How much does it cost to render a house in Melbourne?

Rendering is one of the quickest ways to change the look of a house, and it is a common job around Melbourne's older brick and block homes. The cost depends on the wall, the render and the finish you are after.

What kind of render you choose

Render is not one product, and the type drives a lot of the price.

• Cement render. The traditional coat over brick or block. Hard wearing and well suited to Melbourne's older homes.
• Acrylic render. More flexible, less prone to hairline cracking, and quicker to colour through. It costs more per square metre.
• Texture coats. A finish on top, from a fine sand finish to a heavier trowelled texture, each adding cost.

What drives the price

The wall you start with matters as much as the render you finish with.

• Wall condition. Sound brickwork renders cleanly. Old, painted or crumbling walls need prep first, and prep is labour.
• Single or double storey. Anything above ground level needs scaffold, which is a real cost on a two storey home.
• How much wall. Price is usually per square metre, so total area is the biggest single factor.
• Crack repair and patching. Reactive clay soils around Melbourne move footings, and existing cracks need sorting before render goes on, or they come straight back through.

A few things worth knowing

Render hides the brick underneath, so the surface needs to be right first. Skipping prep to save money almost always costs more later when the render lets go.

Colour through render saves repainting down the track, but locks in the colour, so it is worth deciding properly up front.

Good render is as much about timing and weather as product. Rushing a coat in the wrong conditions is how you get cracking and patchy colour.

If you send a photo of the walls and your suburb, we will tell you what render suits the house and give you a real figure for the job.