The order of work in a façade refurbishment

The order of work, start to finish

A façade refurbishment follows the wall from the outside in and back out again. Permissions come first, because rendering in a conservation area or changing colour under the Article 4 direction can need consent. Then scaffold, protection and the removal of fittings. Then removal or opening up of the old render, which shows what the wall is really like. Repairs to brick, stone, joints, lintels and sills follow, and the wall is left to dry if it is wet. Only then do beads, base coats, finishes and coatings go on.

Commercial or shared buildings add access and occupation to that sequence, but the order on the wall itself does not change. What changes is how the elevations are split into phases, which is best done at corners and natural breaks so each phase finishes cleanly.

Each material then sets its own pace. A lime render goes on coat by coat, each one waiting for the last to firm. A thin-coat silicone system needs its base coat to cure and its primer to dry before the topcoat. A sprayed monocouche is applied and scraped in one visit per bay, but the scraping has to wait for the render to reach the right stage of set. Painting comes last, on cured render, in dry weather.

Illustrative programme: a hypothetical Harrogate semi

For example, take a hypothetical semi with failed cement render on an older sandstone front and a block-built rear extension. The front is to be stripped and re-rendered in lime; the extension gets a silicone thin coat. The materials set the pace more than the crew does.

At the front, after stripping and repointing, each lime coat waits for the previous one to firm up, and the finished work is kept under damp hessian; Cornish Lime’s guide says the hessian should stay in place for at least two weeks. At the back, K Rend asks for its base coat to stand at least 14 days before the primer, and the primer to dry for 24 hours before the silicone topcoat.

So the extension’s base coat can go on early and cure while the front is being built up in lime, and the two finishes can be completed in the same weeks. Limewash on the front follows once the lime has hardened. Planned this way, the scaffold stays up for one continuous period instead of returning.

Commercial & new build ↗

What has to wait for what

Some stages cannot be rushed because one depends on another. Render cannot go onto a wall until the repairs behind it are finished and, on new blockwork or after heavy rain, until the wall has dried. Sills, window frames, roof edges and gutters should be in place before rendering, so the render is finished up to them rather than cut back later. Pipes, lights and alarm boxes go back on afterwards, onto cured render, with sealed fixings.

Opening up the wall often changes the plan. A trial patch may show that old render comes away cleanly or that it pulls the stone with it; a fitting taken off may reveal rot or a loose lintel behind. Leave room in the programme for that decision, rather than assuming the first plan will survive the first day of removal.

Use the Harrogate rendering service overview to separate the work packages: removal, repairs, new finish, recolouring or insulation. A project may include several, but each has its own purpose and boundary on the wall, which makes quotes easier to compare.

For an occupied house, agree how doors, bins, parking and deliveries will work during each stage, and when the noisiest work, hacking off old render, will happen.

Weather windows

Render is weather-dependent, and the limits are written into the data sheets. K Rend’s monocouche data sheet sets a working band of 5 to 30°C and adds that work should not start with frost due within a day, in the wet or on a wall in full sun. Its silicone thin coat needs air and wall at 5°C or above, calm conditions out of fierce sun, and cover until it has dried. Cornish Lime warns that wind, high temperatures and strong sunlight dry lime too fast and cause shrinkage. Tendring’s guide warns that lime render hit by hot sun, drying winds or frost before setting loses adhesion and will fall off.

In practice, winter work is slow and sometimes impossible, and summer work moves round the house to stay out of direct sun. Sheeted scaffold helps against rain and wind but not frost. A programme that assumes every day is a working day will run late; one built around the forecast will not.

Record variations in writing with the reason and location, and separate necessary repairs found during removal from optional improvements suggested at the same time.

Shade matters as much as temperature. On a sunny day the crew may render the north and east faces in the morning and follow the shade round, rather than work a south-facing wall in full sun.

Records worth keeping at the end

Collect the information while the wall is open: photographs of the stripped wall and repairs, the products used on each elevation with their colour references, and the maintenance advice from the manufacturers. Label the photographs while you still know which wall they show.

Ask for the manufacturers’ maintenance notes as well as the product names. A silicone finish, a monocouche and a limewashed lime render are cleaned and recoated differently, and the wrong cleaner or paint can spoil each of them.

Before the scaffold comes down, walk the elevations: check edges, sills and drips, beads at the damp-proof course, fittings refitted and sealed, and stone cleaned of splashes. Note anything outstanding by location.

For buildings that stay occupied, the programme should include removing temporary protection and restoring normal access. Confirm which fittings the rendering contractor refits and which belong to another trade.

Store the records where the owner or manager can find them. A refurbishment that ends with a clear account of what was done gives the next person working on the wall a head start.