Weather protection
A sound, continuous coating sheds driving rain instead of letting it soak into the masonry.
House Rendering in Cardiff & NewportA Sharp New ExteriorThat Protects the Wall Behind It
Render is weather protection first and a facelift second. We prepare the substrate properly, detail the beads and stops crisply, and price the whole elevation as one fixed figure.
15 years in the trade · fixed-price quotes · 10-year workmanship guarantee
15 years
in the trade, trading as MB Construction since 2019
10-year guarantee
workmanship guarantee on completed work
Fully insured
public liability & employer's liability
Fixed-price quotes
free, in writing, never a day rate
24/7 emergencies
emergency roof repairs, day or night
Rendering, What's Involved
Rendering is an applied coating over masonry that sheds water, evens out a tired or mismatched wall and gives the house a single clean finish. It covers full re-renders, individual elevations and repairs to failed sections. We use eco render systems.
The visible finish is only the last coat. What determines whether render lasts is the preparation underneath: removing blown material back to sound masonry, treating the substrate, fitting beads and stop ends, and getting the base coat flat and properly cured before anything decorative goes on.
We also fix failed render rather than always replacing it. Hollow patches, cracks and staining sometimes mean a repair; sometimes they mean the wall behind is wet for a reason that has to be dealt with first.
- Who it's for
- Owners of tired pebbledash or cracked and stained render, houses with mismatched brick or blockwork, and anyone finishing an extension so it reads as part of the original building.
- When it's needed
- When render sounds hollow when tapped, when cracks are letting water in, when staining and algae will not wash off, or when you want the whole exterior to look finished in one go.
- Why a professional job matters
- Render fails at the details: beads, bellcasts, sills, abutments and the base of the wall. Applied over unsound substrate or in the wrong weather it cracks, debonds and traps water in the wall rather than keeping it out.
What Happens If It's Left
Nothing outside a house gets cheaper to fix by waiting. Here is how this one escalates.
Cracked render holds water in, not out
Once water gets behind a coating it cannot dry out through it. The wall stays wet and damp appears inside.
Hollow sections spread
A debonded patch pulls at the sound render around its edges. Left alone, a small blown area becomes a whole failed elevation.
Frost breaks the surface apart
Water sitting in cracks freezes and lifts the coating, so one bad winter can undo years of slow deterioration all at once.
Staining is a warning, not just a look
Green and black streaking under sills and at the base of a wall usually shows where water is running or sitting when it should be shedding.
Common mistakes we're called in to undo
- Rendering straight over blown or hollow sections to save breaking them out.
- Skipping beads, bellcasts and stop ends, so edges chip and water tracks behind.
- Applying in frost or strong sun, which cracks the coat as it cures.
- Painting over failed render, which hides the problem for one season.
- Rendering a wall that is wet from a gutter or roof fault that nobody fixed first.
Our Process
The same five steps on every job, so you always know what happens next.
01
Inspection
We tap the existing render, check for blown areas, cracks and damp, and look for the roof, gutter or ground-level cause behind any staining.
02
Fixed price in writing
A free, no-obligation quote covering scaffolding, preparation, materials, coats and finish for each elevation.
03
Preparation
Scaffold up, failed render removed back to sound masonry, substrate cleaned and treated, beads, stops and bellcasts fixed, openings and ground protected.
04
Application
Base coat applied, ruled flat and left to cure, followed by the finish coat worked to an even texture across the full elevation to avoid visible joins.
05
Inspection and completion
Beads and reveals checked, scaffold struck, site washed down and cleared, and your 10-year workmanship guarantee handed over.
What You Get
A house that looks new
One uniform finish over mismatched brick, blockwork and old pebbledash transforms the whole frontage.
Cracks and damp addressed at source
We find what made the render fail before we put new material over it.
Clean detailing
Beads, stop ends and reveals set out properly, so edges stay sharp and do not chip.
Value on the outside of the house
Render, roofline and driveway together change how a property presents more than any interior work.
Fixed price, guaranteed
One written figure including scaffolding, backed by our 10-year workmanship guarantee.
Rendering in Detail
Materials, methods and the variations we cover across Cardiff, Newport and the wider South Wales area.
Full re-render vs repair
If the majority of the coating is sound and only isolated areas are blown, cutting out and making good is the economical answer. Where hollow areas are widespread or the finish is beyond patching without it showing, a full elevation is the honest recommendation.
Substrates
Brick, block, stone and existing render all behave differently. Preparation, keying and any bonding treatment are chosen to suit what is actually on the wall, which is why we inspect before quoting.
Eco render systems
The rendering we carry out uses eco render systems. If you have been quoted elsewhere for a different system, we will explain plainly what we use and why, rather than dress it up in brand names.
Beads and detailing
Corner beads, stop beads, bellcast beads at the base of the wall, movement detailing and neat work around sills, reveals, meter boxes, vents and pipework. These are what separate a professional finish from a flat grey smear.
Cracks, damp and the cause behind them
Overflowing gutters, a failed roof detail, a bridged damp-proof course or ground levels built up too high all soak a wall from outside. Render over a wet wall fails again, so the cause is dealt with first, and we cover roofing and groundworks, so it usually can be.
Weather and curing
Render is applied and cured in suitable conditions, protected from frost, driving rain and strong direct sun. We will move a date rather than rush a coat.
Insulated systems
Where the goal is warmer rooms and lower bills as well as a new exterior, external wall insulation with a rendered finish is the better route, see our EWI rendering page.
Where we carry out this work
We work from Crumlin Drive in St Mellons across Cardiff, Newport, St Mellons, Vale of Glamorgan, Caerphilly, Penarth and the surrounding South Wales area. See the areas we cover, browse all of our services or head back to the MB Construction homepage.
Rendering, Common Questions
How much does rendering a house cost in Cardiff?
It depends on the wall area, how many elevations, the condition of the existing surface, scaffolding and the finish you choose. We inspect and give you a free fixed price in writing.
How long does rendering take?
Each coat needs curing time, so a full house typically runs over a couple of weeks including scaffolding, weather permitting. Your quote sets out the schedule.
Can you just repair the cracked areas?
Often yes. We tap the wall to find what is genuinely blown, and if a repair will hold and look right we will quote for that instead of a full re-render.
Will render stop my damp problem?
Only if the damp is caused by water soaking through the wall from outside. If the cause is a roof, gutter or ground-level issue, that gets fixed first, otherwise the new render fails too.
Does render need painting?
Through-coloured finishes do not need painting; traditional sand and cement render is usually painted with a breathable masonry coating. We will explain which you are getting.
How long does render last?
A correctly prepared and applied render is a long-term finish. Our workmanship carries a 10-year guarantee.
Can you render an extension to match the house?
Yes. Rendering the extension and the original elevation together is the reliable way to get a consistent colour and texture.
Are your quotes really free?
Yes. We come out, look at the job properly and put a fixed price in writing. There is no charge for the visit and no obligation to go ahead.
Do you charge a day rate?
No. Every job is quoted as a fixed price. The figure you agree is the figure you pay, whether the work runs quicker or slower than we expected.
Is the work guaranteed and are you insured?
All of our work carries a 10-year workmanship guarantee, and we hold both public liability and employer's liability insurance. Ask to see the documents before work starts and you will get them.
Which areas do you cover?
We are based on Crumlin Drive in St Mellons and work across Cardiff, Newport, the Vale of Glamorgan, Caerphilly, Penarth and the surrounding South Wales area.
Related Services
EWI Rendering
EWI wraps the outside of your house in insulation and finishes it in render: the same facelift a re-render gives you, plus walls that stop leaking heat into a South Wales winter.
View EWI Rendering →Painting & Decorating
Most paint and paper jobs fail at the preparation, not the finish. We fill, sand, treat, prime and size before a brush or a roll goes near the wall, so the room still looks right in five years.
View Painting & Decorating →New Roofs
A full strip and re-roof that ends the patch-and-hope cycle: one fixed price agreed before we start, one small team on site from first tile to last, and a roof that keeps South Wales weather out for decades.
View New Roofs →Get a fixed price for rendering your house
Free inspection, an honest view on repair versus full re-render, and a written price including scaffolding.
- Free, no-obligation site visit and fixed price in writing
- 10-year workmanship guarantee on completed work
- Public liability & employer's liability insured