Industry Spotlight: An Insider’s Perspective on External Wall Insulation

We interviewed Jamel from The Rendering Company to chat about all things retrofit – external wall insulation, ventilation and more! Here’s what we discussed:

6 mins read

Who is The Rendering Company?

Jamel: I founded The Rendering Company UK in 2022 after more than a decade in the industry. The team is formed of Mark, Patrick, myself and a host of trusted subcontractors. Specialising in a full range of services, The Rendering Company provide external wall insulation and ventilation installation, placing us in the retrofit market for homeowners.

The Rendering Company are also PAS certified, which enables us to meet the required standards for retrofit installations, undertake funded work and ensure the buildings become more energy efficient.

What inspired you to focus your business on retrofit?

Jamel: The main motivation for entering the rendering and external insulative market was that it is a niche that is seeing a lot of growth and positive change right now. Alongside a positively growing market and hope for renewed funding from the government into green construction, the retrofit market is and will continue to be boosted in the private and public markets.

On a business level, myself and the team are always looking to expand our services and aim to target whole streets to lend our expertise to increase home energy efficiency.

Have you seen any trends in the retrofit market lately?

Jamel: I find that wintertime is popular for enquiries for external wall insulation, and this generally increases wait times for customers. To get ahead of the crowd, it’s worth considering EWI in September/October time to ensure work can be carried out before the cold sets in. EWI also stops your home from overheating in the summer as it slows the movement of heat between internal and external spaces – it’s a great solution for comfort all year round.

Have you got an example of your retrofit work you could share with us?

Jamel: Yes absolutely, this case study was PAS certified and shows a variety of measures our team can carry out.

House Type: Terraced, 3-bed, 1940s
Where: Bedminster, Bristol
Value: £12,000.00 (self-funded)

Measures installed:

Render Removal
EWI Pro External Wall Insulation system, installed to PAS 2030:2019 specifications
Crack repair (wall stitching)
DMEV extraction throughout the property to increase air circulation and ventilation

Can you give us an overview of the project?

Jamel: The process of installing the render basecoat, meshing and topcoat to a high-quality finish on this property was threefold: starting with a hand-levelled basecoat; applying reinforcing mesh at stress points such as windows and doors; followed by the topcoat application and hand-levelling to ensure an even finish.

We also gave the property a ventilation upgrade – during the retrofit assessment stage, pulse testing was carried out and it was identified that there wasn’t adequate ventilation in several of the rooms. Extraction units were installed in all 3 bedrooms, the living room and kitchen to meet PAS 2030 standards for air change.

The whole project was rounded off with an inspection which gave the final sign-off on the quality of the work, up to PAS standards.

What were some of the challenges and ways you overcame them?

Jamel: During the render-removal stage at the beginning of the works, cracking was discovered at the corner of window openings. This resulted in a structural report being carried out to ensure the works could go ahead with the right advice and sign-off. The cracks needed to be ‘stitched’ correctly before any of the planned rendering works could take place. Following this, there was a delay to the programme which was regrettable but unavoidable. Laying the correct ‘foundation’ for the render will always be preferrable to proceeding without, keeping the client happy with the quality of work.

It is always important to look after the surrounding area of the scaffolding and work area when rendering a project. As a standard the pathways are protected from heavy footfall with sheeting and barriers.