# External Wall Finish Types - Dash, Knap Etc.



## Lemlin (17 Sep 2010)

Okay folks, currently looking at types of dash for the back and sides of my build. The front is finished in Hallmark with granite quoins and sills. I also have the granite sills to the back but do not have quoins. Roof is just being completed and windows are due to go in in two weeks so house will be ready for dashing around then. 

I was planning to go with wet dash but two plasterers so far are moaning about how hard it is to do and trying to put me off it. They are also saying it'll be harder to do because the sills and Hallmark chimneys will have to be covered and there's alot of work in that. 

However, I was planning to go with it as I don't like dry dash (bits falling off, don't think it'd suit the Hallmark etc.). I also thought about a smooth knap finish and then paint white but I don't want to have the inconvenience of painting every couple of years. From what I've seen, the wet dash needs alot less maintenance than painting. 

I've also been suggested plaster finish, using white sand, lime and white cement, it gives you a chalk white finish. Has anyone tried that finish? I was told it'd last as long as wet dash without painting - about ten years. I think it might coontrast well with our grey Hallmark stone. 

Anyone have any types of dash finish they'd suggest? Pictures would be appreciated if anyone has any. Any help is also appreciated thanks.


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## OneAndOnly (17 Sep 2010)

I've just gotten my spec back from architect. 

My external finish it going to be "  External blockwork walls to be finished using 18mm thick one coat Weber Monopral or equal approved self coloured render system. ".

Going to see what it costs/looks like before I decide - but it sounds good!

Pros - flat finish, no/low maintainance.

Cons - pointless, if you decide to change the colour...., price.


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## onq (17 Sep 2010)

Dry dash using a coloured aggregate can look very well, but its not to everyone's taste.

You absolutely have to have one guy doing the whole thing.
You must be very careful about scaffold positioning and re-erecting.
Don't try and do it in two lifts or you may end up with a tide mark at scaffold kicking plate level.


ONQ.

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## Lemlin (20 Sep 2010)

Saw a dry dash at the weekend that we really liked but plasterer has advised that stone for a dry dash could cost 80e to 100e a bag and we'd need a fair bit to cover the back and side of the house (3300 square foot in size). 

It's looking like the white sand, white cement and lime at the minute. I've been advised it'd be the cheapest finish and that we could paint it if we don't like it. 

The plasterer recommended monocouche but it'd be twice the cost of the white sand, white cement and lime and also its a white finish we want so the white sand, white cement and lime will give us that. 

As I said, if we didn't like the finished product, we could always paint it and it'd probably end up cheaper than the monocouche or other finishes.


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## onq (20 Sep 2010)

If you're working to a price, your strategy is probably for the best.
When monouche came here first, it was incrediblypatchy and hard to match panels from day to day - better now.
Some staining will tend to occur, on north facing elevations, greener if the air is very clear, sooty if it is near a road - this is normal under sills and parapet overhangs.
The benefits of something with colour, particularly a warn colour - dry dash, monocouche, brickwork - is that it tends to disguise the staining and brick and dry dash have their own pattern too.

ONQ.

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All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon            as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal    action    be      taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in            Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the    matters    at      hand.


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## Lemlin (20 Sep 2010)

onq said:


> If you're working to a price, your strategy is probably for the best.
> When monouche came here first, it was incrediblypatchy and hard to match panels from day to day - better now.
> Some staining will tend to occur, on north facing elevations, greener if the air is very clear, sooty if it is near a road - this is normal under sills and parapet overhangs.
> The benefits of something with colour, particularly a warn colour - dry dash, monocouche, brickwork - is that it tends to disguise the staining and brick and dry dash have their own pattern too.
> ...


 
So even white monocouche (parex has been recommended by plasterer) would work better than the white sand and cement mix?

I heard a mention of €35 per square metre for moncouche, would this be correct?

The plasterer has said he's the same price whatever finish we want. 
I've also heard the white sand, white cement and lime mix would come out at about €22 a square metre. 

These are only prices I've heard off the cuff though so they could be totally wrong. Anyone with an idea at all? 
I'd be interested in a good comparison of the two. The plasterer said the monocouche would be about double so I'm just wondering if the benefits are worth doubling our cost?


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## onq (21 Sep 2010)

Cannot comment on prices unfortunately.

I would expect white sand/cement to be the most cost effective.

Dunno about white monocouche, why it might win, over white sand cement, but you never know - might be a very "white" white, or something.

I think you can use titanium oxide admixtures to get that white look on cast concrete - perhaps it would work with render, I have no experience of it.

ONQ.

[broken link removed]

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon            as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal    action    be      taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in            Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the    matters    at      hand.


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## johnnyg (21 Sep 2010)

Hi Lemlin,

Irish Aggregates in cork have 40kg bags of dash stone between 7-9 euros a bag and if buying on larger quantities are very reasonable..

http://www.k-rend.co.uk/

as an aside, i thought dash was not allowed by planning?


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## Lemlin (22 Sep 2010)

johnnyg said:


> Hi Lemlin,
> 
> Irish Aggregates in cork have 40kg bags of dash stone between 7-9 euros a bag and if buying on larger quantities are very reasonable..
> 
> ...


 
I was told not to touch k-red. Plasterer and roofer have both said its very poor. Plasterer said he stopped using it four years ago. 

I wasn't aware there was anything wrong with dash in regard to planning?


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## onq (22 Sep 2010)

johnnyg said:


> Hi Lemlin,
> 
> Irish Aggregates in cork have 40kg bags of dash stone between 7-9 euros a bag and if buying on larger quantities are very reasonable..
> 
> ...



New one on me - is that a regulation thing or is it a development plan prohibition in some areas.

Gray pebbledash can look low rent if its poorly done and may remind up-and-coming homeowners too much of council housing.

Rendered blockwork is usually called up in exempted works, but otherwise you match what's there and there is no prohibition on dash, AFAIK.

Dry dash is by far the most expensive, both in terms of achieving a consistent "look" and finish and in the cost of the render - Granite chippings for example.

ONQ.

[broken link removed]

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon            as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal    action    be      taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in            Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the    matters    at      hand.


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## johnnyg (22 Sep 2010)

it was specified in our planning that we had to have smooth plaster finish - it must be the planning area, as we aren't the only one who wasn't allowed to dash


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## Lemlin (23 Sep 2010)

johnnyg said:


> it was specified in our planning that we had to have smooth plaster finish - it must be the planning area, as we aren't the only one who wasn't allowed to dash


 
What area are you in?


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## onq (24 Sep 2010)

(nods)

Sounds like a planning requirement.

These often develop their authority from a development plan requirement, which plan has the power, through being voted on and adopted by your elected representatives, to control development by setting development plan objectives and policies in an area.

This have a significant legal implication and are normally taken account of by An Bórd Pleanála in making their decisions.

OTOH, if its a planner with a preference, that's a different matter - you can challenge this particularly if there is precedent in the area - but there is no assurance of winning the outcome.

I prefer napp plaster or a dry dash myself, but it's a matter of personal choice for many.


ONQ.

[broken link removed]

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon             as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal     action    be      taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in             Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the     matters    at      hand.


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## Lemlin (28 Sep 2010)

I've been told put off the white sand and white cement by one neighbour who has had awful trouble with it - reckons it discoloured very quickly and is very hard to paint. 

Another person also warned me that, when wet, it can look very bad if not done properly. 

Planning now to just go for a plain plaster finish which I can then paint. 

All this research and driving round looking at houses to end up going for a simple finish!


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## secman (28 Sep 2010)

[We did our house in the white plaster ,cement & lime. Its done over 4 years now and still looks fine. If it was painted , I would probably have had to paint it again this year. I also know of a couple of other houses which were done 2 to 3 years before ours, by same plasterer and I happened to drive by one of them last weekend, it still looks very very fresh. 

Secman


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