How much does it cost to render a house in Australia?
Rendering a house is fairly expensive. On the lower end of the price scale, rendering a house is usually at least $30 per square metre. For the average Australian house, this makes rendering a $12,000 project (the exterior of an average Australian home is approx. 400 square metres). However, the cost to render a house can climb much higher than that for a high quality job, often ranging from $50-$80 per m2.
How much to render a house: price guide - how to calculate your house rendering cost
The average rendering project in Australia costs approximately 12,000. However, this price might climb depending on your home size and layout. A two-story home can cost as much as $50,000 to render. Generally, how much to render houses in Australia will be between $12,000 and $20,000 for different quality jobs.
While this may seem quite expensive at first, it’s important to keep in mind the much higher cost of a renovation for perspective. There is also a huge list of benefits to rendering a house that more than make up for the expense.
To calculate how much rendering your own house will cost, the first step is to measure your exterior. You need to figure out roughly the square footage of your exterior walls. Once you have an idea of this, you can multiply it by the price you expect to pay for the rendering job (i.e. $30-$50 per sqm).
To get a more comprihensive idea of this price, you may want to contact some prospective contractors and request a quote. Some contractors will offer you a deal per square metre and others might suggest an up-front charge instead. You will have to decide what works best for your budget and the specifics of your project.
Up-front flat rates are easier to conceptualize as you know exactly how much you can expect to pay from the beginning. Square metre costs are easier to forget about because they add up so quickly, but if you do the research beforehand and know the square footage of your home, there should be no issue with budgeting for a square metre cost.
Cost to render a house: The front of house alone
To cut down on the cost to render houses, some people choose to render only the front of the house (leaving the back as is or choosing a cheaper method of weather protection). This will still cost the same per square metre (around $30-$50), but drastically reduces the overall cost by minimizing the size of the area being rendered.
You will need to measure the front of your house to determine the overall cost of the project, as it will vary by size. However, it stands to reason that if you are only rendering half of the house, the project will cost half of the average (making it $6,000).
Note that most people opt to render the entirety of their house rather than just half; if you are keen on rendering, it is always best to keep the exterior of your home consistent for both aesthetic and practical reasons.
Rendering: Process and time frame
The time that rendering a house will take depends not only on the size but also the type of render used. Rendering a house refers to covering the exterior – usually brick – with a mixutre like cement, lime or acrylic. Cement rendering is the most common and it usually takes a full week to cover the whole exterior of the house. One wall alone will take 1-2 days to cement render.
Lime render takes roughly the same time frame as cement, but acrylic rendering usually needs longer to be completed. An acrylic rendering job will take 1-2 weeks to apply to the entire house, and 2-3 days for a single wall.
The process of rendering a house is complicated and while many people attempt to DIY, it is not a project for an inexperienced homeowner. Cement rendering in particular has a lot of considerations, and failing to account for them can cause a lot of problems down the line. An incorrectly rendered house will be vulnerable to weathering, water damage, structural damage, mould, and many more issues that could jeapordize the safety of its inhabitents.
Rendering is not the place to cut corners unless you are sure of your abilities. However, someone with experience and knowledge about rendering or working with rendering materials should be able to safely DIY and save themselves all of the installation/contractor costs.
Value and Considerations
Rendering is one of the most cost-effective ways to add value to your home. It is cheaper than a renovation but can have a similar effect. Rendering improves the exterior appearance of a home and can provide the extra street appeal that will convince potential buyers to take the plunge.
However, it is hard to estimate how much value a rendering job can actually add to your home because it varies case by case. For example, an amateur DIY rendering attempt can actually decrease the value of your home as it will mean more work for the buyer after purchase.
When considering rendering your home, this is certainly something to consider. It is almost always better to opt for the more expensive up-front professional rendering costs in order to save money down the line on repairs and to access that resale value. The cost of a professional rendering job will vary depending on a few factors, and you will want to keep them in mind when thinking about your own home.
The first factor that will influence rendering costs is the size of the house. Naturally, larger houses will have higher overall costs (although the price per square metre doesn’t change). The type of rendering material will also influence the price, with cement rendering being the cheap option compared to polymer-modified render (usually $80 per square metre).
A foolproof way to find out exactly what price you can expect is to request quotes from professional contractors in your area. There are a number of home rendering services available in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Try searching ‘house rendering near me’ to find the closest options and have a look at the price guides on their websites.
