The Best Type of House Render?

With a world of possibilities to choose from when it comes to making your house look great on the outside, the decorative finish to go for can be an overwhelming decision.

Our range of house renders is growing, and with expansion comes the need for more information so that customers can make an informed choice about which house render is right for them!

Currently, our render range includes a set of thin coat and thick coat options. In the thin coat category, we currently offer Acrylic, Silicone, Silicone Silicate and Mineral, with (spoiler) more exciting options on the horizon set to hit the shelves in the coming months. As for our thick coat renders, we offer Monocouche and our Heritage Lime Render.

But why would you want to use a thin coat house render as opposed to just a plain old sand and cement render? What are the benefits of different types of house renders, and where can I buy house render?

We have all the answers to all of your questions, so keep reading for more info!

What Does a Thin Coat House Render do?

Thin coat house renders are as the name suggests. They are applied in an extremely thin layer over the top of a specially engineered basecoat, which is designed to work in conjunction with the render to optimise breathability and flexibility.

Thin coat renders, similar to house paint, are available in hundreds of different colours and a range of different textures (for a smooth or rough finish). When we talk about what kind of properties a specific thin coat house render can offer a customer, we are essentially referring to the formulation of the render and its resulting capabilities. Some of these capabilities include vapour permeability, breathability, self cleaning and mechanical resistance (strength).

Thin Coat House Renders and Flexibility

The universal property that a thin coat house render will offer, however, is flexibility. You may have seen a property with cracks in the external walls, and this is caused by a combination of factors including weathering and poor installation of the render, but most likely it’s because the render is not flexible enough to cope with the movements of the house.

The external walls of your home will expand and shrink during cold temperatures and hot temperatures. This is only a tiny amount, but if your house render isn’t flexible enough you can definitely expect to see cracking over time. This is particularly distressing when you’ve paid for a job to be done, and its lifetime is considerably shorter than you were originally expecting. 

When you use a thin coat render, you are guaranteeing flexibility purely because it isn’t applied in a solid, thick layer. The basecoat underneath the render also has fibreglass mesh embedded within it. Fibreglass mesh is really flexible and has high tensile strength, so as your house expands it will hold the basecoat together and prevent cracking of your thin coat render.

House Rendering | Silicone Render

Currently, our top of the range thin coat house render is our Silicone render. Silicone render offers unsurpassed breathability and vapour permeability (it will allow water vapour to escape through it, thereby preventing damp). The inverse of this is that it’s also hydrophobic, so there’s no chance of water getting in. Silicone render is also self-cleaning, so it’s definitely the house render to choose if your house is situated in an area where there are lots of trees and plant life.

House Rendering | Silicone Silicate Render

Silicone Silicate is very similar to silicone in that it offers excellent breathability and vapour permeability. The only real difference between the two is that Silicone Silicate will only offer a limited amount of resistance to organic growth. It’s therefore better suited to properties that do not require a high level of self cleaning capabilities.

House Rendering | Acrylic Render

Our Acrylic coloured render is our most impact resistant. This means that it is extremely strong and therefore great for if you have kids who are keen on kicking footballs against your wall. When rendering your house with Acrylic render it does mean that because of its strength you sacrifice the breathability aspect that silicone offers, so it’s really a balance between which is more important for your circumstances!

House Rendering | Mineral Render

Mineral render is a great choice if you live in a particularly harsh climate. Because of the fact that it’s fast drying, it can be installed in cold or humid conditions, however it does require painting with a silicone paint after it has dried to prevent the formation of lime bloom, which is essentially like a cement disease which makes your house render appear patchy.

Why Choosing the Right House Render is Essential

We always want our customers to make the right decisions and be happy with their finished product, which is why we aim to use these blogs as an informative tool. Choosing the right render is important to ensure a long lasting finish that will look fresh and nice for the duration of its lifespan!

Approved Installers of Thin Coat House Render

Here at EWI Store, we have a database of installers who have passed our training sessions and have subsequently become approved installers. What this means is that once they are trained in the correct use of our materials and have proven themselves to provide the highest quality of work, we recommend them to our customers.

If you are interested in finding a local approved installer, simply fill out the contact form below and we will be in touch!