Is it better to have a brick wall pointed or rendered?
I agree with James & Mikey, rendering a property is one of the surest ways to devalue and make it look worse. As a professional building surveyor, when I do valuations of any property or carry out homebuying surveys, if I see a gable that is rendered I always assume it has been rendered to cover up damage, which it almost invariably has. So if you go ahead with rendering the gable,when you come to sell the property any surveyor worth his salt will take one look at it and immediately assume it is hiding structural defects (valuation surveys aren’t detailed enough to go into the realms of testing wall ties etc, so it is usual to advise the potential buyer to assume the worst). If the brickwork is very badly spalled then it will be worthwhile getting an estimate for taking down the outer leaf only and having it rebuilt. The cost will pretty much be offset by the increased value of your house. If the brickwork only requires pointing, then get estimates from recommended builders, as opposed
