Which Arundel houses suit silicone render
Silicone render is a modern, thin-coat system, and in Arundel it suits modern walls best. The town's 20th-century growth happened mostly to the west, beyond the A27 bypass: a suburb of semi-detached and detached houses that spread outwards from the interwar years, around older terraced housing built for workers at the Penfolds works at Tortington. Later, densely packed three-storey houses went up along the north bank of the river. Those are the walls where a through-coloured finish that never needs painting makes most sense, whether they are plain brick, blockwork or an existing render that has grown tired.
The historic centre is a different case. The Sussex Extensive Urban Survey describes an old town built largely of flint and brick, with stuccoed fronts on some streets, and walls like that need a breathable finish that works with soft, solid masonry. A silicone system is not usually the right choice there, and in the conservation area a change of finish or colour can need planning permission anyway. For those buildings, our page on rendering in Arundel covers lime and traditional repairs.
Over old render or pebble dash
Plenty of houses built in the middle decades of the last century have pebble dash or painted render that is due for attention. If the existing coat is sound and well bonded, it can usually stay: it is cleaned, cracks are dealt with, and a basecoat with reinforcing mesh goes over it, followed by a primer and the silicone top coat. If it sounds hollow when tapped, is coming away at the corners or has let water in behind, it has to come off first. We check before we quote, because a new finish over failing render does not last.
Building up the system
- Preparation: loose material removed, cracks treated, walls cleaned down.
- Beads at corners, window reveals and the base of the wall, with a bell-cast bead keeping the render above the damp proof course.
- Basecoat with mesh bedded in, to spread stresses and resist cracking.
- A tinted primer to suit the chosen colour.
- The silicone top coat, applied thinly and worked to an even texture.
Colour, neighbours and permission
Because the colour runs right through the top coat, it is chosen once and stays with the house for many years. On a semi-detached house it is worth talking to the neighbours, since one half of a pair in a new colour changes the look of both. If your street might be inside the conservation area, Arun District Council's interactive map will confirm it, and the council's conservation officer can advise before you settle on a colour.
Weather and timing
Silicone systems have temperature and weather limits set by the manufacturer, so external work runs from spring to autumn, with each coat kept dry and frost free while it cures. If you want the walls insulated as well as refinished, the same kind of top coat is often used over an external wall insulation system, and the two jobs are best planned together.
Read more about silicone rendering or see our Arundel page for every service we cover in the town. Free, no-obligation quotes on 07824 165672.
