If you decide to render, I believe you need a pick a more breathable render especially as it’s an old house and avoid silicon based renders like k-rend. We used parex lime based render on our property, again a through colour render so doesn’t require painting but it’s not cheap! Still looks great 5 years later!

I would just paint it an off white. 90% improvement for a small cost.

I bought a house with pebbledash like yours and just had it painted. Went from ugly to lovely!
Another option which I had done on a different property: if the house needs insulation, get the external insulation put on over the pebbledash and then this will be painted to your specification. Not as cheap as repainting but would add to the EPC rating.

The examples of the external insulation I’ve seen haven’t been particularly attractive because of the depth around the window apertures.

I would also go with painting it white, especially as there are other houses in your street already painted so it would blend well.

Add some colour/planting/climinbg roses in hot pink etc to distract from the pebble dash.

The windows are lovely, perhaps pick out the frames in a different colour to highlight them?

Hi, we had a similar situation in one of the projects and changed it, so it looks now like this:

Family House in North London · 詳細

You can find some before photos here https://vorbild.co.uk/project/0401-picturesque-kilburn-terraced-house-refurbishment-nw6-london/. I hope it gives you some ideas.

A sincere thank you all for your responses. I thought everyone hated pebble dash but it might be that only people who have it do! (Will post about my avocado bathroom suite later.) I've been given the details of someone who paints pebble dash (they are hard to find!) and will look at painting it and will also look at some of the render options. Not sure if I'm allowed to ask for recommendations on this forum, but notice a lot of companies that offer rendering seem to be nationwide and seem to source contractors per area. If anyone has a suggestion of outfits to avoid or seek out in the SW London area please LMK. After painting or rendering we will definitely paint the door and windows and hang some baskets and be a bit more house proud on the outside. Thank you all again, what a nice online community.

Vorbild, that’s a lovely example of a completely and sensitively restored Victorian House.

I normally don’t follow Pros’ links but couldn’t resist this time 😊 and apart from a few grammar mistakes found it a good read.

Re the pebble dash, more proof removing it is not easy and then there’s still a good chance the bricks will be damaged, as in Vorbild’s case.

Happy to hear that E D and thanks for your comment, I will look into it :)

Agreed. Beautiful. But also agree removal probably not the right choice for my house and budget. Possibly, if like Vorbild's client we were doing a complete overhaul and modernisation project. May I ask, is it common to paint the bricks after dash removal because they require repointing and repairing? I know of another house that had dash removed and the bricks weren't repainted but they have a sort of chalky sanded appearance. Just curious.

when we had external wall insulation put over our pebble dash, we had all the windows pushed out about five centimetres (the windows were being replaced anyway) it required a bit of redecorating inside but made a big difference to the look outside

There was an advice article on Houzz on 1 Feb about options for removing pebbledash. I can’t find it now on the app but I can still access it if I google. That may be a useful starting point if you haven’t read it yet.

Not sure how I missed that article in my searching but have now read it, thank you!

If you cant afford to remove it, if you paint it white and grow a wisteria and/or climbing rose around the door it would look lovely.

Do you have a link for the Houzz item on pebbledash?

Sorry, just lazy... 😊

Me too ! I am relived K render is off our list now ... in my heart I want to actually use the shiplap finish that’s up and coming ... but it might look odd as it’s a semi and next door is still PD.

Its a nice looking house but if you really hate the pebbledash then i would just get it spray painted in a colour that compliments the street and other houses around you. K render looks good but it's very expensive and we don't know what its going to look like several years down the road and it may have been a waste of time and money. Your pebbledash looks like is in good condition in any case...so if it's not broken etc. Hope this helps and good luck!

E D, I cannot find the article (it was called 'how to remove pebbledash') on houzz anymore for some reason

If you painted it pure white and the window frames a very pretty very pale indigo it could look amazing.

The article on pebbledash seems to have been removed. No idea why. Bit frustrated as I had intended to send a link to it to a friend 🙄

The wall and path are next 😆

Looking great. 👌

Good to see you didn’t do anything drastic.

Apart from removing your greenery...😱 😊

PS What‘s the colour(s) you went for?

I always hated the variegated euonymus we had here but to be fair, it never asked much from us. You don’t miss a trick ED! 😆 The pebbldash was covered in a light warm grey called ‘early evening ‘ or something but chosen due to similarity to LG’s ‘french grey’. The door is LG’s ‘Orange Aurora‘. The decorator’s painted the roof tiles which made everything pop (hope it lasts!?) and did a smashing job on the windows— neighbours thought we’d had them replaced.

Looks very smart Well done

What a difference Paint makes. Well done.

Just paint it, just painted ours and it's made a huge difference

Whilst you are making your final decision would a good clean, pressure wash?, make it a bit cleaner looking?

well, if I look at the date, it appears you have made your decision! 😂 Congrats on the final result. So much smarter and brighter.

kazzh, you were talking about the parapet wall, weren’t you? 😄

The wall is a real eyesore now in comparison. Working on it!

E D Now that I think about it I'm sure I was commenting on the wall! ☺ LOL...... let me just have another look! 🤣

Wow, it looks fantastic! In spring you could add window boxes with bright red pelargoniums and it will be a total smash. 😍

I actually quite liked the vegetation you had, Krusty. Or at least the fact there was some greenery.

Are you planning to have some? Or lots, even? 😊

In due course! There are a few purple cyclamen in pots for now. Was thinking of purple and orange flowers in window boxes but don’t want to mess the nice new paint work just yet. Would love a climber like a trumpet flower (Campsis radicans) but we’re north facing at the front so not sure it will be as happy there as the euonymus was. I promise I'm all for green generally— back garden is a jungle!

i would definately teacosy the whole house, if planning would allow, google it, it will cut your heating bills in half.

we painted the pebble dash on the top half of our house years ago when we moved in ...and then some of the neighbours did the same.. it looks much better now as it was quite a dark pebble it looks light and airy ...its palest grey at the moment but it easy and cheap to change and update

we literally finished the back of the house today and very pleased with the results. even painted the old upvc door and garage.

Looking good dj matt. 👌

Are you sure you did the back of the house?

This ‘literally’ looks like the front to me. 😄

haha ED very good point. This was the back last night. Just need to get round and sort that inside edge of the chimney!

Would paint it and what about letting some wall-friendly ivy like Boston ivy grow over it? Looks stunning in autumn and good for wildlife?

Any suggestions for a house with red brick on the lower half? Have already painted the pebbledash on the upper half and I would also like to paint the lower half but I I read somewhere that it can cause damage?

Looking good, Niamh, but can I suggest you start a new thread for your dilemma?

It will get you more response.

👍🏻

We had the pebbledash painted using Earthborn's Silicate Masonry System in 'Pebble' white.

The 'Before' picture shows the old roof which we replaced with Marley ACME Heather blend roof tiles and a chimney on the right hand side which we removed.

Before

After

@KrustyBeagle- hello! We need to get the front of our pebble dash house painted and yours looks amazing! Can you recommend the decorator you used? Thanks

Sussex Lime Restorations, based in Eastbourne, painted the house. See: https://www.sussexlimerestorations.com

We had ours done by Finestone Roofers and Decorators. Think they are based Kingston/ Chessington area. https://www.finestoneroofersanddecorators.co.uk/

My sister who us on a tight budget has a pebbledash house and is looking to change the doors and windows.She us currently interested in a company called https://palladiodoors.ie/. The pebbledash is a problem (I think )which she cannot resolve at this time.Can you give your opinions on what you think she should do re doors and windows.

I love the colour of your house what colour did you paint it in the end?