How to remove render from brickwork?

Hi team,

we have recently purchased an old brick house (yay - first home owners). She’s old, 1960’s old and to be honest the house could do with a tidy up, and smells funky (you know that old wood funky smell).

my questions are: the bricks are covered with textured render, that’s been painted peach.
Can we strip off the rendering? What do we use for this?

do we have to re-render the bricks after? Can we render them with something flat? The textured stuff is harder to keep clean.
how do we tell if the bricks are in good condition?

added a couple of pictures of the peachy rendering

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Comments

Jason

Congratulations on your new home and welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @JessiNewOwner. We look forward to seeing how you can transform it.

Some photos would help members to see what you are working with and provide more helpful and specific advice. Please let me know if you need a hand uploading some. Are you talking about internal or external walls?

Jason

JessiNewOwner

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/59002#Comment_59002

Hi Jason,

thanks for the response I’ve uploaded a couple of photos. We were talking about internal walls

MitchellMc

Hi @JessiNewOwner,

Thanks for those images.

It appears that the surface in your photos is blockwork, and the render doesn’t look particularly thick. The reason that matters is that when a thin skim coat of render or cement is applied over blockwork, it bonds very strongly to the surface. Unlike a thicker render, you can’t really get a chisel underneath it to lift or chip it off. Because of that, it’s going to be very difficult to remove, and it’s unlikely to come off in layers.

If your goal is to reduce the textured finish, the most practical approach would be to have the surface professionally ground back to smooth it out, then have a plasterer skim over it to create a flat finish ready for painting. This would give you the cleaner look you’re after without trying to remove the render completely. Keep in mind that this kind of grinding should only be done by a professional, as the cement dust is hazardous. Make sure proper safety equipment, including a respirator, is used.

You might also wonder whether you can simply apply a new smooth coat over the existing render. The issue is that your current surface is painted, and cement- or plaster-based coatings won’t properly adhere to paint. Removing the paint first would be just as challenging as removing the render itself, since it’s bonded tightly to the textured surface. Paint strippers generally won’t work effectively in this case.

So, the best course would likely be to have the surface abraded or sanded back professionally to remove the paint layer, then apply a new smooth coat over the top. Alternatively, given this is a significant amount of work, the easier option would be to install plasterboard over the wall and cover it up. You'll lose a small amount of space in the room, but that would be the most effective way of resolving the issue.

Here's a helpful guide: How to install plasterboard.

Let me tag @Nailbag to see if he has any thoughts.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

Nailbag

Hi @JessiNewOwner

I think @MitchellMc has already offered up some great suggestions.

1. Removing the render, which is most likely to be things he's suggested will create a lot of dust, then most likely the surface will have surface scratches in the brickwork needing to be filled. probably my least fav solution, but is one you. could do yourself. So the cheapest option depending on level of finish your after.

2. For smooth-coating over the existing surface, which could then be painted over requires a plaster thats certified in "LEVEL 5" plastering finishes. This leaves a uniform smooth finish but may come at a cost due to the extensive labour, but potentially the cheapest over the next one.

3. Lastly, get quotes from plasterers to fix plasterboard directly over the current wall. It will require all the architraves and skirting to be removed, much of which may then need to be replaced with new. You will loose only about 15mm/wall. A carpenter or a decent handyman can do the timber work.

Regards Nailbag

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