House Rendering

House Rendering Techniques and Trends in Cardiff

House Rendering Techniques and Trends in Cardiff

1. Introduction to House Rendering

House rendering is the process of applying an external layer of material to your home. This may be for decorative purposes or for protective reasons — rendering your home creates an additional layer on top of the brick and wood used to build your house. People may choose to render their homes after they have been built, a process also called re-rendering. People may also build a house with a rendered finish, either because they want that particular aesthetic or to fulfill building regulations that specify the materials used to build a home.

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There are actually many different materials that you can use to render a house, including concrete, acrylic, polymer, or more traditional materials like clay and lime. The most popular choice is usually some form of cement mix, since it dries fairly quickly and is very durable. You can also get textured finishes or patterns using the available materials and different application techniques. The possibilities are practically endless, and the great thing about exterior rendering is that you can always go back and change it. Though the actual process of rendering takes a while, you will be left with a stunning, finished result that can last for decades.

3. Types of Rendering Materials

Introduction Rendering is a method of covering the edges of houses or walls that protect them from outdoor weather issues. It has a variety of types, but one of the oldest and most used processes is wall rendering. It provides insulation from weather conditions and the addition of various textures, pigments, and styles to the lifestyle, thus increasing the attraction of walls. This section presents an overview of the different types of house rendering techniques and the materials generally employed. Rendering Materials Fundamentally, four types of rendering materials are used all around the world. However, in various countries, mixtures of these four are also used. Generally used materials for rendering are cement, acrylate, or acrylic, a polyurethane mineral-based render material, or lime. Moreover, insulation-render systems, typically an EPS-based render system, are frequently used in Europe. In this part of the paper, these materials are further described. Cement Render Cement-based renders are probably the most used rendering materials in the world. Cement mixtures are easily prepared, and different textures and colors can be produced using sand and pigments. Cement renders are generally durable and resist moisture well, which makes them suitable for many locations. Color pigments in cement mixtures protect renders from the photodegrading process because cement has a high pH that protects against organic growth. However, it is important to distinguish between moisture resistance and moisture permeability. The permeability of integrated cement systems and mixtures is frequently low compared to surfaces like lime-based systems, and therefore can be damaged by trapped moisture. Acrylic Render Acrylic render is based on either pure acrylic or acrylate polymer. As with cement systems, any texture and color can be produced for external purposes, but the monomer must contain weather resistance stabilizers. The pigments are generally protected by adding light- and weather-resisting polymer additives. The color pigments can also be absorbed through a not-prepared surface, as in many mineral systems. Together with a good adherence to many substrates, this thick mass helps to fill crackings in the background and, therefore, acrylic-based systems can even be used on wooden surfaces.

3.1. Cement Render

Cement render, being the most commonly used base coat for the exteriors of buildings, tends to have a robust nature, directly impacting the overall external durability of the building. It is a render system that is particularly versatile, being able to be applied to a number of substrates, and gives an applied texture to the building, ranging from being smooth to having an aesthetic coarse surface due to aggregate size variation. The system can also take various paint types and colours on top of the surface for textures, including smooth, exposed aggregate, or rough. Cement render is a low-cost solution making it an obvious choice for the exteriors of most residential homes.

Due to the nature of cement render, and the way that it tends to be applied on the concrete or masonry substrate, the system does not allow for any movement between itself and the base, or within the cement render itself over time. This leads to some significant design implications if the building has an ambition of being low maintenance throughout its life. In most cases of cement render detailing, cracks can be seen at building junctions, such as window and door reveals where failed movement accommodation is evident. This is especially visible along reveals of windows located at external building corners. Existing movement joints have failed and have resulted in cracking and separation of render on the reveals. The scale of this issue can be varied. Light cracking may be common on these sands, however, if it hits a building junction where stresses naturally tend to be higher, it can leave a more significant effect, such as actual visible displacement or missing pieces of render.

3.2. Acrylic Render

The rapid development of the building industry has permitted different render materials, rendering techniques, and building styles to develop. Many of these materials are modified forms of traditional materials such as cement, used mostly for construction. The last few decades have seen the increase of acrylic polymer emulsions that modify traditional cement mixtures, while the last decade has been dominated by acrylic resin-based materials in their pure and transparent forms. These are pure acrylic stuccos and textured paints expected to replace traditional stuccos and paints in the world market.

Acrylic renders have evolved over the years. Initially, sole acrylic renders were marketed for commercial buildings and high-rise apartments with high horizontal loads due to wind forces and excessive movements due to the swaying of the building. These products could be used on buildings made with concrete or cement blocks with insulation materials inside or not, on precast concrete elements, or in facades built with standard bricks or bricks with an inner layer of thermal insulation. Later, stuccos were developed with lower prices due to the introduction of new technology, modifications, and fillers, allowing the stucco to be more accessible to the residential market. Today’s acrylic stuccos and paints, intended for use in residential buildings, are frequently polymer-cement products, with a cement or mortar base modified with an acrylic emulsion and expected to be used for low-rise apartment and housing, in the tourist business. New trends are back on the use of pure acrylic stuccos around the world: the quality goes first, while prices are not so much of a matter anymore. Acrylic stuccos offer a continuous surface with unlimited design capabilities while delivering good performance.

3.3. Lime Render

Lime render is a historic, traditional option that has numerous advantages. When we discuss lime render, we are often meaning lime putty render. We can also refer to natural hydraulic lime or hydrated lime renders as lime render. There are also many other variants often referred to as “lime render” too, and the variations are important to understand, as they drive the difference of performance.

Lime render has a long, successful history as a material, for good reason too. It can perform well in all climates and can withstand extreme weather. It is vapor permeable, allowing damp walls to dry out over time and resists freeze-thaw damage in colder climates. Tints can naturally be added to lime renderings too, and there are many successful examples of pigment in real historic buildings. But, for all its benefits, lime render does have some issues. It is not suitable for porous substrate as it will not set properly. Setting times can vary and can be long and it is susceptible to damage.

Lime putty cement render is typically compatible with damp porous substrates, such as brick. However, lime renders that utilize natural hydraulic lime or hydrated lime should not be focused as the substrate can likely affect the compatibility. It should be considered as a damp and driven rain area too. The addition of pigments can help add tint to the overall look and color. Lime, as a material, is also available in all built environments and it is inexpensive. It is extremely basic and eco-friendly. Both lime putty and natural hydraulic lime offer lime as a historical, traditional building material. Natural hydraulic lime is more versatile and performs better while lime putty and hydrated lime offer a more traditional look.

3.4. Insulated Render Systems

Insulated Render Systems combine insulation and render into a single thin system which can be a cost-effective and beneficial option for many. They are increasingly being used, especially on new builds. Internally their benefits include reducing the risk of thermal bridging and cold uninsulated zones in corners and around windows. Externally — apart from their insulation value — they have denser hybrids which provide critical weather resistance and breathability. Given their thinness, traditional lime based materials are often not used. Yet, most manufacturers offer multiple options with build-ups incorporating different levels of insulation, moisture management, breathability and render finish.

Most Internal EWIs have an Insulated Render System applied to them. These may include highly fluorinated, textured polymer or K-Systems, or High Performance Silicate builds. Approved Benefits include a high wind resistance, high vapour permeability, large thermal storage, good weather resistance and decoupling of different expansion and contraction coefficient due to different material thicknesses. On many surfaces their length of service time compared to rendering is much longer so less repair is needed. They are often applied as a repair. However, as with all other Insulated Render Systems ‘low’ surface tension products require careful consideration of the background and of the substrate. Thin Insulated Render Systems applied to porous backgrounds allow for dissimilar drying rates and thus may result in premature water ingress which would necessitate repair.

4. Popular Rendering Techniques

In Cardiff, there are many variations of property construction styles that have been built up over the centuries, throughout a range of architectural eras and influences. The same can be said of the external wall finishes that you find on these properties, often a row of houses built at the same time will each have a unique look and finish style. When it comes to rendering houses in Cardiff it’s the traditional cement based external wall finishes that dominated up until about the 1950s. After this modern styles started to find their way on to more and more properties, at the same time textured silicone based renders started to appear and today there is a range of modern external wall finish products out there.

Traditional Rendering

The extensive use of traditional renders were an important part of architectural design in Victorian, Edwardian and most Georgian properties. It helped to protect property’s masonry from building movement, paid an integral part of the thermal insulation layer and also helped direct water away from the property. While these renders are very striking visually, often in multiple contrasting colors, many people look to change the external look of their property and go for more modern property renders. Traditional renders appear to be making a small boxed comeback.

Modern Rendering Styles

Modern property rendering styles came available after the low temperature curing cement developments during the great war and were put to use on the first international exhibition of modern architecture held in 1925. These styles really started to become popular in the UK in the 1950s after the national shortage of housing in the aftermath of the second great war. Today, if you want to decorate your house and go for some property rendering, modern property rendering styles are the way to go.

4.1. Traditional Rendering

Commonly, renderings are classified as traditional, smooth or textured, which allude to different but coexisting house styles. Traditional renderings are usually based on realistic effects of color or tonality, and after centuries of experience in painting frescoes, oils and watercolors, the mastery of brush techniques and pigments can evoke a natural similar effect. Because the cruising of brush strokes in the traditional method cannot be replicated, wall surfaces with this rendering often disappear under a layer of dirt and soot in twenty years or more, requiring strict maintenance of cleaning or little outside protection. Traditional methods of rendering are plastering with lime wash and cement wash, fresco painting, applying oil paint to edges of polished stucco, and watercolor painting. Painting with watercolors or, as the Italians say, a velatura, has a long history in house decoration. In Italy this method of decorating was already popular in the Renaissance. It consists only of glazing the surface with a color diluted in water. The advantage is that it is fast and rejuvenates a weathered coating.

Fresco painting is less common because of the long time in which it is not allowed to rain during the operation. Existing in ancient Greece and Egypt, fresco painting consists of painting with mineral colors or with pigments diluted in water a fresh layer of lime plaster. The key to this technique is to apply the color when the plaster is still dry, and the compounding of the pigment with the plaster occurs during the drying and curing of the plaster. From time to time, a thin layer of primer paint is applied to the surface since, by exposing the raw plaster, water would infiltrate it causing decay. In addition, painting the fresco using white mortar, to which a chromatic tonality is printed, rather than mineral colors gives better results because of the luminosity while the mortar dries and cures. Ancient Greeks had the technique to eliminate the reflections of the sun especially at sunset, that is painting in silvery white at temperatures less than 15 °C.

4.2. Modern Rendering Styles

In the modern era, rendering is slowly breaking away from its traditional feel, with many creatives serving new architectural styles with equally novel rendering methods. From the rendition of balmy tropical coastal resorts to high-tech city-fronting futuristic attractions, let’s look at some of the sleek modern rendering styles giving texture and richness to buildings around the world. The modern movement puts great architectural emphasis on straight-lines and boxy, functional shapes. Modern architectural styles are at the same time minimalistic and eye-catching, revealing the magic of design through texture and color. While sloping roofs, intricate moldings, and fireplaces emblazoned on the outside are a thing of the past in modern architecture, architects pay greater attention to the textures of a building’s surface. At the same time, bold colors command attention and give modern buildings their sense of personality. A flat rooftop, boxy shape, without embellishments, is iconic of modern architecture and a visual hallmark of modern style.

Texture, color, and simple forms — it’s all about pleasing the eye while keeping things simple, easy, and elegant. For this reason, smooth and sand paved plaster give stunning, minimalist results, but this simplicity can come at a cost. Protecting a building from nature’s forces is a key tenant of modern architecture, and plaster has its drawbacks. A polished plaster finish can be expensive and laborious, but its beauty can be mesmerizing when done correctly. The colorfully contrasting yet elegantly balanced addition of colored render can increase or reduce the impact design as needed. However, color is seldom enough; texture is often used together with radiant colors to enhance the design to new heights.

4.3. Textured Finishes

Texturing home render is achieved by numerous methods which range from the simple to the intricate and include scrapping back, broom finish, stippling, rough casting, and plaster floats. Textured render finishes can personalize a property with unique finishes yet conversely can create a very cheap and tacky effect if done with not so good experience or thought. We have gotten to like some of the more unusual render textures but still struggle with others. The finishing coat for your external render can be smooth but that is not what is usually most. By that, we really mean it is not the most common or the easiest finish to produce, at least with the lime renders and colours that we are interested in. Most of the houses we have rendered have a rough finish coat. To be more specific, a 2mm scratch mini dash finish. This is a very robust and effective solution for a lot of situations and can produce a variety of different textures or effects. If we are looking to produce a more subtle texture though, we would use a ‘troweled’ finish. The ‘trowel’ finish has several variations ranging from troweled smooth to troweled large and is produced by varying how much water is applied to the surface finish coat and how much manipulation is done to it before it has fully hardened, as well as the texture of the troweled surface.

5. Choosing the Right Render for Your Home

There are many types of renders available on the market today, but not all of them are suitable for your property. Consider the implications of any property changes you wish to make and what particular materials you wish to use for the final design and look of your property. We are always happy to offer sound advice on how to render your property using the right materials and techniques for the job. However, here are some things to think about if you’re contemplating a render: Before adding a render to your property, you need to think about the climate in which you live, and what local weather conditions affect your area. For example, if you are located in a wet area, you may need to reconsider what type of render to use, as excessive moisture can destroy some types of render. If you are located in a windy area, then your choice will need to be a more resilient render which can withstand the strong wind. Another factor to consider is your particular style preference; we would primarily recommend a lime render onto brick buildings so that your home maintains a traditional style and feel, which would be in keeping with the characteristics of your home.

If you live in a listed building, this is especially important, as any changes you make may need planning permission. On the other hand, if you want to go for something completely different and new, why not try an acrylic render to create a more modern house from an outdated property, a great choice for anyone looking for a big architectural contrast through materials or textures. Finally, there’s the budget. Rendering can be inexpensive, but you need to be clear on what types of materials you are spending your money on which will dictate your choices, and the prices of this.

5.1. Considerations for Climate

Different parts of the UK have varied weather conditions, with South Wales experiencing heavy rain showers throughout most of the year. If you’re doing a lot of research into your homes render, then climate conditions might be your most important consideration when selecting the best material for your home. It’s not an easy choice as you’ll also need to think about maintenance, thermal efficiency and the expense. The walls of a property play a vital role in how well your home can keep the cold out and heat in as well as prevent moisture getting in — and so do the materials used for render. You want something that’s breathable so that there’s no build-up of moisture behind the barrier but at the same time it shouldn’t allow too much moisture to permeate in.

Different materials have varying performance levels and that’s before you consider the insulation properties of the wall, whether internal or external and whether insulating paint has been used. Poor spec and installation which could include rendering on top of old paint work for example can result in cold or wet patches inside your property. If moisture is often visible on the walls but you don’t have a serious interior or exterior penetrating damp problem, then it could be a cavity insulation issue whereby an insulating type liner is required as opposed to an insulating paint.

When rendering a property, it isn’t just enough for it to look good. It needs to perform. With energy efficiency in mind, the property should be well insulated and breathable. You want a material that’s porous but at the same time acts like a waterproofing membrane so should allow any moisture behind the material to evaporate. No pressure, right?

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5.2. Aesthetic Preferences

All properties are unique, often built at different times with different architectural styles. What’s more, many people choose to add an extension or upgrade their property in time, further adding to the variety. Each property therefore has its own characteristics too, and these, along with the location of your property and the properties surrounding yours, are significant factors when considering your choice of rendering. After all, it’s important to choose an option which looks good and adds to the overall visual impact of your property. The aesthetic you’re trying to achieve will impact on the type of render you choose; you might be looking for something sleek and modern, or something rustic and traditional. The good news is that there are so many rendering options out there, you’ll be able to achieve whatever look you’re after. The first thing you want to think about is the finish, or texture, of your render. This will, of course, depend on the type of render you choose, but it’s good to have an idea of your preferred texture when you start your search. If you’re looking for a specific type of texture, this may narrow down your selection of render type. From there, consider the color of your chosen render; many modern renders come in a variety of colors, and typically colored renders can be achieved in a number of ways. If you’re covering a more traditional building, you might want to opt for a softer color and a less textured finish, in keeping with the style of the property. Alternatively, you might be looking to add a splash of color to your otherwise neutral property. Whatever it is you’re trying to achieve, think about it before making a final decision and consult an expert if you’re not entirely sure.

5.3. Budgeting for Rendering

One of the biggest considerations when deciding to render your home is your budget. The cost of rendering a property tends to vary considerably. This is because every job is different depending on factors like the size of the property, the material used, the location, and how many stories high the property is. At the very least, homeowners looking to render their exterior walls should be prepared to spend a few thousand dollars. More often than not, though, the cost will be even more than that, going upward of in some areas (for a two-story property). Looking at the price ranges associated with different materials may help to narrow your options down. Here we provide some ballpark figures for some more common rendering materials.

There is considerable variation in the costs associated with the different rendering materials. The cheapest options are acrylic, EWI, and plastic. These tend to come in at around /m2. Painted cement, cement, and sand come at a medium cost; around /m2. The more expensive options are pebble dash, exposed aggregate, and wet dash, which could cost /m2 or more. Note that these prices are indicative only; the actual costs may vary by region.

When deciding to render the exterior walls of your home, it may not just be the initial cost you should consider. The total outlays for rendering need to factor in all the ongoing maintenance costs, too. Consider the following: a cheaper material may be cheap but require a lot of maintenance, whilst a more expensive material may cost a lot initially but very little after that.

6. Environmental Impact of Rendering

Rendering is practically ubiquitous in Cardiff, with a texture, finish and colour available to suit any palette. It’s a great way to add kerb appeal to any home, which is probably why it’s so prevalent. Rendering is a relatively easy process that creates long-lasting results. But have you ever considered the environmental impact of rendering? There are some aspects to consider when it comes to the eco-friendliness of rendering.

The sustainability of the materials used in rendering is perhaps the most crucial aspect of its environmental impact. There are interesting facts about the ingredients and production of some rendering materials. Brick cement, for example, is made from basic ingredients that aren’t harmful to the environment. However, only 80% of the materials used to make it are available with low energy consumption. External wall insulation accounts for 45% of the carbon-footprint of rendering production, and though it’s only a small portion of the overall rendering production process, it’s still significant. Most render is skimming, a process that accounts for only 20% of the total emissions from render production. That said, all of these processes represent only a small fraction of the total carbon footprint of the construction industry.

Increased insulation from a rendered facade can be an effective solution for reducing energy consumption in buildings. Rendering a building can reduce heating costs by as much as 30% and can be harnessed to help with the decarbonisation of the existing building stock. Of course, if you’re still in the market for an eco-friendly solution for rendering your home, there are considerations to take into account. Biocidal renders don’t have to be a bad thing; if you use a high-impact paint that’s made with certain materials for the painted surface, it can last such a long time that the environmental cost of producing that covering two or three times over a 50-year period is greater than the impact of using renders laden with biocides.

6.1. Sustainability in Rendering Materials

As people become more aware of the impact construction and the built environment have on the environment, a yearning for more sustainable materials appears, especially when there’s the opportunity to rejuvenate existing materials and surfaces on a house and promote its character. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect a model-renderer who installs lime render systems onto existing buildings to promote, use, and specify more sustainable materials in comparison to those who just churn out cement-based systems. However, cementitious render systems are often still the most promoted and used. It’s an interesting juxtaposition: the oldest building materials for rendering, lime and clay, are the most sustainable and least toxic, as they come from the earth and require less energy to produce, whilst the most vibrant colours of rendering often come from toxic chemical processes and require the greater energy investment.

The natural limestone cycle, through the absorption of carbon dioxide back into the render systems over time, provides an important sustainable offset that needs to be considered. A factor that cannot be overlooked with natural materials, and especially with lime, is the protection of the material from hostile external conditions, and the return to the earth where not resistant. This is simply a manifestation of nature’s way of balancing itself. House render considered in this section is the oldest and least toxic: traditional pure natural hydraulic lime of Types 1 and 2 or hydrated lime putty mixes with sand. Usually, pigmented with natural ochre pigments or hydraulic lime unfired clay pigmented. These are blended with modern natural dry pigments as long as they are compatible. These brittle systems can have colour vibrancy equal to pre-cast concrete but without the associated toxic impact. These natural materials when properly used can be made resilient, with a surface hard enough to prevent it from slipping and flaking off.

6.2. Energy Efficiency Benefits

When rendering is carried out to improve the facade insulation properties, it is not only the aesthetics that will be improved, but also the energy efficiency of the building, and therefore contributing to the reduction in energy consumption. In such cases, the benefits can be significant when the whole insulation rendering system is considered. The render materials will help prevent heat transfers through the opaque building envelope, while the joints with windows and doors can also be insulated, as well as the penetration points of pipes and electric cables. Usually, the insulation properties of the systems consist of an expanded foam with a render on the surface and a thin layer of plaster render inside. Additional layers can be added in order to improve the fire, weathering, and mechanical resistance, permanence, and water behaviour, but the main function of the system remains in combating heat transfers thanks to the insulation foam.

The renders can be synthetic or inorganic with different properties, as mentioned above, being important to comply with the requirements of different building styles that exist. The polystyrene system is the most used in the world, but it is not the most sustainable. The foam, consisting of petroleum and produced with a significant consumption of energy, is flammable and the manufacturing is not at a low temperature process. The finishes can be synthetic or mineral, resulting mineral more natural. Also, with the EPS the waste during the down stage has to be recovered and is hardly recyclable. Although the EPS can be recovered during the demolition, it is a rare practice, and it is being replaced by alternative bio-based solutions. These marked disadvantages of polystyrene systems, turned into advantages with the developing of a new biodegradable corn-based solution. It has been tested in laboratory fire tests and in bare façades conditioned because of the lack of regulations, and was used in a refurbished adult day care centre.

7. The Role of Local Regulations

No discussion of house rendering in any city would be complete without a discussion of local planning regulations, for careful regulation is what helps a city to design and maintain a defined character and appearance. Cardiff has its own set of house rendering rules and regulations, which are typically laid out in the local authority’s own design guide. You may have to contact the local authority to ask for their design guide if you do not have a copy; most larger councils will actually have these available to download.

Planning Permissions

Unlike many areas of the United Kingdom, in Cardiff you do not need planning permission before embarking on your house rendering project as long as you intend to use traditional materials and you do not reside in a listed building or a conservation area. It is worth noting that most listed buildings in Cardiff’s city centre are all commercial, so you probably will not be residing in one of these unless you are very lucky!

Building Codes in Cardiff

There are several local regulations or building codes that you must keep in mind, namely: • The building must be checked to ensure that the wall is in good structure and is capable of bearing the weight of the applied finishing system. • All work must be performed in accordance with the building code and specifications. • Every part of the exterior wall should be flashed and weeped properly to prevent moisture from getting trapped behind the material, to prevent the finish from deteriorating, and to prevent damage to the outer wall sheathing and framing members. • All power lines and water pipes must be moved and reinstalled. • Every corner must be mitered carefully to prevent cracking.

7.1. Planning Permissions

If you are rendering your house in Cardiff and are unsure as to whether enforcement of planning permission should be sought, or if you require building regulations approval, then you should contact the Planning Authority or Building Control. You can do this through your local authority or licensed private sector organization. If you fail to obtain the correct permissions, and the planning and building regulations that apply to your job are not followed and your work is found to be illegal, the work may have to be stripped off or you may pay a fine. Always keep a record of what work has been done in case of any problem arising in future.

You may directly contact your local Building Control office for help with advice, information, find out the regulations for your job and the cost of an application. City of Cardiff Council, like most other councils, employs a private sector assurance inspection service. You should let them know you have a project they need to take a look at.

It is worth contacting the local authority if you live in a conservation area, have a listed property or if it is in Wales. There is a listed building department; you want the one for planning permission and building regulations. Building regulations only ensure that work is safe and sound and built to help support other structures through both live load and dead load during and after completion, and that living people can live there in comfort.

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7.2. Building Codes in Cardiff

Building codes — those little rules and guidelines that inspectors and surveyors care about — change according to location and focus of construction. The idea behind local codes is that inspectors can tailor their critiques, earmarking particular hazards to specific regions. In Cardiff, building codes have to satisfy priorities of sustainable development, plan against flooding, and make different kinds of property accessible to everyone. Cardiff also has several designated cultural and retail areas, so building codes are stricter for higher risk projects in these areas. City Centre and District Centre Design Guides outline these stricter urban rules. Fortunately, Important Dwellings are also documented, and again, the listed building code applies, so owners can reference more specific guidelines when tackling these properties.

Because Cardiff has undergone recent development, new buildings have to adhere to one of two policy documents: Planning Policies or the Planning and Climate Change Adaptation. The first sets forth several points regarding the planning and building of new homes as necessitated by increasing resident density. Of special importance is the issue of healthy homes — the guideline discusses external design and surrounding areas in-depth. The second policy document informs planners to place serious emphasis on architectural qualities contributing to climate change. Together, they cover all the bonds that local buildings have to adhere to when planning new buildings. Whatever you think of building codification or design critiques, their documentation makes life easier for architects, developers, and designers by addressing several issues of concern for local regions — from the personal, by stating guidelines connected more closely with occupied residences, to the city-wide, by ensuring built structures are addressing more abstract concerns.

8. Case Studies of House Rendering in Cardiff

Cardiff has seen significant success in the rendering of traditional houses since the mid-1980s, as witnessed in the Ely and Canton regions. The successful use of tradesmen skilled in roughcasting over helpfully exaggerated borders and angles has played a key role in this process. These masons have studied the art of creating roughcast and ashlar, mixing render exquisitely and throwing it with great energy and skill at precisely the right degree of dampness. When the render is almost hardened, they shape the surface and gently scrape it to imitate large blocks. At Ely, the well-preserved and restored house and shop at the corner of Cowbridge Road are impressive together with the whole sweep of Cowbridge Road beyond the bridge where it leads into Main Street. But it is Ely itself that is most special after its Roughcast Initiative, the first local community in the world to be backed up by a government to adopt this long-forgotten building style.

Ely is renowned as the best preserved 1930s Garden Suburb in the UK with its smooth, rendered, domestic architecture eloquently combining with the park-like sward of Gerald Street’s central green and the spine of common land along Wern Gifford Walkway; its curving streets; and its distinctly different housing projects at Church End by the Edinburgh architect William R. McGibbon, the then crucial and acute arrival in the sad history of Housing Association-sponsored housing supply of the now largely forgotten Gordon Murray, Murray House and Hurst House. The Ely project has no shortages of opponents, usually based on the perceived putative cost of scrubbing or scraping the parties, given the lack of use of wet-dash and the rarity of using keys to roughcast, wondering how the original tradesmen generated a fine finish across such a scatter of architectural bravado, such as those in the porch.

8.1. Successful Projects

A brief glimpse into the Rendering projects currently realised around Cardiff. Victoria and Co. are esteemed for the overall finish of their properties. Recently finished is a new contemporary dwelling on the outskirts of Cardiff called the F House. Situated on an open plot facing north over fields, it offers unrivalled views in a relaxed rural setting. Framing them are sharp zinc-clad gables and a smooth and creamy wall render which enhances the subtle yet animated play of light over its surfaces. This follows a successful series of high-end houses undertaken by the practice in the famous Cardiff suburb of Cyncoed. Finishes still so shiny and crisp 3 years later include vertical timber boarding, zinc and slate roofs, playing diverse roles in submerging the buildings into the surrounding woodlands the designs consciously draw inspiration from. Concealed rainwater and soil vent drainpipes contrast with the fabrics’ rusticity and produce stunning elevations. Even a plethora of renders textures and colours used on the dwelling aptly named The Cube do not look out of place amidst the woodland. Anon, Eos and Hadyn Houses and the Houghton Lane Flats located opposite them in the same vicinity are all crafted from white through-breathing impermeable silicone render systems that assimilate properties to the natural environment. Also iconic, yet “light” cavernous and worm-like, is Chappell House, adorned by a large number of fun outdoor rooms made of playful render. Capital T, shaped liberally from exposed concrete and clad in large panels of glistening copper, like almost all the Beech House terrace, boasts two southern-facing curved wings that share common.

Retaining the tranquillity and unity of a homely scale, the terrace solemnizes the stunning views available towards the magnificent Saints of Wells Cathedral and the Bristol Channel beyond, through the punctured “periscope”. Porthcawl Private Home complex also playfully stubs residential treatments onto chaotic elevated and enlarged shapes stitched by crisp dark sedum and timber roofs. Sympathetic with — but noticeably different from — the surroundings, are further two new high-end houses completed in the city. Seemingly identical, textured grey and white wall render porches juxtaposed against dark passavents create contrast with the property made “homely”. Sympathetic also are the three detached Ashmead Court Homes with off-white wall render, sloped bricks and single-temperature-matching tiles.

8.2. Challenges Faced

While rendering helps improve the aesthetics of a house and increase its value, it presents a great risk to the building problem. Rendering breathes new life into an older property that may have become detached bland and unattractive among its surrounding neighbors, or has existing pebbledash or sand and cement render that is in disrepair. However, poorly executed and incorrect render or repair can be even more destructive than what it has replaced, particularly if improper materials or techniques and bad detailing techniques are used. Problems associated with bad detailing can include the failure of the eldest of the render and consequent penetration of water in the walls, particularly around windows, doors and roof junctions, resulting in rain penetration and associated internal damage. Long periods of being wet lead the substrates to suffer mechanical and thermal failure, which exposes surface finishes to the risk of rain penetration. This problem increases particularly with hard cement-based renders and erroneous build-up, as is the case with many of the new build houses. Similarly with repairs to existing renders, continually repairing and repainting but allowing no provision for drainage can lead to unsightly staining, loss of adhesion and delamination of final finishes, and mechanical failure at gradual areas. Old cement-based systems are essentially non-breathable and are very prone to cracking and are subject to quite severe mechanical failure; when combined with a failure to point-up the junctions and use some sort of sealant to fill movement joints, can lead to almost catastrophic failure at a very early stage. The conclusion is therefore that all parties must be aware of the properties of the materials being used, the fundamental properties of the building being dealt with, and the relevance of build-ups to avoid future problems, to ensure that the project will continue to look good for years to come.

9. Trends in House Rendering

House rendering is not just a question of wall protection from the weather; it is also about personal expression, reflection of the style of belonging, and sustainability. In fact, while the rendering of a home should perform well as a weather barrier and solar reflector with the lowest environmental impact possible, home owners want the finish to be pleasing to the eye and to contribute to the eclectic character of the area. All this is made easier by the quantity of work being done on surface treatments, textures, colors, and decorative motifs but also by the wide range of colors and textures used by renderers when finishing how many buildings.

Color is undoubtedly a vital tool in the renderer’s armory. The strength of color lies in its breadth and versatility. The possibilities are enormous with subtle and delicate or bold and dramatic palettes enhanced by texture or pattern creating ever more stunning effects. Store fronts, modern art galleries, and residential structures are all now breathtaking canvases celebrating color at every level. Bright, cheerful colors speak of optimism and joy, creating buildings that emphasize and enhance their function and usage. The surfaces are applied to mainly plaster, concrete, or stucco products. These are as thick as 4 inches and made from a mix of cement, quality sand, and in some cases, pigment. The structures are also coated with acrylic latex colors and are presented as a 2 coat system, built-up entirely with color: a primer followed by a finishing coat. The resulting surfaces give a monolithic finish that continues the look created with the various technology choices used by the manufacturers.

New construction technologies have made it possible to introduce new decorative elements. Bump-outs, banding, quoins, and arches allow the renderer to carve differentiation into flat surfaces. These devices break up and relieve the monotony of featureless planes and are especially important when rendering tall walls. There are also amazing things you can do with colors, color washes, faux stones that do look like the genuine thing, like powdered granite or marble dust, additives that allow the creation of just about any finish.

9.1. Color Trends

When it comes to rendering, the color palette used can make or break your individual design. Render can completely change the way your house feels, and it can ultimately create or remove ideas of crisp, sleek designs or soft cozy cottage. We keep an eye on the latest interior design trends, so our clients can stay ahead of the curve. Because of this, we do house rendering in soft earthy tones. Tonal house renders allow the design to speak for itself. Subtle creams and beiges are currently very popular for contemporary homes with classic features, and painted brick is a great way to bring an old facade up to date.

The use of color will really show the skill of the person creating the visualization. Although you can rely upon the colors used by a visualization artist when choosing to follow trends, we think it’s important to remind you that the choice of color is often what you can’t control. Because a house has such a distinct feel about it, it is so important to choose the best color for the facade if you are creating an architecture visualization. Arrays of options could lend themselves to a building’s overall look, but also clarify features that could easily be taken for granted. You want your house render to stand out, but also have a unique and interesting choice of color palette that is simultaneously effective and complimentary.

9.2. Innovative Techniques

9.2. Innovative Techniques In Cardiff, innovation lives and thrives in all parts of house rendering, but extremely often in specific areas. New products and systems are frequently tested and offered. There are examples of factories where new worlds of finishes are tried out in a workshop fashion, where the new products come from. Due to our country’s very inclement atmospherics and because of the vagaries of our sun, we have the driest of weather very often in the open season of summer after the long drenching winter, followed by strong wet rain before another dry springtime comes by. This is an awful punishment place for all kinds of wall surfaces, though startlingly beautiful natural effects do occur on occasion when the sun is out.

There are highly decorative distilled acrylic, handmade cement-based stover, and usual cement-rich textured cement-only water-reducing-based coats of old but newly-designed new panels offered. Highly decorative panels, refreshing the flat type style, were introduced by our country’s importing company during the early 1960s, and they caused some of the prettiest house pairs in our acres of concrete prefab estates to suddenly change during the 1970s, after factory run design-fronted molds were made popular. This was the time when the remaining slab panel flat type estates were still being heavily renovated, possibly, to exceptionally attractive effect. During this time, due to our hectic house health drive, panel-fronted designs suddenly became widely affordable at one swoop, possibly, to cherished eye-catching ends. Most of the disadvantageous-bland façades soon blossomed into color-sportsmen.

10. Future of House Rendering in Cardiff

House rendering has been an increasingly popular technique for improving thermal efficiency and general aesthetics of existing buildings. Nowadays the popularity of rendered buildings is at an unprecedented height. So, what will the future hold for house rendering in Cardiff? Will emerging technologies be adopted rapidly? When will that happen? Will the market become saturated with renderers looking for work? Or will the market continue to expand, welcoming developments and innovations? Here, we share our insight into this topic.

How many houses can potentially be rendered in Cardiff? Cardiff has a population of approximately 365,500 and is made up of 140,000 homes. In 2018, 93,478 households were recorded to be receiving tax credits. If we consider how many households will want to access a rendering system, then the demand will actually be quite low. More to the point, rendering a select few homes outside may catch fire much sooner than houses that are inside space. As houses become closer together the idea of spreading the heat through the summer months, we can predict that the number of risks of internal spacing problems will increase, and this increased problem will push building companies to render more homes over a greater area, to keep the risk internalized and reduce the chance of accumulating moisture and the associated diseases inside a house.

As these advanced homes start to spread more throughout the south of Wales, it is most likely that major developers will jump in, looking to create larger patches of similar looking and equally unique house fronts. For the people of Cardiff who are living in these types of houses the rendering technique is a life-changing decision. These space-efficient and visually hypnotizing homes will still be more desirable than traditional brick-faced houses, purely for the aesthetics alone.

10.1. Emerging Technologies

At present, Cardiff is experiencing unprecedented technological advancement. Three-dimensional graphics programs allow for quicker and more complex renders and perspective viewings of programs, and render designs with implied textures. Designers are able to illustrate textures and colors of products, buildings, nature, and creatures that are almost indistinguishable from the real-life product. Services designed for architectural designers provide photorealistic results almost instantly. A program is able to create 3D photo-realistic designs of a scene configuration very quickly, which is a considerable advantage for rendering companies who already have loads of work that may take a long time. There is also the possibility of having everything done automatically. A company that specializes in architectural designs will rely on a proprietary render system software to accomplish batch rendering on a farm industry standard for renders.

An advantage for render companies wanting to produce quality renderings quickly is that with game rendering units, spark-depth rendering, and resolution scaling, render time can be reduced dramatically. The immediate result speaks loudly about the quality of creating realistic renders. High-quality results to scenery are highly photorealistic, although the texture may need refinements and the 3D object’s approximate shape coordination may require some editing. Printing companies then collect the files of the altered designs via file transfer protocols to output a version of the design on physical material for clients to view.

10.2. Predictions for the Market

Many predictions for the future of rendering foretell a lack of growth, saying that contractors prefer to old tried and true methods. There are several reasons for this: the lack of problems is cited as a leading reason, yet they fail to cite the amount of investment into problems instead preferring investment into marketing and PR. If Wales wants to compete as a creative industry then we must work to offer bespoke services to clients able to stand against damage from larger businesses. We can offer higher quality service at a lower value as predicted costs of housing increase but rendering and other creative industries are instrumental in shaping good quality developments that can reduce resentment or illusion of wealth in the Wale’s housing market. The emerging real estate trends that will define how home transactions will evolve and how the economy will grow in the coming years. The time will likely be a busy one, full of home purchases and residence relocation. The market across the entire U.K. appears to be in a strong position for building new attached homes. Cities like Cardiff, already home to a diverse economy, liberalize the land use process. This sets an opportunity to drive growth by removing barriers to expansion so our rendering services can thrive alongside residents. House rendering being the public image of the investment output from such growth. As the competition for business space heats up, urban property owners will venture out into more complex projects that integrate rendering and related services with office, shop, restaurant or recreational uses.

11. Common Issues and Solutions

It is of vital importance to plan for problems that can arise with an applied render system. If not taken into account, these problems can — and do — occur, resulting in unsightly defects to the surfaces as well as potentially leading to further issues behind the substrate. Proper knowledge in how these defects develop and the necessary background in how to confront these problems is essential if we are to minimize the occurrence of these defects and deal with them properly on site and through design. This chapter will briefly cover some of the common defects and issues experienced with the application and use of render systems, although it is by no means an exhaustive list of every single potential issue. Furthermore, it must be noted that this chapter does not state when any defect is acceptable nor when a failure is due to the applied rendering system and not by other causes, such as behind the substrate. Furthermore, it must be noted that this section does not state when any defect is acceptable nor when a failure is due to the applied rendering system and not by other causes, such as behind the substrate. Cracking is one of the most frequent and commercially important durability failures of a render. While cracking of a cement-based render may happen sooner or later, in almost all cases it will be possible to apply good quality control procedures to limit the chances of detrimental cracks occurring. Cracking will not only reduce the long-term aesthetic appearance of the render, especially for thin-layer mineral-based systems, but may also cause staining at the cracks or even have more grievous consequences, for example, moisture infiltration, deterioration of the render base, and even risk of mechanical disintegration of the render.

11.1. Cracking and Damage

There are a number of common issues which, if not addressed correctly, can lessen the quality and longevity of house renders. The commonest of these is cracking; despite great improvements in the strength and flexibility of modern systems, cracks can still appear and the integrity of the decorative finish can be compromised. Through-coloured renders, with or without thin-bead finishes, are an attempt to provide an aesthetic solution to this kind of cracking. Cracks can be caused by substrate movement: usually this is due to the movement of the structure to which the render is bonded, for example as a result of thermal expansion or contraction; however, it is often, paradoxically, the case that cracking is made worse by thermal constraint due to the render being a relatively poor conductor. Of course many cracks in renders are not structural but rather are due to shrinkage in the render itself, resulting either from repair or from curing. For this reason the use of thin applications of the lightweight decorative render systems should be avoided.

Damage to the render is another serious aesthetic issue, and one which has the potential, particularly in the case of polymers and cement-based renders, to compromise the long-term protection of the substrate to which it is bonded. Impact damage is the most obvious; as light-weight materials, polymer modified or cement-based renders will not be as resistant to impact as heavier lime-rich renders, but this is rarely an issue in a domestic context. However, it is not unknown for domestic renders to suffer boisterous accidents, often as a result of children at play or careless removals of rubbish from the garden. It is also the case that these decorative render systems will be used to provide a more durable performance than historic products, and that in these more commercial environments, the impact results in chips and gouges that, despite the original intent, are not easily repaired.

11.2. Moisture Control

Moisture issues can have a significant impact on the aesthetic and functional performance of renderings and façades. Renders form part of a wall assembly that provides some levels of dynamic moisture buffering and drying. This means that healthy indoor conditions require a balance in moisture levels and loss across the assembly, while aesthetic performance of the finish requires a dry substrate that is not visible on the surface of the finish. Moisture can be an issue in old buildings as a result of poorly executed repairs during their lifetime, or use of inappropriate materials for replacements and repairs, damaging original moisture drying performance. Dampness can be due to dislodged gutters that contribute to localized saturation at the wall bottom, poorly designed buildings with high levels of moisture-laden air, piling saturated soil against the wall, rising damp from capillary action due to too thin or nonexistent damp courses. Alternatively, high relative humidity levels can negatively affect façade finishes during the curing process of the application.

It is necessary to assess moisture transfer in the wall assembly before or after a rendering application. For repairs these methods need to be reverse engineered, often implying analysis of existing render samples’ composition, as in the case of faience and polychrome façade finishes. A range of lab studies enable the selection of new mortars for consolidating, repairing, and producing new ultra-thin mineral renderings that enable relatively fast drying time but high moisture buffering. Ties should generally be used with care and need to be made of brass or stainless to avoid initiating galvanic corrosion of the adjacent substrate. If possible, no water-resistant layers should be used to allow for moisture transfer. When available on site, infrared thermography can quickly assess potential dampness issues with wall assemblies, as could penetrometers and moisture probes. However, extreme caution should be applied to avoid superficial highlighting of non-existing issues, especially where discrete surveys of existing conditions are not possible.

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