Rendering Guide, Tips & Tricks

If your looking to carry out any external rendering always aim for a dry day, most plasterers will tell you the best conditions for rendering is a over cast day. The heat from the sun can cause the render to dry out too quickly and if it rains hard it can be a wash out so choose your days wisely.

Rendering is much like plastering where as you need to apply two coats if your using sand and cement. The first coat is a scratch coat where thats laid on and then scratched to create key for the next coat. Once thats dried usually about 24-48hours you can apply the top coat, after laying on its important to use a derby or a straight edge to rule the wall flat. When the wall starts to pull in you can use a float to smooth the wall followed by a sponge, a little water can help especially if you’ve added lime to the mix. After creating a smooth finish it can be painted or can have other finishes applied on to such as Tyrolean or rough cast.

Some renders don’t need to have two coats applied, modern monocouche renders are done in two passes and come in a bag pre coloured so all you need to do is add clean water and mix. After the two passes have been applied and ruled flat you need to wait before its time to use the scratcher, when scratching back you need to aim to remove the top 2mm to create the final finish. Remember after you’ve scratched back brush the wall with a soft clean brush to remove any dust.

Plastering and rendering is all about patience and learning what the products can do, take your time and remember all good plasterers have perfected there skills over many years as the saying goes “practice makes perfect”.