We are exterior painters working across Falkirk, Stirling and Clackmannanshire, painting roughcast, harling, render and brick walls on houses, garden walls and outbuildings. Every wall is washed, repaired and properly prepared before the paint goes on, because that is what decides how long the finish lasts. We are based in Alloa and cover Stirling, Falkirk and North Lanarkshire as well. Get in touch for a free quote.
A fresh coat of masonry paint makes a big difference to how a house looks from the street. It also helps show up any problems with the wall, such as cracks and damp patches, so they can be dealt with instead of painted over.
Roughcast, harling and render
Many houses in Central Scotland have a textured finish rather than bare brick or stone. The terms get used loosely, but broadly:
- Harling is the traditional Scottish finish, a mix of lime and aggregate thrown onto the wall to give a rough, protective coat. Historic Environment Scotland’s guidance on lime and harling explains how it was used and why it matters on older buildings.
- Roughcast is the more modern version, usually cement based, with a similar thrown texture. It is common on post-war houses around Falkirk, Alloa and Cumbernauld.
- Smooth render is a flat finish, often with lines or grooves cut in to break up large areas.
Roughcast painting takes more paint and more time than a smooth wall, because the texture has to be worked into from different angles to avoid missed hollows. Traditional lime harling on an older building is a different case. It needs to breathe, so we will tell you if a wall should not have modern masonry paint on it.
Preparation
Preparation is most of the job. Paint only holds as long as the surface under it, and on a wall that has been exposed to Scottish weather for years there is usually some work to do first.
We start by washing the walls down to lift dirt, algae and anything loose. Our pressure washing is used carefully here, at a pressure that cleans the surface without damaging it. The walls then need to dry out, usually at least 24 to 48 hours in dry weather.
Flaking paint is scraped back, hairline cracks are filled and small blown patches of render are cut out and made good. If the damage goes further than a few patches, it is repaired properly through our cement work before any painting starts. Where brickwork has crumbled or lost its pointing, that is a job for our brickwork repairs first.
Masonry paint and when to paint
We use paint made for exterior masonry, which is designed to let moisture out of the wall while keeping rain off. Most walls need two coats for an even, lasting finish, and textured walls may need more paint per coat.
Weather matters as much as the paint. As a general rule, masonry paint should go on when the air and wall temperature are above about 5°C, the wall is dry and no rain is expected for several hours. In practice that means painting from late spring to early autumn, roughly May to September, and watching the forecast closely.
New render also needs time before it is painted. Fresh sand and cement render is usually left for around four weeks to cure first, so a repair and a paint job are often planned together.
If a wall keeps going green under the eaves, the cause is often an overflowing or leaking gutter. There is little point painting a wall that will be stained again by next winter, so our guttering service can sort the cause first.
Garden walls, fences and outbuildings
Exterior painting is not just the house. Rendered garden walls, boundary walls, garages, sheds and outbuildings all weather in the same way and can be washed and painted at the same time. Timber fences need a paint or stain made for wood rather than masonry paint, and it goes on the same dry days.
Doing everything together gives a consistent finish across the property. For landlords and letting agents, a wash and a coat of paint is a straightforward way to smarten a property between tenants or before it goes on the market.
Exterior painting across our areas
As exterior painters in Falkirk, we cover the town and nearby Larbert, Grangemouth, Polmont and Bo’ness. We also work as exterior painters in Stirling, Bridge of Allan and Dunblane, in Cumbernauld and across North Lanarkshire, and throughout Clackmannanshire, including masonry painting in Alloa, Tullibody, Sauchie and the Hillfoots.
We have over 15 years’ experience and we are fully insured. Send us a few details or give us a call for a free exterior painting quote.
