Where do we start to get render taken off house, structure checked, re-rendered?? Who do I look for?

[GlomOfNit]

Just that really. We are in a 1920's semi, they were all originally rendered. 'Porridge render' I think it's called - stucco with largish pebbles in, painted over. (I loathe it!) Some of the houses that have been recently renovated have smooth render which looks a lot nicer (I don't know how breathable it is though).

The render on our semi is really, really gone. It's blown all over the place, causing the paint to scab off, and exposing the stucco underneath, which is obviously not good news. We have various damp issues indoors and some of this is almost certainly related to this damaged render. The worst thing is where we have a leak between the flat roof over an extension (the flat roof was re-covered 6 weeks ago!) and the original building - this has very recently stopped being slightly damp and started actually leaking when it rains heavily and the wind is from the south. (Not looking forward to Eowyn, even though we're not in an amber/red area.) Though I suspect there might be an issue with the join of the extension onto the original wall, I think the damaged render might also be a culprit.

Clearly it needs to come off and be renewed, and the brickwork underneath needs checking and repairing/repointing. But what type of professional do I need to do the whole job? I'm quite wary of contacting 'render specialists' as I suspect they may come in the same bracket as 'damp specialists' and 'driveway specialists' - cowboys! Do I need a builder? (I assume I'll need one to examine the brickwork underneath.) Or someone else?

Really nervous of making a bad choice here. It's going to be expensive (all that scaffolding, for a start) and we know that. Every time we have a job done on the house, it feels like pulling teeth to get enough people to come out and quote, commit to come back, and actually do a good job!

Anyone got experience of re-rendering an entire house? Tips? Nightmares? Things to avoid?

Have you knocked on the doors of the renovated ones and asked them?
Usually a general builder would do this. They can either render or know a professional.
The modern finishes are flexible, and are usually applied with a nylon net embedded to prevent any cracking. They are also colored so never need to be painted.
It’s unlikely any brickwork need to be repaired.
If you have solid walls, you could consider external insulation, there may be grants available.

A really good plasterer is the tradie your advising builder will recommend. Hopefully he will know who to suggest, but you should expect to wait until the plasterer has a slot which may be several months off. We had our house re-rendered and waited six months for one elevation, and another eight for the rest, because he had NT commitments pre-booked in between.

You’ll want a good builder first to inspect the walls and fix any damage. Then they can bring in a trusted render specialist to strip and re-render. Definitely get multiple quotes and check reviews—this kind of work needs experienced pros!

I know this is an older post from January of this year, but did you manage to find someone, and if you don’t mind saying, how much was it?
I have had a ridiculous quote to take off the old cement render and apply a new silicone render on a 4 bed detached house.