Removing pebbledash

[Philip Gooch]

Hello

Today I looked at a house for potential purchase in London. It was
built in the 1930s and unfortunately the exterior is pebbledashed. As
well as looking ugly, I have heard that this is bad for the house as it
prevents the walls from breathing.

Anyone have some suggestions on how it could be removed and how much
this would cost?

Thanks

Phil

[Andrew Gabriel]

In article <130520001600161959%ph...@easynet.co.uk>,

If it was done when the house was built, and particularly if other
houses nearby are the same style, then I think you should think again;
maybe you don't really want a 1930's house? If you did take it off,
the wall underneath would probably not be suitable exteria display
or use, so you'd need to find another finishing instead.

FWIW, my 1905 house has pebbledash at the first floor level, and that
part of the wall is proving to be more whether-proof than some of the
rest of it.

Pebble-dash seems to come in two types - the sort which comes off by
itself (which seems to apply to the 1920-1930's houses near me), and
the sort which only comes off with a lot of hard work and with half
of each brick attached, which is on my house (I'm glad to say - I've
only had to remove a 6" diameter patch for a flue, and it was harder
than making the hole through the rest of the 9" brick wall).

--
Andrew Gabriel
Consultant Software Engineer

[Stuart Grant]

> It was
> built in the 1930s and unfortunately the exterior is pebbledashed. As
> well as looking ugly, I have heard that this is bad for the house as it
> prevents the walls from breathing.
>

Well, it's survived 70 years of British weather so it cant be doing that
much harm. If you remove it, you'll probably find breeze or concrete
block behind, they didn't bother to dash facing bricks or stone. That
means re-rendering, and the pebbledash will be a sounder surface to
render than what you'll find under it. So IIWYI either Sandtex or Snowcem
it, or render straight on top.
Stuart Grant

[Philip Gooch]

Thanks for the advice. One thing I forgot to mention was that it is a
terraced house, but it is the only one in the that has pebbledash.
Maybe this means it was added later? Or maybe all the other terraces
had it removed.

Phil

In article <8fk95i$2...@cucumber.demon.co.uk>, Andrew Gabriel
<and...@cucumber.demon.co.uk> wrote:

> In article <130520001600161959%ph...@easynet.co.uk>,
> Philip Gooch <ph...@easynet.co.uk> writes:

> >Today I looked at a house for potential purchase in London. It was

> >built in the 1930s and unfortunately the exterior is pebbledashed. As
> >well as looking ugly, I have heard that this is bad for the house as it
> >prevents the walls from breathing.
> >

[Stuart Grant]

> . One thing I forgot to mention was that it is a
> terraced house, but it is the only one in the that has pebbledash.
> Maybe this means it was added later? Or maybe all the other terraces
> had it removed.
>

Or maybe it had genuine stone cladding and it was removed taking the
brick facings with it. Ask up and down the street for someone who's
been there for long enough to know.
Stuart Grant

[Martin Salter]

Philip Gooch <ph...@easynet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:130520001600161959%ph...@easynet.co.uk...
> Hello

>
> Today I looked at a house for potential purchase in London. It was
> built in the 1930s and unfortunately the exterior is pebbledashed. As
> well as looking ugly, I have heard that this is bad for the house as it
> prevents the walls from breathing.
>
> Anyone have some suggestions on how it could be removed and how much
> this would cost?

Buy something else; as a buyer any unusual finishing puts me off and makes
me think why?
If you can't get back to the same surface as the rest of the street it will
always be in this position.