DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

I'm thinking about painting my external pebbledashed walls. The house is circa 1900 and the render hasn't been painted before. It is very sandy in a few isolated places (stabiliser needed?).
What is the best method of painting? brush? roller? Do I need to thin the paint first?
I've got reservations about sprayers as my house is right next to a busy pub car park and I don't want any oversprayed car owners beating my door down...

Is it pebbledashed (small round stones) or spar dashed (rougher, jagged stones)? Its easier to do if its spar because the paint dont stick that well to the little round blighters.

Brush it all down well first to remove loose stones and dust.

Use a long pile roller and thin the first coat by about 20%. Its better to do 3 thinner coats than 2 thick ones.

Once its done, of course, you'll be redoing it every 5 years or so - more often if it gets dirty quickly.

Bear in mind that if there is any damp in the wall putting the paint on the exterior surface (effectively a plastic coating) will drive the damp inwards and it may well end up showing on your interior decorations until it has dried out. At least you'll know where it came from now!

Irrespective of the adjacent pub car park I've got serious reservations about sprayers. In the wrong hands they can be, literally, lethal.

Cheers