Beside paint there are other external finishes that can greatly improve the aesthetical view of your property, Rendering or pebble dashing can transform most weathered buildings but some external high textured finishes look far better, most of these are easy to apply and are ready coloured so do not need painting.
There are a few different makes of "high build" textured finishes, many of these can be applied by trowel, roller or spray and can be patterned if desired.
Sandtex currently make "High build" textured decorative coating and Johnstone's Jontex is a high build textured decorative coating, both of these products are available in various colours.
This picture above shows Brick damage, known as "spalling" which is when the brick crumbles, to the left of the picture just out of view is a bricked up doorway. The vent for the tumble drier also looks unsightly! Sorry about the condition of the property but this is how a Tenant left it!
You can only really apply high texture finishes to relatively smooth surfaces, so in this case the Wall needs rendering first- Start by Fixing external corner beading to all corners, this is best done with galvanized or stainless steel screws or nails, in most cases you can screw the screws into gaps in the masonry with a Drill/Driver, remove any obstacles such as drainpipes etc. Now paint the walls to be rendered with external grade PVA bonding which will assist the render.
This picture above shows the Angle beading, which has already been rendered on one side of the wall. A cement mixer is best used to mix large quantities of cement!
Mix the Render to the ratio of- 1 cement* 4 sand* It is advisable to mix the gauging water with a special rendering admix which greatly improves the consistency of the Render.
The finish on the render does not need to be perfect as it is being covered with a high texture finish later. Using a hawk and a plasterers float render the wall, the angle beads make this a lot easier.
Wait until the render has completely dried, which will normally be a few days. You can then apply the high texture finish.
You will not believe how easy this finish is to apply! This finish is Manufactured by several different paint companies and comes in 15kg containers.
To apply it simply Trowel it on with either a brick laying trowel or plasterers float until you have covered approx 1 square meter then take your stippling brush and simply bounce the brush off the Finish that you have applied, this creates a "Stipple" effect. If you don't have a stippling brush you can use an economy paint brush, but you might soon get bored on a large area!!!
You can also texture the area using a textured roller or pattern the area using combs etc.
