Rendering in Hollywood

Hollywood is a large village on the very southern edge of Birmingham, in the north-eastern tip of Worcestershire, where the Alcester Road leaves the city and heads towards Wythall and Redditch. Until the middle of the twentieth century it was farmland, with a scatter of cottages, farms and a golf course. Then, in the decades after the war, estates of semis, detached houses and bungalows filled the fields between Maypole, Highter’s Heath, Drakes Cross and Trueman’s Heath. That makes Hollywood mostly a post-war village, and a lot of its houses carry the render, spar dash and pebbledash of the 1950s, 60s and 70s, much of it now cracked, faded or flaking. RCR Connections Ltd is Birmingham based, covering the whole of the Midlands, and Hollywood sits right on our doorstep.

This guide looks at the outside walls of Hollywood homes: how the village grew, what each generation of house was finished in, how those finishes age, and what we would recommend when it is time to repair, strip or replace them. It also covers a question that catches people out here, which is which council your house actually comes under.

Free, no-obligation quote in Hollywood: WhatsApp me on 07453 614095 with a few photos, or send us a message.

From Kings Norton fields to a post-war village

A rural corner of Kings Norton

For centuries the land that is now Hollywood was part of the large Worcestershire parish of Kings Norton, a stretch of small fields, hedges and farm lanes on the rising ground south of Birmingham. A handful of cottages and farmhouses stood along the old road to Alcester and the lanes off it, with names like Packhorse Lane and Gay Hill hinting at older routes and landmarks.

Staying in Worcestershire

When Birmingham expanded in 1911 and took in most of Kings Norton, Hollywood was left outside the new city boundary and stayed in Worcestershire. It became part of the civil parish of Wythall, in what is now Bromsgrove District. That decision, more than a century ago, still shapes the village today: Hollywood has Birmingham on its doorstep, but it is not in Birmingham.

The golf course

Hollywood Golf Club, formerly known as Gay Hill, has been here since the early twentieth century, and its fairways are one of the reasons the village never quite merged with the city. The course helped keep a green break between Hollywood and the edge of Birmingham as the estates went up around it.

The post-war boom

Old maps show that until the 1950s Hollywood was still largely fields and farms. Extensive development after the war changed that, with housing estates, shops and schools spreading across the area. Most of the new building stayed separate from the Birmingham built-up area, with fields kept open south of Maypole. The Alcester Road, which once carried all the traffic through the village, is now bypassed by the A435, leaving the old road as the local high street.

The 1966 boundary change

In 1966 the city boundary moved south from Maypole Lane to take in the newest houses on and just off Maypole Lane, Alcester Road South and Highter’s Heath Lane. Hollywood Primary School, built around that time, ended up just inside Birmingham. That is why some people who think of themselves as living in Hollywood are actually in the Birmingham ward of Highter’s Heath.

Which council is your house in?

Bromsgrove District Council

Most of Hollywood, including Drakes Cross and the Trueman’s Heath area, is in the civil parish of Wythall in Bromsgrove District, Worcestershire. If your house is there, Bromsgrove District Council deals with planning and building control.

Birmingham City Council

The northern fringe of what most locals think of as Hollywood, roughly the houses moved into the city in 1966, falls within Birmingham. For those homes, Birmingham City Council is the planning authority.

Why it matters for render

Re-rendering is usually permitted development wherever you are, as long as the materials are similar in appearance to the existing house. But if you are planning something that changes the look of the house a lot, such as rendering over facing brick or changing the colour of a whole elevation in a uniform street, or if your house is listed, you need to ask the right council. The name at the top of your council tax bill settles it.

The house file: what is on Hollywood walls

Old cottages and farmhouses

A small number of older buildings survive from the rural village: cottages along the Alcester Road and the lanes, farmhouses that have been absorbed into the estates and the odd converted farm building. These are usually solid brick, sometimes with older roughcast or limewash. Hard cement render on these walls traps moisture and causes damp inside, so lime-based materials are usually the better choice.

What they usually need:

• Careful repair of old roughcast or render in a matching, breathable mix.
• Removal of cement render that is holding damp in a solid wall.
• Limewash or mineral paint rather than plastic masonry paint.

Early twentieth-century houses on the main road

Some houses along the Alcester Road predate the big estates, built between the wars as the road became a route out of the city. They tend to be detached or semi-detached, with bay windows and a mix of brick and roughcast or pebbledash, often on the upper floor. Their render is now well past its expected life.

What they usually need:

• Testing the dash for hollow areas and removing failed sections.
• Re-dashing to match, or replacing the dash with a smooth render.
• Attention to the bays, where cracks and leaks are most common.

1950s and 60s estate semis

The bulk of Hollywood’s housing is from the 1950s and 60s: semi-detached and detached houses in brick, often with a band of render, spar dash or hung tiles across the front under the bedroom windows, or on the front gable. Render panels of this period are typically sand and cement, sometimes with a Tyrolean or tooled texture, and nearly always painted.

What they usually need:

• Replacing cracked or dated render panels with a smooth modern finish.
• Repairing render around windows and at the panel edges, where water gets in.
• Matching or updating the colour so the house looks fresh but sits well in the street.
• New beads at the edges of panels, so the render has a clean, protected edge.

Link-detached houses and garages

Many houses on the estates are link-detached, joined to the neighbour by a garage or a narrow link. These links often have flat roofs, and water from them can run down into the render at the junction with the main wall. Garage fronts and links are often rendered and are where cracks first appear.

What they usually need:

• Sorting out flat-roof edges and flashings before re-rendering the wall below.
• A movement joint or stop bead where a garage or link meets the house.
• Re-rendering garage fronts in a finish that matches the house.

Bungalows

Hollywood has a lot of bungalows, many of them now extended into the roof or out at the back. Bungalows often have large rendered or dashed areas on the walls, including gable ends, and their low walls are close to paths and planting, so the bottom of the render gets wet.

What they usually need:

• Making sure render finishes above the damp-proof course with a proper bottom bead.
• Re-rendering gable ends and dormers added in later extensions.
• Matching the finish across the original bungalow and its newer additions.

1970s and later houses

Estates of the 1970s and later have more facing brick and less render, but many have panels of cladding or tile-hanging that owners now want to replace. Rendering over these panels or over brickwork is a popular way to modernise the look of the house.

What they usually need:

• Removing old timber or plastic cladding and rendering the panel underneath.
• Rendering over brick with a through-coloured system for a clean, modern look.
• Checking that new render does not interfere with weep vents, vents or the damp-proof course.

Recent homes and additions

Recent infill houses and most additions use smooth through-coloured render over block. These perform well when properly detailed, but missing beads, render taken below ground level and poor junctions with windows cause problems.

The neighbourhoods inside Hollywood

Along the Alcester Road

The old main road is still the spine of the village, with shops, the White Swan at the Houndsfield Lane junction and the Packhorse at Packhorse Lane. Houses along it are the most mixed in age, from older cottages and inter-war villas to post-war infill and modern replacements. Because the road was the first part to be built on, this is where you are most likely to find older render that has been patched by several generations of owners.

Drakes Cross

The southern part of the village is often known as Drakes Cross. It is largely post-war estates of semis, detached houses and bungalows, with the schools and community buildings on Shawhurst Lane close by. Woodrush High School, Coppice Primary School, the sports centre, the community hub and the parish library are grouped together there, and St Mary’s church, which used to stand on Chapel Lane in Wythall, now has a new building next to the primary school.

Trueman’s Heath

The eastern side of the village, towards Trueman’s Heath, has a similar mix of post-war houses and bungalows, with some larger detached homes towards the open land. Houses on the edge of the built-up area here face fields and take more weather.

Highter’s Heath and the city edge

The northern edge of Hollywood runs into the Birmingham suburb of Highter’s Heath. The houses moved into the city in 1966 are of the same era and type as their Worcestershire neighbours, so the render they carry and the problems they show are much the same. Only the council is different.

Sunny side, shady side

South and west elevations

Walls facing south and west get the most sun and the most driving rain. Paint fades fastest here, and render goes through the biggest swings in temperature, which opens up fine cracks over the years. On these walls, a through-coloured finish that does not rely on paint for its colour is worth considering.

North and east elevations

Walls facing north and east stay damp for longer after rain and are where green algae grows. Render here may look grubby long before it fails. A silicone finish resists algae better than most, and keeping gutters clear helps a great deal.

Mixed results on one house

It is common to find that one elevation of a house needs re-rendering while another just needs a clean and a repaint. We look at each wall separately and only recommend what each one needs.

When outside problems show up inside

Damp patches and stains

A wet patch on a bedroom or living room wall can start with a failing coat on the outside. Water gets in through cracks, soaks into the brick and shows up on the inside, often around windows or low down on the walls. Before re-plastering inside, it is worth fixing the cause outside.

Cold walls and condensation

Older solid walls and walls with failing render can be colder, which makes condensation more likely. Fixing the render and improving ventilation often helps. Where inside plaster has been damaged by damp, we can repair it once the wall has dried out.

Mould behind furniture

Mould behind wardrobes and sofas on outside walls is usually a sign of condensation on a cold wall rather than rain getting in. It is worth thinking about ventilation and heating as well as the render.

Mistakes worth avoiding

• Painting over cracked or hollow render without repairing it first. The paint hides the problem for a while, but water keeps getting in.
• Using a plastic masonry paint on an old solid wall that needs to breathe. Moisture builds up behind the paint and pushes it off.
• Running new render down to the ground or over the damp-proof course. This lets the wall wick up water.
• Leaving out beads at the corners and edges. Without them, edges crack and crumble.
• Rendering in cold or wet weather to save time. Render that freezes or is washed out before it sets will fail.
• Patching cement render on an old cottage with more cement. It traps more moisture in a wall that already has a problem.

Selling a house with tired render

Buyers spot tired render from the kerb, and a surveyor will usually mention it in the report. Re-rendering or at least repairing and repainting before a sale can make a house look cared for and remove a point for negotiation. If time is short, cleaning, patching and painting the front elevation can make a big difference to first impressions, but we will be clear with you about what is a cosmetic fix and what is a lasting repair.

A typical two-week rendering job

Days one and two

Scaffold goes up and the house is protected. Old render or dash is stripped back from the first elevations, and waste is removed as we go.

Days three to five

The walls are cleaned, repaired and prepared. Beads are fixed at corners, openings and the base. Where needed, a scratch or base coat goes on, with mesh at joints and changes of material.

Days six to ten

Base coats are completed and the finish coat goes on, one elevation at a time, depending on the weather and the system. Through-coloured finishes are applied in one go per elevation.

Days eleven to fourteen

Pipes, lights and fittings go back on. The house is cleaned down, the scaffold comes down and we walk round with you. Larger houses or bad weather can stretch this timetable, and smaller jobs, such as a single panel or a bungalow gable, can take just a few days.

How post-war render ages

Cement and paint

Most post-war render in Hollywood is cement-based and painted. Over sixty or seventy years, it develops fine cracks, especially around windows and at corners. Water gets in through the cracks, sits behind the paint and causes blistering, peeling and hollow patches. Each repaint adds another layer that hides problems for a while.

Spar dash and pebbledash

Dash finishes lose stones over time, leaving bald patches. The base coat behind them cracks and comes away from the wall. Painted dash can look tidy for years, but once the paint fails, it is hard to get a good finish without stripping it.

Panels and edges

On estate houses with render panels, the edges are the weak point. Where render meets brick, window frames or tile-hanging, water gets in and the edge starts to crumble or come away. Without beads, there is nothing to protect the edge.

The base

Where the coat is carried right down to the path, or across the damp-proof course, wicks up moisture. On bungalows and houses with raised beds or paving close to the wall, the bottom few courses are often damp, stained and loose.

Exposure

Hollywood sits on higher ground than much of south Birmingham, and some houses facing open fields or the golf course take more wind and rain. Render on these elevations ages faster than on sheltered sides.

What to do with worn render

Patch and paint

If most of the render is sound and only small areas are cracked or hollow, they can be cut out and patched, and the whole wall repainted. This is the quickest option and can buy several years, but it does not deal with the underlying age of the render.

Overcoat

On render that is sound and well bonded but tired-looking, it is sometimes possible to apply a new finish over the top after careful preparation. This is only worth doing if the existing render is genuinely sound. We tap-test every wall before recommending it.

Strip and re-render

When render is widely hollow, cracked or failing, the best option is to remove it back to the brick or block and start again. This gives a sound, new surface with proper beads, a clean edge at the bottom and a modern finish. It is a bigger job than patching, but it lasts much longer.

Replace panels only

On estate houses where only a panel between windows is rendered, it is often practical to replace just that panel, perhaps updating it to a smooth through-coloured finish, while leaving the brickwork as it is.

Houses by the golf course and the open fields

More weather

Houses that back onto Hollywood Golf Club, or face the open fields that still separate the village from the city and from Wythall, have nothing to break the wind. Driving rain hits those walls harder, and they dry more slowly in winter. Render on these elevations often shows cracking and staining years before the sheltered sides of the same house.

What helps

On exposed walls, good detailing matters more than ever: sills that throw water clear, drip beads above openings, sealed pipe penetrations and a bottom bead set well clear of the ground. A silicone finish, which sheds water and stays flexible, is often a sensible choice. Where a painted finish is preferred, a high-quality masonry paint will last longer than a lower-grade one.

Trees and hedges

Many of these houses also have mature trees and hedges along the boundary. Leaves fill gutters, and branches that touch the wall keep it damp. Keeping planting trimmed back from the house is one of the easiest ways to make render last.

Questions to put to any renderer

• Have you tapped the walls, and which areas need to come off?
• Where exactly will the bottom bead sit, relative to the damp-proof course?
• What happens at the line with next door’s half?
• Which finish would you choose for this house, and why that one?
• How will the flat roof over the garage or link be dealt with first?
• What will you do if the weather turns halfway through?

A renderer who answers these clearly, without hesitation, is usually one who will do the job properly.

K-Rend in Hollywood: rendering across Drakes Cross, Trueman’s Heath and the Alcester Road

Hollywood is mostly a post-war village, with a few old cottages and inter-war houses along the Alcester Road and large 1950s and 1960s estates of semis, detached houses and bungalows. K-Rend monocouche and silicone render suits most of those homes. RCR Connections Ltd is Birmingham based, covering the whole of the Midlands, and Hollywood is a short run down the Alcester Road from us. These are the parts of the area we work in most, the houses you find there and the K-Rend jobs they usually need.

• Along the Alcester Road. The old main road has the most mixed houses, from older cottages and inter-war villas to post-war infill. This is where we find render patched by several owners. On the solid-walled cottages we use a breathable finish; on the inter-war houses, failed dash comes off and K-Rend goes on.
• Drakes Cross and Shawhurst Lane. Post-war estates of semis, detached houses and bungalows on the south side of the village. Cracked render panels, spar dash and hung tiles under the bedroom windows are common, and swapping them for one smooth K-Rend or silicone finish is a popular job.
• Trueman’s Heath. Post-war houses and bungalows, with some larger detached homes towards the open land. Houses facing the fields take more weather, so we use mesh in the base coat, drip beads over openings and a bead at the base.
• Highter’s Heath and the city edge. Houses on the northern fringe that moved into Birmingham in 1966. They are the same age and type as their Worcestershire neighbours, so the render work is much the same; only the council is different. Our page on rendering in Solihull covers the borough to the east.
• 1950s and 60s estate semis. The bulk of Hollywood’s housing, in brick with a band of render or dash across the front or on the gable. These panels are usually sand and cement and painted, and many owners now want a through-coloured finish that needs no painting.
• Wythall, Maypole and the lanes. The villages and lanes round Hollywood, from older farm buildings to modern estates. Older walls get a breathable mix, and newer homes and extensions suit K-Rend. Our pages on rendering in Bromsgrove and rendering in Redditch cover further south.

Wherever you are in Hollywood, the first step is the same: WhatsApp me on 07453 614095 or message the page with a photo of each side of the house and your road or postcode. We work Monday to Friday 7am to 5pm and Saturday 7am to 1pm, and between us we have 62 years of combined experience.

Render systems we use

Painted cement render

A sand and cement render, finished smooth or lightly textured and painted with a good masonry paint, is a straightforward option for many post-war houses. It is economical and easy to repaint in a different colour later.

Through-coloured systems

K-Rend monocouche and silicone finishes carry their colour through the material, so they do not need painting. Monocouche is applied in one thick coat and scraped to a fine texture once it has firmed. Silicone is a thin top coat that is flexible and water-repellent, so it stays cleaner for longer. Both are popular for modernising estate houses and bungalows, and the K-Rend monocouche and silicone page has more on them.

Lime

For the older cottages and farmhouses, lime render and roughcast are the right materials. They let solid walls breathe and protect soft brick.

Dash

Spar dash and pebbledash can still be applied where an owner wants to match the original finish or a neighbour’s house.

Semis, links and neighbours

The line between two houses

On a semi or link-detached house, your render meets your neighbour’s. Where only your side is being done, a stop bead gives a clean, weathertight edge at the party line. We protect the neighbour’s walls and windows while we work.

Matching the street

Some streets in Hollywood still have a fairly uniform look, with matching render panels and colours. Others have a mix. If you want your house to sit well with its neighbours, we can suggest finishes and colours that blend in while still looking fresh.

Scaffold

Scaffold on semis and link-detached houses often needs to go over a shared drive or the neighbour’s garden. Talking to neighbours early makes things easier. If scaffold needs to go on the pavement, the scaffolder will need a licence.

How a Hollywood re-render runs

Photos and a visit

We start with photos, then visit to tap-test the render, look at cracks, damp, sills, drips, flat-roof junctions and the base of the wall, and agree what is needed.

Plan and permissions

We agree the scope, system, colour and texture. If permission is needed from the council or a neighbour, we sort that out before booking a start date.

Scaffold and protection

The scaffold goes up, and we cover windows, doors, paths, drives, cars and plants.

Strip and prepare

Failed render and dash come off back to sound brick or block. We clean and repair the wall, treat it for algae, and fit beads at corners, openings and the base of the wall.

Render

Coats are built up one at a time, with mesh where needed and the right drying time between coats. Through-coloured finishes go on across each elevation in one session.

Finish and tidy

Fittings are refixed, the site is cleared, and the scaffold is struck once the finish has hardened. We then look over every elevation together.

Weather

Render needs dry days and temperatures above about 5°C, with no frost in the days after it goes on. Most re-rendering is done from spring to autumn. On exposed elevations, wind can dry render too fast in summer, so we may mist it or shade it. If rain is forecast, we will not start a finish coat that could be damaged.

Inside the house

Re-rendering often goes with other work. New windows leave reveals to make good inside. Damp that has come through old render may have damaged internal plaster. Extensions need boarding and plastering. Our plastering in Wythall page covers our internal work in the area.

Colour and texture choices

Colours that work here

White and off-white remain the most popular choices, along with soft greys, creams and stone shades. On a semi, a colour that works beside the neighbour’s half usually looks best. On a bungalow or detached house, there is more freedom.

Texture

Smooth finishes suit most post-war houses and bungalows. A fine scraped texture is typical of monocouche. Where you want to keep a traditional look, a dash finish is still possible.

Keeping new render in good order

• Keep gutters and downpipes clear, especially if you have trees nearby.
• Check flat roofs over garages and links, and fix leaks before they reach the wall.
• Do not let new paving or raised beds creep up above the bottom bead.
• Clean algae gently with a suitable treatment.
• Fill small cracks before winter.

Tile-hanging and cladding on 1960s and 70s houses

Why owners want to change it

A lot of Hollywood’s 1960s and 70s houses have a band of hanging tiles, timber boarding or plastic cladding across the front, usually between the ground floor windows and the first floor, or on the gable. After fifty years, tiles slip, boards rot and plastic cladding fades and cracks. Many owners now want to replace these panels with render for a cleaner look that needs less upkeep.

What is behind the panel

Behind tile-hanging or cladding, there may be brick, block, timber framing or a lightweight infill panel. It is important to find out before replacing it, because render needs a solid, suitable background. Where the background is timber or a lightweight panel, the right approach may be a board-based render system, not traditional render.

Planning

Replacing tile-hanging or cladding with render changes the look of the house. In most cases outside listed buildings and conservation areas, councils tend to treat the change as permitted development, so long as the new look is in keeping with what the house already has. If it significantly changes the look of a uniform street, it is worth checking with the council.

Extensions and conversions

Matching old and new

When an extension is built onto a rendered house, we can match the existing finish or re-render the whole house so it is uniform. Re-rendering the whole house at the same time often gives the best result if the original render is old.

Bungalow conversions

Many Hollywood bungalows have been extended into the roof with dormers, or upwards into chalet bungalows. These additions are often rendered or clad. We can render dormer cheeks and gables to match the rest of the house, with careful detailing around the roof.

Garage conversions

Converting a garage into a room usually means bricking or blocking up the garage door opening and rendering over it. A new render panel that matches the rest of the house hides the old opening and makes the conversion look original.

What to send for a quote

• Front, back and side photos, plus close-ups of any cracks, hollow areas or damage.
• Whether it is detached, semi-detached, link-detached or a bungalow.
• What is on the walls now: render, dash, tile-hanging, cladding or brick.
• The finish and colour you have in mind.
• Any access issues: shared drives, conservatories, narrow side passages.

Working hours

Hours are 7am to 5pm on weekdays and 7am to 1pm on Saturdays; Sundays we are closed. Exterior jobs move with the weather, so a start date may shift by a few days if rain or frost is forecast.

Points we have not been able to confirm

A few details about Hollywood’s history are uncertain, so we have not stated them as fact:

• The golf club is often said to have been founded in 1913, but sources differ on whether that date refers to the club or the course.
• The exact line of the 1966 boundary change on individual roads is best checked against the council’s own maps.
• The age of individual houses along the Alcester Road varies, and many have been rebuilt or altered, so it is worth checking the deeds for your own house.

Nearby areas we cover

Hollywood sits between Kings Heath, Wythall, Maypole, Tidbury Green and Dickens Heath. Local pages nearby include plastering in Wythall, plastering in Kings Heath, plastering in Tidbury Green, plastering in Dickens Heath, plastering in Alvechurch, rendering in Shirley, rendering in Bromsgrove, rendering in Redditch and rendering in Birmingham. Our plastering and rendering services page has the full list, and areas we cover lists the rest.

More services: Rendering with sand and cement · Rendering new extensions.

Contact RCR Connections Ltd

Between us there are 62 years of combined experience, and post-war semis, bungalows and estate houses are bread-and-butter work for us. To get a quote, WhatsApp me on 07453 614095 or message the page, then add a picture of each elevation; we will reply with a free, no-obligation quote or a time to come and look.

More from RCR Connections Ltd: All plastering and rendering services · Areas we cover