Does rendering increase a house's value?

If your house is already rendered and the render has cracked, our guide to cracks in render explains which cracks matter.

Is there any evidence that rendering adds value?

Not in a form we can point you to. We looked for an Australian study that measures what rendering does to a sale price and didn't find one. Agents' estimates exist, but they are opinions about particular streets, not data. A house sells on its location, land, size, layout and condition, and the exterior finish is one part of condition.

So treat any percentage figure with caution, including from renderers. If someone quotes one, ask where it comes from.

What do buyers actually notice?

The first look. Buyers see the front of the house in the listing photos and from the street before anything else. A house with patchy, mismatched brick, peeling paint or stained render looks like it needs work, whether or not it does.

The building report. Many buyers commission a pre-purchase building inspection before they exchange or during the cooling-off period. The NSW Government's guide to inspection reports says inspectors should cover the exterior of the building as well as the site. Cracked render, hollow (drummy) patches, damp and salt along the base of the walls are the kind of thing that ends up in those reports.

Fresh render over old problems. Render or paint over an active crack or a damp wall usually shows the problem again. An inspector who sees a crack coming back through new work will ask why.

When is rendering worth doing before you sell?

• The exterior looks worn or mismatched. An older brick house with a patchwork of extensions, or a rendered house with peeling, faded or stained coatings, is where an even new finish makes the clearest difference.
• There are visible defects. Cracked or hollow render and salt-stained walls are better repaired properly, with the cause fixed, than left for a buyer's inspector to find. Often that's a repair and recoat, not a full re-render.
• You have time. New cement render needs about 28 days before it is coated, according to Dulux's AcraTex data sheets. Allow for that before the listing photos.

When might it not be worth it?

• Sound face brick in a heritage area. In a heritage conservation area, rendering face brick needs council consent, and some councils' controls say original unpainted brick should not be rendered at all. Our guide to rendering a brick house covers the rules.
• When the problem is structural. If walls are cracking because the house is moving, render won't fix it, and the money is better spent on an engineer's report and the repair it recommends.
• When the timing is too tight. Coating render before it has cured goes against the coating makers' instructions. If the 28 days don't fit before the sale, an older finish in good condition may be the better option.

Could unapproved work cause problems when you sell?

It can. Work that needed consent, such as rendering face brick in a heritage conservation area, and was done without it is unauthorised. Buyers and their solicitors can apply to the council for a building information certificate before settlement, to find out whether the council will take action over the building; the City of Ryde explains the process. Getting consent before the work is simpler than explaining its absence later.

What should you do first?

Walk around the house and photograph each wall, with close-ups of any cracks (put a ruler beside them), damp patches or hollow-sounding render. Send them to us on WhatsApp on 0421 541 336. We'll tell you whether the house needs a repair, a recoat or a full render, with a rough estimate, before visiting to measure.

To read more, see our pages on cement rendering and texture coatings.