* Roughcasting Materials consist of cement, sand, smaller gravel, pebbles, shells plaster and lime. The mortar mix you use is the most important part of successfully roughcasting a wall or house. A little like wall coating spray, when roughcasting a house you should always cleanse your walls of any dirt, debris, mould and old paint. Harling which many Scots more commonly refer to roughcasting as (especially people from East Lothian, The Borders, Edinburgh & Fife) is a form of roughcast which is made from lime and aggregate, Harling can be found on many of Scotland’s castle’s due to its long-lasting properties and lack of maintenance or painting requirements.

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Signs your home needs Roughcasting or Re-Roughcasting

There are several tell-tale signs that you need to have your roughcasting repaired more commonly known as re roughcasting. If the rough casting on your home is beginning to crumble there are several maintenance techniques you can apply before carrying out a complete repair. We would, however, warn you of any DIY jobs or anyone who is eager to start patching it up without checking if your home insurance covers it and wither or not it is really the best option long-term.

Often it is the case that water can become trapped behind the render and then frozen which separates the render from the substrate. The best way to confirm if this is the case is to have professionals take a look, even it’s just a survey to establish what is causing the issue before deciding on the best action to take. Most plasterers will offer rendering services so finding someone that will isolate the problem is fairly easy. If it turns out this is what’s causing your roughcasting to crack you are left with two viable options, you can patch the area affected and the area surrounding it or you can have the whole area removed and replaced with a new external finish.

The best course of action really depends on the size of the area that’s damaged, and of course, you will have a budget to consider as well. Budget or not, papering the cracks by carrying out some patching can often do more harm than good…

Here’s a list of other signs your roughcasting needs repaired or replaced;

• Expansion of brickwork which causes cracks in the exterior.
• Visible erosion, this is often caused by a mixture of moisture and time.
• Damage to the render, this is more visible most people will be able to tell there’s an issue just by looking.
• Efflorescence (caused by poor masonry creme or mortar mix application) again most of the time this is a problem with aesthetics, however, if left for too long it can affect the structure of your building.
• Structural damage, this is something that differs on a case by case basis.

Our Roughcasting process & what happens next

We have already mentioned above how important preparation is when carrying out roughcasting or any other exterior wall treatment. Heres a list of what you can expect from us from start to finish if you decide to choose Wall Coating Scotland to complete your homes roughcasting work;

• It all starts with a phone call or complete a basic online web form.
• We carry out a free survey offering a free, no obligation quote for you to consider.
• You can select from various available dates for our fitters to being work.
• Preparation day which involves laying down protective plastic sheets and scratch proof film to protect your property.
• We erect scaffold if the job requires we do so.
• Cleansing of your walls removing dirt and debris as well as carrying out any small repairs if required
• Application of beading
• The first coat of render is applied 
• The second coat of render which has dry dashing and roughcasting chips mixed in with it
• At the end of every job we complete a full property inspection, our owner likes to personally make sure you are 100% satisfied with the quality of our work and we always encourage your customer feedback to ensure we maintain our high standards.

Scottish Borders Roughcasting Service Area

We are ready and able to install or repair roughcasting in Coldstream, Duns, Earlston, Eyemouth, Galashiels, Greenlaw, Hawick, Innerleithen, Jedburgh, Kelso, Lauder, Melrose, Peebles, Selkirk and all surrounding areas of The Borders.