The first stage of the painting was the dormer and the apex of the gable wall. These were done before the scaffold came down. In the case of the face of the dormer and the apex this was more a matter of convenience.

However, For the dormer cheek that faces the semi detached property, this was more of a necessity. Painting that in the future is going to be a little more tricky since it can only be done from the slope of the roof.

(with this in mind we replaced all the tile battens under this section of roof with new thicker ones!)

I bought two tins of paint, which in theory based on total area coverage ought to be enough for the whole house. In reality it turned out there were a couple of extra factors to include. Firstly new render sucks up paint far more than an already painted surface. Secondly we rendered with a stipple finish. So the actual area is far bigger than you think because of all the lumps and bumps in the finish.

Nett result was the whole house too four tins (20L) in total.

Painting stipple is hard work. An ordinary masonry roller requires too much force to get into the crevices, and works out no quicker than a brush. The best tools turned out to be a narrow (4") "radiator" roller with a shaggy coat. And an emulsion brush with the bristles trimmed down to half length to make it much stiffer.