I posted a few weeks ago about my external rendering between an upper and l= ower single-return (i.e. there is a side window on one side only). The mesh= reinforcing the render was beyond rust and the render had cracked - it was= built in 1938
I now face the perennial problem of not really having much chance of matchi= ng the existing pebbledash to the original if I go through with putting on = s/s mesh and rendering. I don't want to re-pebbledash the entire wall on th= at side. I could paint I suppose but then I'd really have to follow through= with the whole house, first floor anyway. uPVC cladding is not my cup of t= ea.
That leaves two interesting possibilities - slate tiles or wooden weatherbo= arding for just the bay area. I prefer the tiles idea - less maintenance an= d could look very good if I have them hand-cut with nibbled edges or even w= ith fish-scale patterns etc. The house is fairly dull in appearance, being = from that era and could do with something that looked like a feature to lif= t it. Thank God it has a nice little porch otherwise it'd be dullness perso= nified. The trouble is, I have never seen anyone do this on a single return= bay on a semi before. Double return bays, yes, are very often slated. Tile= s always seem to start or end at a change of direction of a wall though... = On one side of my bay, the tiles would have to end, then rendering start in= the same plane.
I can't see a technical reason why I can't do it. I might need lead flashin= g at the edges and corner to mate it with the render, but that's OK. The ch= ap two doors along is considering doing his cracked bay render as well and = will face the same problem matching the pebbledash. I might start a trend! = Any comments?
I will try and check to see if there is a covenant on the house which forbi= ds altering the appearance at the front, but I don't believe I need plannin= g permission if I do tile.