There are a variety of factors to take into account when deciding on the price to render a house. Due to this complexity, this article will address the question of how much to render a house in the most general sense, aiming to show you how reduce the cost. The article will also elaborate on the factors determining the cost.
There appears to be a ‘rule of 3’ that enquirers and prospective rendering customers follow prior to financing a house rendering project. This involves customers seeking 3 quotes from a selection of builders and/ or plasterers and picking the quote that offers more services at a relatively lower price.
How much to render a house also lies within the responsibility of the house owner himself/ herself. The owner should seek impartial advice offered by an engineer from the home owner’s building insurance company so the home owner can ascertain the true cost of the rendering. Impartial advice is key and will be explained further below.
Another way to reduce the cost of rendering a house is to seek out the services of plasterers/ renderers directly instead of hiring a builder as builders do general construction work while plasterers/ renderers are more specialised. Builders may charge more to render a house as they act as the intermediates or ‘middle men’ in handling of the business and communication between what the home owner and the renderer. By cutting out the builder or ‘middle man’, you reduce the cost of rendering your home as you don’t have to pay for the services of the builder hiring plasterers in addition to paying for the plasterers. Instead you pay only for the renderer’s services.
For home owners in need of wanting to remove badly damaged old render and replace it with a newer one, this will also increase the cost of rendering your home due to this extra preliminary work requiring more time and manpower to accomplish in comparison to rendering a newly built house. A tip given in forums debating the topic of the cost of rendering is to tap the walls of your house and hear the sound it makes. If you hear hollow sounds, it means the old render is coming away from the wall and you may have to actually remove the old render, driving up your cost of rendering your home by a great amount. If, however, the sound you hear after tapping the walls of your home is not a hollow one, then all it requires is a minor repair on your part by going to a DIY store and getting a render similar or identical to the render you have and applying it. A little bit of paint (if the home is painted) should cover up any marks of repair on the render.
Another factor that determines the cost of rendering a home is the location of your home in the country. If you are in an area where there is relatively more rain, snow etc this may increase the cost of rendering your home as your house render will be frequently exposed to the elements, the rain or snow constantly seeking to undermine and gradually destroy the layer of render protecting your home.
Not only will the weather be a problem but also what exactly will be used during the rendering process in terms of equipment. The cost of rendering a house will increase if scaffolds are required and if the scaffolds themselves will be placed close to a road or path. This is because overhead construction work conducted on your house will present a hazard to pedestrians, bystanders and nearby cars so you will need permission from your local council before any rendering is to take place.
Finally, getting back to the point of impartial advice being key that was mentioned earlier in this article, it is important to get impartial advice of an engineer from your building insurance company as construction companies don’t always work for your best interest. Some companies and builders intentionally want to take advantage of you by charging exorbitant prices for their services as they know that you as the home owner are more likely to not know what the real price is (which in reality may be smaller than what they charge) simply because it is not your profession to know. Be warned!
K Rend approved