.

Doggit - There's just a thin layer of stones, removing them would leave a total gap of about 10cm. We were planning to replace the stones soon anyway so will opt for some larger ones, thanks.

In reading your responses, I think it may be best for us to hire a professional. Should we hire a plasterer or would a generalist be ok? How much should we expect it to cost?

Vinn - We don't have any damp issues in the front of the house that I'm aware of. We did have issues in the living room bay area (front of house) 2 years ago which we hired someone to fix and it appears to have been successful. Should we get some damp readings done in the front of house to check all is ok?

thanks

Anna

 

[vinn]

Why are you still talking about a plasterer? No plastering is needed. Removing render is needed. Have you misunderstood my suggestions? You dont have to retro-fit a Bellcast, its just something that should have been done originally.
All thats needed now is for someone, anyone, to go around with a hammer and chisel and knock off the render thats been exposed since you lowered your garden.

If the black stuff is bitumen paint it was probably applied hoping to prevent damp penetration. Its unnecessary and wont work.

No damp inspections or readings are needed unless you have obvious signs of damp penetration such as discolouration on the internal walls or skirting or a distinct smell of dampness.

 

[Doggit]

I think there's a lot of confusion going on Vin. Aco's asking whether a plasterer, or a builder should tackle the job, that's all. But as the garden has been lowered since the original render was applied, he's wondering how best to make it look pretty again, and take the render down to the where the stones are making a french drain. I think the black look is more likely dirt than bitumin though.

Thinking about your suggestions, it's almost as though a few inches or render need to be hacked off, and then a bellcast beading added, and then rendered to the level of the original render, rather than taking the render down a few more inches.

Aco, the reason Vin asked about damp issues, is that where the the ground is up against the wall, it may have been raised above the DPC, you can then get water tracking across and then giving damp issues inside the house. The idea behind the stones, is to form a gap between the ground, and the wall, and let any water drain through the stones down below the DPC level, but if the stones are too small, dirt fills the holes, and effectively bridges the ground across to the wall again; hence large enough stones to stop that happening.

 

[vinn]

There's no confusion here. I know what Aco said and i replied to her question.
I usually attempt to read what has been posted, I sometimes find that it helps.
I said nothing about adding a "bellcast beading". I specifically said that a retro-fit was not needed.
I also specifically said to "cut away any render below the white painted render" - no "thinking about" it required.

The reason I asked about damp issues was because the render had been well below ground level in what appears to be an older property. And the render is still in ground contact.

The black stuff is most obviously not "dirt".

 

[Aco]

Hi both,

Apologies for the late reply.

Your responses have cleared up what needs to be done and I'm planning to tackle the job this weekend. Thank you!

Yes, as Doggit says, my aim was to make the garden look pretty again and take the render down to where the stones are. Its not actually a French drain (no pipe), just stones on top of earth. We are definitely planning to replace them with larger stones, as per your suggestion.

The photos were originally taken after rain and perhaps not that clear, I've taken some new ones. The initial one did look quite black (like bitumen paint), but I think this was just poor lighting/rain, I checked yesterday and it seems to be dirt.

Thanks again,

Anna

 

[vinn]

I was wrong about the dirt, I apologise.