Old render on garden walls

[Braid7]

I've just bought a house which needs a fair bit of work and in the garden all the outside perimeter walls (one small brick wall, two larger breezeblock walls) have had a concrete render applied and painted. It is cracked, flaking and falling off in many places (I can actually pull pieces off by hand).

What's the best thing to do? I'm guessing the render should be taken off before anything else is done, would it be a hammer and chisel job?

Sorry if it's a obvious question but any advice, however basic, would be hugely appreciated as I have no DIY knowledge whatsoever! I am trying to do as much work as I can myself on my house to save a bit of money but don't want to go hacking at the walls if it's not the right thing to do!!!

 

[Burnerman]

Basically the render is coming off your walls because it has absorbed water, frozen in winter, expanded and simply burst off.
Carefully remove it with a hammer and chisel, causing minimal disturbance to the wall beneath.
It could be worth considering having the walls re-rendered and then pebble dashed or similar - which is much more weather resistant.
John

 

[plstering]

just how much rendering is there m8 ill come and do it if the price is
right

 

[misterhelpful]

I had the same situation on a painting job I did today.

I thought it was just a little bit of flaky paint to start with but once I started scraping, half the render had to be removed because it was blown and most of the paint peeled off like wallpaper.

Spent all morning doing this and then had to patch the render this afternoon - good job it is only a 8'x6' wall!

Gotta go back next week to paint it now!!

Blown areas do tend to come off quite easily with a hammer and bolster/chisel if you plan on just patching up, but if you don't have much experience, patching the render can be more difficult than doing a whole wall (to me anyway). It could well be worth getting someone in to do it all if your budget allows.

 

[Braid7]

Thanks for all the comments and advice. I managed to get the smaller wall done this evening with a hammer and chisel and most came off quite easily, some took a bit more effort but eventually it has come away leaving the brick wall intact and in good condition.

The two larger walls may be a harder job, I think they are both breeze blocks underneath and, although there are big patches coming loose, it's not in *quite* as crumbly condition as the small wall so the render might need more convincing to come off!!

Thanks "plstering" for the offer but (as novice as I am!) I'm trying to do as much work as I can myself to save money. I think time and effort should sort it out so it may just be a case of me spending a bit of time each evening throughout the summer chiselling away one section at a time! Now I know that I'm doing the right thing I'll give it a shot

Thanks again for the replies