Renovating your façade,
step by step.

Behind the word “façade” lie three levels of work that have neither the same price nor the same formalities. The first is maintenance: sound but dirty or faded render is cleaned, repaired locally and repainted. The second is the façade refurbishment proper: the render sounds hollow, is coming away or is cracking everywhere, and it is redone. The third is heavy renovation: an insulating layer is added under new render, or the wall is clad.

The right level is not chosen from a catalogue. It follows from the condition of the wall, its nature, the commune's planning rules and, often, a legal obligation to insulate that many owners discover when they receive the quote. That is why everything starts with a diagnosis.

The nature of the wall governs everything else. A breeze block or concrete wall rendered in cement accepts hydraulic render or bonded insulation. An old stone wall, common in our Savoie villages, needs to breathe: a waterproof cement render traps moisture in it, and we go back to lime, as we explain for the stone walls of Chautagne.

The condition of the render is checked with a hammer: areas that sound hollow have come away and must be hacked off. Cracks are read before they are filled: fine crazing stays superficial, whereas a crack that goes right through, runs in a stepped pattern or follows the corners of windows may betray movement of the structure. Finally damp: marks at the foot of the wall or saltpetre point to a cause to be dealt with before any finish.

Redoing a façade like for like, with the same colours and the same materials, is maintenance: no permission is requested. As soon as the colour or the material changes, a prior declaration (déclaration préalable) is needed. It is also required, even like for like, in a protected area, on a protected building or in a commune that has made façade refurbishment subject to authorisation: the town hall's planning department will tell you. External insulation always requires a prior declaration, because it alters the appearance of the building.

The town hall has one month to reply to a complete file, two months in a protected area. If the insulation overhangs the neighbouring land, the construction code grants an overhang right limited to 35 cm in thickness, at least 2 m above the ground unless the neighbour agrees. In a co-ownership, the façade is a common part: the general meeting must vote on the work. Our guide to the prior declaration (déclaration préalable) details the file.

One rule is often overlooked: when the render or facing of at least 50% of a wall of heated rooms made of concrete, cement, terracotta or metal is redone, article R173-4 of the construction code requires that wall to be insulated. Exceptions exist, notably where there is a risk to the building fabric or harm to architectural quality, but they have to be justified; they are not presumed.

Scaffolding is the first item on the quote, and the one that justifies grouping the work: on our quotes for houses, its erection, protection and dismantling are priced at €3,000 to €7,900 excl. VAT, depending on the height, the length of façade and the access. A sloping plot or a street-facing façade, which requires permission to occupy the pavement, weighs on this amount.

Then comes preparation of the substrate: cleaning, moss removal, hacking off areas of loose render. Cracks are opened up, reinforced if need be and filled with a mortar compatible with the wall. Reinforced concrete elements whose steel is rusting, notably sills and lintels, are stripped back and treated. This stage is no longer visible once the façade is finished, but it is what makes the finish last.

On render that is still sound, façade paint after cleaning is enough: the only one of our quotes that prices it separately shows it at €80/m² excl. VAT. When the render needs redoing, it is redone: sprayed single-coat, scraped or ribbed, it is most often priced at €85 to €100/m² excl. VAT on our quotes, hacking off the old render included or not as the case may be. A lime render on an old wall rises to €140/m² excl. VAT, because it is applied in several coats. The line-by-line breakdown is in our guide to the price of a façade refurbishment.

Cladding changes the look of the house: planed timber boards, Douglas fir, or aluminium. Supplied and fitted timber cladding comes to €90 to €135/m² excl. VAT on our quotes, more when it includes a complete build-up with framework and bracing panel. It calls for a prior declaration (déclaration préalable) and, for timber, regular upkeep if you do not want to let it turn grey. Species and finishes are compared in our guide to the price of timber cladding.

If the scaffolding is up and the render needs redoing, external thermal insulation costs only the difference: the bonded and plugged insulation, its reinforcement mesh and the finishing render. On our quotes, this complete system under render, in polystyrene or rock wool, comes to €160 to €190/m² excl. VAT. The added thickness means dealing with the details: extended window sills, hinged shutters rehung on offset hinges, about €650 excl. VAT per shutter on one of our quotes, and downpipes moved away from the wall.

On grants, the landscape changed on 1 September 2026: MaPrimeRénov' no longer funds wall insulation as a stand-alone measure. It comes into play only in a major renovation, on a home rated E, F or G, with at least two insulation measures and a gain of two classes. External insulation keeps the 5.5% VAT and energy saving certificates (CEE). Our RGE CertiRénov certification (no. CR-2026-73-0095) covers the comprehensive renovation offer (offre globale de rénovation): it is within this framework that we put together these applications, as our page on MaPrimeRénov' and 2026 grants explains. The details of the techniques and thicknesses are in our guide to the price of external insulation.

A new façade under leaking gutters does not stay that way for long: the streaks blacken the render within a winter. So we use the scaffolding to take up the zinc-work, gutters, downpipes, cladding of verges and fascias. On our quotes, complete zinc-work for a house is most often priced at €7,000 to €8,000 excl. VAT, and at €1,150 to €4,500 excl. VAT for an extension or a flat roof. The details are in our guide to the price of a zinc gutter.

What remains are the finishing touches that make the difference to the eye: painted or highlighted window surrounds, a plinth protected from splash-back, clearing the surroundings once the scaffolding is taken down.

The ranges below are taken from our 2024-2026 quotes in Savoie and Haute-Savoie, excluding VAT, rounded. They serve to place a project, not to price it: the actual façade area, openings deducted, and the condition of the substrate set the price.

• Scaffolding, protection and dismantling: €3,000 to €7,900 excl. VAT for a house.
• Façade paint after cleaning: €80/m² excl. VAT, on a single quote.
• New render on an existing wall: €85 to €100/m² excl. VAT; in lime, €140/m² excl. VAT.
• External insulation under render: €160 to €190/m² excl. VAT, insulation and render included.
• Supplied and fitted timber cladding: €90 to €135/m² excl. VAT.
• Complete zinc-work: €7,000 to €8,000 excl. VAT for a house.

VAT is added: generally 10% for a façade refurbishment in a dwelling completed more than two years ago, 5.5% on the insulation share. What makes the bill vary comes down to four points: the height and access, which weigh on the scaffolding; the number of openings, which multiplies the junctions; the condition of the substrate, which decides the hacking off; and the commune's requirements, colours or lime imposed in a protected area.

On our façade projects, our salaried masons prepare the substrate, repair the cracks, fit the insulation and apply the render; our carpenters fit the framework and the cladding; our roofers take up the zinc-work. Each works in their own trade, on one schedule and under one contract, with scaffolding erected only once for the whole job.