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AIBU?

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Original poster

Sad about what's happening to bricks

56 replies

IwishIcouldski · 16/11/2025 15:23

So many of the renovations round areas where I live seem to cover up the nice red bricks by k-rending the hell out of the houses. I think the traditional full or part brick facias of British homes is so beautiful and that there is just something about them. The bricks convey some sort of interesting status to the house.

I am not from Britain so maybe its nostalgia about what I think makes Britain, Britain.

AIBU to think this trend of smooth k-rendering the whole house, covering up the traditional red bricks, is unfortunate? I hope the trend stops and that we don't end up with more k-rendered homes than brick-facia homes.

OP posts:
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Unescorted · 23/11/2025 13:45

K-Rend is a type of exterior render that cures at a lower temperature than normal render. It looks the same but is useful in winter if you need to get a build complete.

hohummm1 · 23/11/2025 13:41

Timeforabitofpeace · 23/11/2025 07:09

I think you mean rendering OP. K rend is just a brand of render. It depends on the style of the house whether it suits

Yes, as I said earlier, many Georgian houses were rendered and, if you own one, your listed building consent will stipulate that it needs to be kept that way.

Timeforabitofpeace · 23/11/2025 07:09

I think you mean rendering OP. K rend is just a brand of render. It depends on the style of the house whether it suits

Isittimeformynapyet · 22/11/2025 22:38

I remember this too. Outrageous neighbours!

notnorman · 20/11/2025 13:45

IwishIcouldski · 20/11/2025 00:58

Why? How long ago was it rendered and why does it need re-rendering and at this cost?

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It just needs repainting but it’s a big tall house and requires scaffolding and platforms too. Need it done before we move.
so much money it makes me feel sick!

Original poster
IwishIcouldski · 20/11/2025 00:58

notnorman · 19/11/2025 22:15

Our house is rendered. It’s going to cost £10k to have it all repainted 😱😱😱😱

Why? How long ago was it rendered and why does it need re-rendering and at this cost?

OP posts:
Throwawayagain1234 · 19/11/2025 22:24

I regularly drive across the uk on a diagonal and can normally tell where I am by the colour brick on the houses. It's particularly marked crossing the pennines where the red brick of Manchester gives way to the soot clad stone over the top and mellower yellow brick the further east you go. Terrible to cover that up.

PurpleAxe · 19/11/2025 22:22

It is just fashion. The bricks will be back in in a few years and all the render will be removed.

soupyspoon · 19/11/2025 22:20

I love brick. Our house was rendered when we bought it and it doesnt look as nice as the others in the street which still have part brick on show.

PanderBare · 19/11/2025 22:19

@notnorman , it rings a bell for me too.

notnorman · 19/11/2025 22:17

Breadcat24 · 16/11/2025 17:44

YANBU
We were livid when next door rendered rendered our brick garage wall on their side and the wall between the properties. Both are completely ours according to the deeds. Fortunately we were in when they did it and made them pressure wash it off before it set.
Had they not and moved we would have been liable for the upkeep.
They said they thought we would be pleased as it looks nice!!

Have you said this before on here or is there two people this has happened to? 😳

notnorman · 19/11/2025 22:15

Our house is rendered. It’s going to cost £10k to have it all repainted 😱😱😱😱

PanderBare · 19/11/2025 22:14

They're rendering and making them grey here. Makes a street look dreary.

hohummm1 · 19/11/2025 22:11

Many Georgian/Regency houses were rendered and look better that way.

MeganM3 · 19/11/2025 22:03

I love older bricks, but not so much the newer builds. 1950s onwards. Not attractive to me and render looks better.

Original poster
IwishIcouldski · 19/11/2025 21:56

@BrickBiscuit that's both interesting (a slice of history) and sad in terms of what it implies.

OP posts:
BrickBiscuit · 17/11/2025 12:45

senua · 16/11/2025 20:57

I agree with you, OP.
I love our local brick which is a lovely rich, warm shade of red. The best of our local properties were built in the Georgian era and look like the sort of idealised houses that DC draw. Smile
I'm no so keen on yellowy brick (e.g. London). But both are preferable to render.

Some of our Victorian bricks have fingermarks where they were hauled out of the moulds. They are the size of children's hands.

Giggorata · 17/11/2025 11:23

I would love to have the red bricks of my Victorian house exposed.. but it, along with most of the older houses, are built of the locally made bricks, from the long gone brickworks down by the river.
And they are notoriously rubbish.
Porous, flaking, crumbling.
Old men in the village look knowingly at each other and say “Village Name bricks” shaking their heads in disdain.
So quite a lot of us have rendered houses..

Piglet89 · 17/11/2025 10:20

Naive opinion. We renovated and had to use breeze blocks in places because we simply couldn’t match the colour of the original brick. End result looks MUCH smarter.

Original poster
IwishIcouldski · 16/11/2025 21:13

Breadcat24 · 16/11/2025 20:35

“My dad told me about this!”: Stone cladding | LABC

Wow, that is quite something.

OP posts:
senua · 16/11/2025 20:57

I agree with you, OP.
I love our local brick which is a lovely rich, warm shade of red. The best of our local properties were built in the Georgian era and look like the sort of idealised houses that DC draw. Smile
I'm no so keen on yellowy brick (e.g. London). But both are preferable to render.

lifeonthelane · 16/11/2025 20:37

I think it's the external version of the current trend for interior panelling. Looks lovely and smart/modern now, but will date quickly and in 15 years it will look terrible and be a nightmare to rectify.

Original poster
IwishIcouldski · 16/11/2025 20:26

Jack and Vera style? What's that?

OP posts:
PurpleFlower1983 · 16/11/2025 18:29

EmeraldRoulette · 16/11/2025 17:12

I thought only dangerous cladding was being removed?

I like render, especially if you're looking along a whole street, sometimes the brick thing can be a bit overwhelming.

I don't think I'll ever have a house rather than a flat, but given the choice I would want rendering.

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I’m talking Jack and Vera style that costs thousands to remove.

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