Ugly Monocouche Render Stains - Roger's Rant

Time for another one of Roger's Rants. He has seen too many stained Monocouche renders and wants to share his thoughts.

#Monocouche #RogerRant

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[johndaniells]

Totally agree Roger. I've been involved in some new builds over the past 5 years where it's shameful the condition the render is in now. Even where external fan grills have been mounted on the render, you get the water marks either side of the grill. Today's architects love render, even if it's just a panel to break up the massing of brickwork. Same applies, water marks at the cills, boiler flues, basically anywhere that rainwater is allowed to be directed back against the render. I'd rather just see a traditional brick built property with some feature brick details or stone cills / lintels anyday.

[petemoring]

The problem with Monocouche and it's brothers is the fact that it's really porous.
My son does a lot of Monocouche, (because his customers prefer the look), but over 30 years ago now I was using 'Blue-Circle Hi-build' ... (The Pre-coloured exterior coatings) that were used to enhance the basic sand and cement render and required no maintenance. I recently went on a Nostalgia-Trip in my car (now that I'm long retired) and was very pleased to see that those with the Hi-Build still looked as good as the day they were finished (Well - Nearly ;-)

A good hose-down every ten years is all they needed ... And NO - I'm not associated in any way with the Hi-Build products. Not even sure if you can still get it - it was dang expensive stuff, even back then :-)

[joeframer]

Great channel👍... We don't have that problem in the USA. On the east coast we mostly use red cedar shingles or clapboard. Lasts 30 yrs... Mostly Koma exterior trim ( a plastic, non shrinking type, never rots) ..

[Leodis.Leather]

when I was on holiday in Cornwall I went through Nansleden which is a new model town that Prince Charles has been involved in, some of the houses are done out in nice pastel colours like pinks and blues (would probably look daft in Leeds but seems to work at the seaside!). I thought they had just painted them but I wonder if they have this stuff on, I didn't even know it existed.

[gdfggggg]

Looks bloody brilliant when new. I’ve seen this staining all over and in different colours. Seems like a better background for organic mould build up too.

[thebrokenbone]

around here that stain also comes from vehicle smog filling the pores and then the occasional rain washing them down busy streets are the worst busy streets with many old diesel pos going thru even worse. thanks roger i picked up a thing or two today. in my experience if it has a texture sooner or later is going to cause problems. the owner of the house with the round window has another problem too... take care man. thanks again. pete

[johndavies]

Great video Roger. We are just starting a major renovation and have to decide between a render or clad external finish. As we have a long north facing wall, there seems to be more of a risk for algae etc to stain a rendered finish. Neither our architect or any of the builders we hope to use have mentioned maintenance issues. Maybe we are now leaning towards composite cladding or even brick slips.

[RedRupert]

Here in Latvia, new buildings are looking pretty shoddy after only a few years. I agree that it's down to the architects. Thanks for a great vid. 👍🏻

[SteveAndAlexBuild]

Not a big fan of either .... looks fantastic when it first goes on then can only deteriorate from there . I may be biased but you can’t beat a beautiful, well built face brick wall 🧱🧱🧱🧱👍🏼

[julianthornton]

Good rant Roger! we had this problem with alpine render about 25yrs ago, that went out of fashion as will monocouche renders, this is now the dilemma we have with all these products in todays market ; they are not suitable for all locations but they are happy to sell you them, in the past they did not have a multitude of products to use so they became very proficient at what they did have. we all say they don't build them like they used to but I can assure you I have pulled out plenty of rotten windows, roofs & walls in old properties.

[markhep]

It's mantanence free in the colour black 😂😂😂😂 that's if there are no birds about 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[michaeldavies]

I want to take my old brown tiles off. Was going to render the whole house then, but just don’t know what to do now. It’s so 70s but want a modern look

[thequion]

Architects are building nemesis. Biggest cause of building failures.

[jkchurch]

I had an outside wall krend 5/6 years ago. The whole wall now goes jet black after rain. It started becoming a real problem about 12 months ago. When it dries it dries to a dirty grey lemon. I dont have a good ridge tile overhang. If I have them fitted now, ridge tiles along the ridge with an overhang. Will it help even now and should I power wash or paint. The builder will not come back to remedy! It is very upsetting.

[klaeLIFE]

Render like this needs to be sealed when its clean. Parex do Paraguard, Weber and K-Rend also do their own equivalents but they're are expensive compared to other sealers. They are also water based and sit on the top of the render to give the lotus effect. They remain breathable. Usually its two coats of the stuff. My garden wall is about 27m long so I'm looking at about 50sqm. The Paraguard stuff is over £220 for 25 litres which will cover that with two coats. I suppose you could use Thomsons water seal which is cheaper or go for solvent based nonsense stuff from screwfix which soaks in.

[garysmythe]

Lot of apartments around marina here in portishead have this same product - so stained they now look really shabby.

[azonicbiker]

We find hitting them with fungal wash then a pressure wash and apply a silicone paint. Also some of the issues in this video as well are from being applied to thin.

[miketaylor]

We stopped using theses systems years ago because of the problem you are describing, plus if the render cracks ( and it does ) its impossible to do an invisible repair on it. The open texture allows water and dirt to enter and even with cleaning some stains will remain. Plastic beads allow water to enter the render, and lets be honest they look crap. In the UK you cant beat the tried and tested systems. I agree with you that theses are not maintenance free as advertised in fact a whole industry has now come about just cleaning theses render systems. I have been involved in exterior wall finishes for some 50 years now theses are just a remake of the old Blue Circle Tyrolean / Alpine mix.

[carmelg]

Totally agree my chimney spoils the whole look of the house and is too high for us to get the jet washer to it, previously was pebble dashed which had been painted, when we had the house renovated we were sold on the fact we wouldn't have to paint it it was done less than 4 years ago we live on a main road so pollution is obviously not helping.

[janoginski]

Spot on Roger, basically poor detailing at the transitions will result in staining and this is the case whether it’s monocouche or a cement based render. Same outcome on boundary walls, the copes should have drips as in concrete or timber sills. Attention to detailing by an architect at design stage and quality, tight workmanship will prevent or mitigate against the problem.