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engineer21
Original Poster
118 posts
34 months
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Needing a bit of advice,
i have a retaining wall out the back of my house which is about 1m high and about 8mtrs long, its build from 4'' blocks laid on the flat side (i realise not the best retaining wall in the world but wasnt me who built it!) its also only about 800mm from the back of the house, i have the area to walk around decked, and theres a bbq area that the back door opens onto.
i have just built a 4'' block wall around the boundary which meets the retaining wall on one side.
so now i have new grey blocks and then the older retaining wall which has been painted white (formener owneer) now because the builders just backfilled clay and rubble behind retaing wall theres no drainage and the wall pools on lawn, ive already laid some drainage and now will excavate behind retaining wall and lay a drainige pipe with geotextile and chips, to avoid the wall seeping through wall issue!
anyway what i need help with is how do i get rid /cover up the awful white painted blocks!? i plan in future to plaster and harl the new boundry same as the house when it gets re-done. however if i plaster and harl the block wall there will be sharp stones on either side of walkway i was hopeing to avoid this!
so what could i use to make it look nice?? ive looked at concrete printing etc but ideally something DIY??? ideas please!!
Cheers Matt
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Paul Drawmer
2,632 posts
136 months
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Cover it with plants. Either pots along the bottom, trailing plants from the top, or a combination of both. Might even work with a living wall system, you could plant it up with herbs and quick growing salad stuff in between.
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dickymint
11,406 posts
127 months
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Hire a Tyrolean flicker gun and mix up some white cement and sand? 
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engineer21
Original Poster
118 posts
34 months
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sorry mabye i need to explain better
i only have 800mm between house wall (harled) and this retaining wall, therefore i need to keep max width as possible, plant pots etc will be no use
prob with using harl (chips) is that it means you would have small sharp stones on both sides this you would scratch your self on
looking to clad the wall with something thin to hide the white block and maintain space
anyone used cut bricks or is there something better out there?
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dickymint
11,406 posts
127 months
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andy43
2,988 posts
123 months
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Go for a contrast - Grand Designs style gapped vertical stained timber boards on tanalised battens? Or have a look at commercial facade products - not cheap though. Or the easiest - upvc cladding 
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Mr GrimNasty
2,470 posts
39 months
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Yes timber cladding is a good idea ^ - lots of variation from accurate machined hardwood to rustic wavy oak, also nowt wrong with outside tiling - can look very smart.
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GG89
1,476 posts
55 months
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What about smooth plain sand and cement render or a coloured monocouche render?
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B17NNS
8,593 posts
116 months
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Tyrolean would work but you'd still see the mortar joints.
Ideally it wants rendering with sand and cement or K Rend or a similar product.
Not a job for the amateur though unfortunately.
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engineer21
Original Poster
118 posts
34 months
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hi lads cheers for that tyrolean im gonna need to look up because ive no idea what it actually is! i thought it was the small stones (we call Harl)
yeah been thinking along the lines of cladding etc, if it was just plain grey blocks i wouldnt mind so much but it been painted white and looks damm awful! yeah also considered smooth plaster - Plastering outside walls i can turn my hand too, did alot of me old mans house. just wasnt sure what the finish would be like
cheers lads as always all advice welcome!
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roofer
1,723 posts
80 months
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B17NNS
8,593 posts
116 months
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engineer21 said: Also considered smooth plaster - Plastering outside walls i can turn my hand to, did a lot of me old mans house. Just wasn't sure what the finish would be like Gypsum based plasters will not work externally. You will need sand and cement/K Rend or other external render. If you want a step by step on S&C rendering shout up. Quite different to internal float and set.
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VxDuncan
2,746 posts
103 months
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Not too sure - but there may be issues with render coming off in the winter it the wall is damp due to frost. Not 100% though.
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PATTERNPART
376 posts
70 months
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How about vertically hung roofing tiles on battens like you see on the gable ends of some houses.
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