Rendering small wall, mix by hand?

[robodelfy]

Hi, sorry for any silly questions, first time rendering here!

I'm getting a guy to come and plaster this wall, but he said I could save some money by doing a coat of render then a scratch coat, then he'd plaster.

It's such a small job, how hard would it be to mix the render without power tools. Would you just use a spade in a bucket? Any idea how many bags or cement and sand I'd need for a wall like this?

Also, what mix would you go for, on the first and second coat. I have some SBR and waterproof admix, not sure if I should use both in the mix or just one, I bought them on the builders advice. It's an external wall on an old Victorian house, I want it to be protected from the elements

Thanks

 

[dontbelieveawordofit]

you need to brick it up first.
4 bags of building sand and a bag of cement will be plenty.
id go for 4 1/2:1 with sbr .
mixing on the floor or on a spot board with a shovel.
mix your stuff up then generously wet the wall with a sprayer or hose set on a fine mist before starting.

 

[robodelfy]

you need to brick it up first.
4 bags of building sand and a bag of cement will be plenty.
id go for 4 1/2:1 with sbr .
mixing on the floor or on a spot board with a shovel.
mix your stuff up then generously wet the wall with a sprayer or hose set on a fine mist before starting.

Thanks, yeah I'll brick under the window first, just need to cut some bricks to fit the gap.
So 4 parts sand, 1/2 part cement and 1 part SBR? That seems like a lot of sand and SBR but not much cement! Do I use this same mix foe the first coat and the scratch coat. I read about making a slurry for the first coat, kind of painting it on everything

What do you mean by mixing on the floor? Would a bucket not make more sense than a board

 

[datarebal]

Floor

looks like he means 4.5 sand to 1 cement...with added sbr

 

[dontbelieveawordofit]

Thanks, yeah I'll brick under the window first, just need to cut some bricks to fit the gap.
So 4 parts sand, 1/2 part cement and 1 part SBR? That seems like a lot of sand and SBR but not much cement! Do I use this same mix foe the first coat and the scratch coat. I read about making a slurry for the first coat, kind of painting it on everything

What do you mean by mixing on the floor? Would a bucket not make more sense than a board

no ...4.5 :1 with sbr.
you can mix in a bucket if you like.
i’d only be painting slurry on first if there was a major damp problem.

 

[robodelfy]

no ...4.5 :1 with sbr.
you can mix in a bucket if you like.
i’d only be painting slurry on first if there was a major damp problem.

Ok thanks, so 4.5 sand, 1 cement and added SBR. So would you use SBR only, not waterproofer admix? Because I bought that to put in the mix

Thanks for the help. Theres not a damp problem that I know of, but there's some dodgy brickwork, its. double brick wall and victorian houses are prone to damp issues. So if a slurry would help protect from damp in the future, maybe I should do it.

 

[HERTS P&D]

Let the plasterer do it, plastering/rendering is an art.

Andy

 

[dontbelieveawordofit]

sbr or waterproofer. either or. but
sbr will make the mix more flexible, give more adhesion to the brickwork and it’ll be easier to get a nice mix by hand.
you could mix a strong sbr slurry if you like, and apply it by brush and stipple it as a key for your cement coat.

 

[lostinthelight]

Let the plasterer do it, plastering/rendering is an art.

Andy

Not only that, the plasterer wont be able to blame OP’s rendering if the skim coat cracks all to hell

 

[robodelfy]

Let the plasterer do it, plastering/rendering is an art.

Andy

I've done some small plastering jobs myself, tiny walls. This is quite a small space, I don't see why I can't do a scratch coat. You have to start somewhere!

 

[dontbelieveawordofit]

maybe the forum should be renamed ‘let the expert do it’ .
no harm in having a go. your obviously keen to hone your skills. knock yourself out!
if it goes wrong scrape it all off ......... then let a spread do it

 

[HERTS P&D]

Benny, I'm on your side. I'm trying to stop all the diyers nicking your work.

Andy

 

[robodelfy]

maybe the forum should be renamed ‘let the expert do it’ .
no harm in having a go. your obviously keen to hone your skills. knock yourself out!
if it goes wrong scrape it all off ......... then let a spread do it

Thanks, yeah its about the only opportunity I'll get and you can see how small the wall is.

One more thing, should I put anything on the bricks before laying the first coat of render? Should I just wet it, or use SBR?

And do you get a special rake type tool for scratching up each coat, or is good DIY solution?

 

[dontbelieveawordofit]

Benny, I'm on your side. I'm trying to stop all the diyers nicking your work.

Andy

there’s more money in it after they realise they can’t do it... i’d have bricked it up and bought 2 bags of hardwall. robodelfy wants to learn rendering

 

[dontbelieveawordofit]

Thanks, yeah its about the only opportunity I'll get and you can see how small the wall is.

One more thing, should I put anything on the bricks before laying the first coat of render? Should I just wet it, or use SBR?

And do you get a special rake type tool for scratching up each coat, or is good DIY solution?

get yourself a length of 2x1 which you can use to rule it off - square it up.
also you could use a polyeurethane float with a couple of nails in to lightly scratch it up and flatten it off nice.
give it a good wet with plain water.