What type of render to go for?

[CurrerBell]

We have built a double garage in blockwork and need to get the whole thing rendered. Our architect specified a silicone through-colour render. I like the idea that it will never need painting, but at the same time I'm worried that it might end up discoloured or stained in a few years, and there won't be much we can do except hack it all off?

We have quite a lot of rendering to do on our house too, as part of our extension, so we want to make the right decision now so it will all tie in together.

Has anyone used the monocouche or silicone stuff and been happy, a few years down the line? Or is it best to stick with simple cement render and paint it every few years?

We had our new extrnsion rendered with Weber monocouche render a year ago - still looks lovely. The plasterer did say that you can actually buy a special paint to go over it with if it ever needs it. I love the look of the monocouche - it looks very sharp and uniform - hard to explain! Will post pic but not sure it will come out very well.

Thanks Marmite, that looks lovely! Weber is one our builder has suggested. We want a sharp uniform look. That's interesting to hear there may be a special paint to use if we ever need it.

Our builder had lined someone up to do the rendering. He told us it was going to be K Rend, but the plasterer now says it's Weber.... they want us to choose a colour but have not given us any swatches or information about what we are getting, and the plasterer is too busy to talk to us. Thinking of getting our own quotes now as the weeks are dragging on!