Coping stones for garden wall

argolis

Hi all,

I'd like to have our large-ish back garden wall rendered. It's the usual unpainted block work at the moment. The wall backs onto three different neighbouring gardens - one in the centre and half a garden on each side.

I was told it'd be good to have coping stones to protect the render, however if I put coping stones up, they'll be visible both sides of the wall and two of the neighbours would have only half of their own garden walls with coping stones i.e. the parts that back onto mine, which would reasonably mean I should cover put coping stones on the rest of their garden walls. So that's not really a runner for cost and complication.

My question is how important it is to put coping stones along the top to protect render?

Will the render crumble off or stain, etc after a few years without coping because of rainwater getting behind it?

Is there any option for when you just want coping on one side of a wall?

Thanks!

Calahonda52

well you won't really be able to have the coping overhanging into their garden unless they agree.
Are the walls solid block or hollow block?

antiskeptic

argolis wrote: »

Hi all,

I'd like to have our large-ish back garden wall rendered. It's the usual unpainted block work at the moment. The wall backs onto three different neighbouring gardens - one in the centre and half a garden on each side.

I was told it'd be good to have coping stones to protect the render, however if I put coping stones up, they'll be visible both sides of the wall and two of the neighbours would have only half of their own garden walls with coping stones i.e. the parts that back onto mine, which would reasonably mean I should cover put coping stones on the rest of their garden walls. So that's not really a runner for cost and complication.

My question is how important it is to put coping stones along the top to protect render?

Will the render crumble off or stain, etc after a few years without coping because of rainwater getting behind it?

Is there any option for when you just want coping on one side of a wall?

Thanks!

Do the neighbours mind?

I had a wall rendered without capping for years. Cavity with a layer of 4" on flat to top it off - never got round to capping it. The render stuck fine but it did stain/get black mould along the top 4 or 5 inches of the rendered face.

Would sheet aluminium do the trick - an L shape? Long lengths would reduce joints (which could be overlapped and sealed). The short leg of the L being your drip edge, the long leg covering the top of the wall.

argolis

Hi folks, thanks for the replies.

I only got checking the wall today. I can't tell if it's cavity block or whether there's two blocks laid edgeways making up most of the wall. They're 8" high and then it's capped with one block on its flat 4" high. That sounds similar to what you have @antiskeptic. I've attached a pic, unfortunately it's from a distance so I don't know if anyone could tell.

I should have said in the first post but I won't be doing anything without the neighbour's permission I want to see if there's a hassle-free solution or have a good idea on what I'd like to do before approaching them.

@Calahonda52 Would the block type make a big difference to whether the render gets mould/crumbles/etc?

The aluminium sheet sounds like it might be a good idea.

Also, I'm thinking that if I got a coloured render but didn't cap it, then I could pressure wash the wall to remove any black mould.