How we chose
We started from the seventeen rendering candidates Google Maps shows across Telford. Scheme claims were checked on the TrustMark register, each firm's own website and the review platforms, and every company record was searched at Companies House [2] [3] [7]. Each business must first meet our basic checks: it is who it says it is, it is trading today and can be reached, and anything it must hold by law is in place. Ten firms met all three. We looked first at what customers say, proof of competence counts next, then length of trading history and whether cover is stated, then pricing clarity and website detail. All evidence is dated early September 2026.
How to hire
Match the trade to the job first. A renderer owns external wall finishes: hacking off failed render, preparing the substrate, applying sand and cement, monocouche or silicone systems, and finishing around windows, beads and copings. Internal skimming belongs to a plasterer, and recurring damp patches belong to a damp specialist before any renderer touches the wall. Several firms in this table are plasterers who also offer rendering, which is fine for a patch or a single wall; for full elevations, shortlist firms that name rendering as a core service.
A typical job runs in this order. Send photos, measurements and the wall's history with the first enquiry, then expect a site visit before any firm prices. Compare the written quotes on the same scope, confirm the planning position and the company record, and agree dates with a weather allowance both sides accept. Once the scaffold is up, the firm strips failed render, prepares and stabilises the wall, applies the system and leaves it to cure. Walk the snag list while the scaffold stands, collect the guarantee, the VAT invoice and the data sheets, and pay the balance only when the list is clear.
Rendering needs no mandatory licence, so there is no single card or register every renderer must hold. The register that matters is TrustMark, the Government Endorsed Quality Scheme for home improvement work: where external wall insulation is paid for through a government scheme, the installer must be a TrustMark Registered Business with the work lodged in its data warehouse [3]. Check any firm yourself on the TrustMark find-a-tradesperson search by trade and postcode [2]. Then search the company name at Companies House to confirm it is active and to see how long the record runs [7].
Get every quote on the same written scope and insist it shows the measured wall area in square metres with openings deducted, the named render system, brand and colour, the full preparation (what comes off, what stabilises the wall, beads and mesh), who supplies the scaffold and how access is handled, how stripped render and rubble are removed, start and finish dates, stage payments, whether the price includes or excludes VAT, and the guarantee: how long it runs and exactly what it covers. A quote that hides the area, the system or the preparation cannot be compared with one that states them, however keen the bottom line looks.
Check the planning position before work starts. Outside conservation areas and away from listed buildings, re-rendering is normally permitted development where materials match the existing house; inside a conservation area, a national park, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty or the Broads you need permission before cladding walls in render, and listed buildings need consent for significant external works [4]. If re-rendering covers more than a quarter of your home's walls, or half or more of any single wall, the insulation in those walls must meet current building regulation requirements, so raise it with the firm up front [1]. Ask Telford and Wrekin Council if your street is affected.
Telford and Wrekin adds its own layer. The council lists eight conservation areas, including Wellington, Newport and the Severn Gorge around Ironbridge — and the Gorge doubles as a World Heritage Site with an Article 4 Direction over minor changes, so Ironbridge walls face the tightest rules in the borough [8]. If your street sits in one of these areas, check the council's map and take its pre-application advice before pricing starts [8]. In Dawley, Madeley, Lawley and the rest of the borough the paperwork is usually lighter and the wall itself decides the job: solid older walls and newer cavity walls take different systems, so raise insulation early where large areas come off [1].
Older solid-walled houses need a breathable finish: a lime-based render lets moisture escape where a dense cement coat can trap it and blow later, so tell the firm the age of your walls and ask which system suits them. Fix the moisture source first — leaking gutters, cracked copings, bridging ground levels — because no render survives water pushing from behind or above. Where a firm strips large areas, ask for its waste carrier registration and check it on the Environment Agency public register [5].
Close out in writing. Collect the guarantee with its length and cover stated, a VAT invoice showing the rate charged, the system data sheets and the expected repaint or wash-down intervals. Photograph each elevation before the scaffold comes down so chips, hollow spots and staining are on the record while access is still up. Pay the balance only when the snag list is cleared, and keep every document with the house papers: the next buyer will ask what system coats the walls.
Pricing
As of early 2026, national cost guides put rendering at roughly £30 to £80 per square metre of facing wall depending on the system, with sand and cement at the lower end at £30 to £50 per square metre before painting [1]. A small terraced house of around forty square metres typically runs £1,200 to £3,200 over four to six days; a three-bedroom semi of around ninety square metres runs £2,700 to £7,200 over one to two weeks; a large detached house runs £9,690 to £12,075 over two to three weeks [1]. Treat every figure as a starting point for Telford, not a quote.
Wall condition moves the price most: cracked or blown render that must come off, stabilising coats, repointing and damp treatment all add days before new render goes on [1]. Access comes next, with a full scaffold around a two-storey house a four-figure extra in the worked examples and skips charged on top [1]. The system choice, the finish, how many openings are deducted from the measured area, and regional labour rates move it further. Small single-wall jobs carry a minimum charge whatever the per-metre rate says, because mixing, masking and cleaning up take the same time.
VAT sits on top at the standard rate of twenty per cent unless the quote states otherwise, so confirm whether each figure includes or excludes it before you compare [6]. Never accept a single bottom-line figure: the quote must state the measured area, the system and colour, the preparation, scaffold and waste, the dates, the stage payments and the guarantee, each in writing. Pay deposits by card where you can and tie every stage payment to visible progress, with the balance held back until the snag list is clear.
System choice sets the per-metre rate. As of early 2026, guides put sand and cement at £30 to £50 per square metre before painting, acrylic around £55, silicone near £72.50 and monocouche near £80 with labour, each dated to the 2026 guide [1]. On top come the extras the worked examples price separately: scaffold hire around £875 a week for a two-storey semi, render removal between £1,500 and £8,000, skips near £320 a week, repointing near £55 per square metre, and painting between £20 and £40 where the system needs it [1]. Insulation upgrades dwarf all of these, with external wall insulation near £175 per square metre where the building-regulations trigger bites [1].
Red flags
Quotes a full re-render without visiting the house or asking for measurements and photos of the walls.
Offers a single bottom-line figure with no breakdown of wall area, render system, preparation or access.
Recommends rendering over damp patches without tracing where the moisture comes from first.
Has no plan for the stripped render and rubble, or no waste carrier registration you can check on the Environment Agency register [5].
Asks for most of the money before the scaffold or the materials arrive.
Will not put the colour or system guarantee in writing with a named length and cover.
Cannot be matched to a company record and will not explain the basis it trades on.
Offers grant-funded insulation-backed render without TrustMark registration you can check yourself [2].
Pressures you to decide on the doorstep or prices the job only if you agree the same day.
Gives only a mobile number with no business address and no second contact route.
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.