Cracked House Render

[andys]

There’s a fair spread of skills on here so I wonder if anyone can give me some advice on this. Moved into my house 13yrs ago, it’s bottom half brick skinned and top half rendered and painted (presumably over block?). There have always been a few cracks, some running all or most of the way down the render, they’ve never got any bigger or new ones developed so I’m satisfied it’s nothing to do with subsidence, and they’ve never really bothered me. Now though, the top half is looking scruffy and needs repainting and I don’t want dirt filled cracks spoiling it.

What’s the best way to have it addressed? Just get a builder to rake them out and fill before paint? What with? Is there any material flexible enough to stop them opening again but still have the same texture to hide them? Or is there a new self coloured wonder material that could be applied straight over the top? Grateful for any tips.

 

[Eli]

There’s a fair spread of skills on here so I wonder if anyone can give me some advice on this. Moved into my house 13yrs ago, it’s bottom half brick skinned and top half rendered and painted (presumably over block?). There have always been a few cracks, some running all or most of the way down the render, they’ve never got any bigger or new ones developed so I’m satisfied it’s nothing to do with subsidence, and they’ve never really bothered me. Now though, the top half is looking scruffy and needs repainting and I don’t want dirt filled cracks spoiling it.

What’s the best way to have it addressed? Just get a builder to rake them out and fill before paint? What with? Is there any material flexible enough to stop them opening again but still have the same texture to hide them? Or is there a new self coloured wonder material that could be applied straight over the top? Grateful for any tips.

I believe ‘K Rend’ is the self coloured material

 

[andys]

I believe ‘K Rend’ is the self coloured material

Thanks, googling it now

 

[Bargy62]

The trouble with cracks in render are when raked out then filled
With sand and cement they may be proud and show when painted
With filler when sanded down it goes smooth and shows
If the cracks are stable and only hairline there are paints you can go straight over them probably best to brush a load in the crack first to part fill it

 

[Dellmassive]

I used external filler on mine..... but as above once painted you can see the repair...

Dont really bother me now, but maybe if I had to do it again I'd maybe use a small bead flexible filler.... like say decorators courking filler, then paint external paint over that....

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[Loz]

K rend is quite popular around here, a neighbour had his old pebble dash removed and a coloured Krend applied an excellent finish.

 

[F2JON]

If they’re only hairline cracks then bedec extra flex masonry paint will do the job, google it, I’ve used it on several jobs, does what it says it does. Other than that if you want texture then hi build textured exterior paint hides a multitude of things too.

 

[Bargy62]

If they’re only hairline cracks then bedec extra flex masonry paint will do the job, google it, I’ve used it on several jobs, does what it says it does. Other than that if you want texture then hi build textured exterior paint hides a multitude of things too.

+1

 

[andy58]

hi do you know what block its renderd on if thermalite it will crack .
concrete blocks should be ok

 

[andys]

If they’re only hairline cracks then bedec extra flex masonry paint will do the job, google it, I’ve used it on several jobs, does what it says it does. Other than that if you want texture then hi build textured exterior paint hides a multitude of things too.

They’re not really hairline cracks, they seem to have a raised lip along them, here’s one
There are 5 altogether, each coming roughly from the bottom corner of a window, don’t know if it could have been caused by clumsy fitting of later windows ?
Googling that K Rend, it looks good, though the costs look as if it could be around £7-8k to do my house, which is not good news Worse though, there seem to have been lots of problems with it and I found a rep of the company answering a query with, and I quote “I could show you literally hundreds of photos of faults and in every case it was due to poor preparation or application by the contractor “ Well that’s great, so what are my odds of getting a good contractor?
Maybe the way would be to get them raked out and just filled and then thick masonry paint. I’ve got to do something soon, it’s starting to look shabby

 

[andys]

hi do you know what block its renderd on if thermalite it will crack .
concrete blocks should be ok

I don’t know I’ll see if I can get access to it in the loft to have a look. Is thermalite the really light stuff? It is possible that a mistake like this was made, it was a self build house from the late 80s and I have had to put right several instances of corner cutting since I’ve been in

 

[andy58]

Hi looking at pictures looks like thermal cracks which are just light movement cracks.
It doesnt look like theres any damage there .
IM a plaster and i would fill and paint till you deside what to do
stick to sand and cement render can,t beat it anything else has given us problems .

 

[dubber36]

It might be a good idea to take the render off a good foot either side of the crack to see if the blocks have cracked underneath. If they have, then fix expanded metal lathe to the blocks before rendering the patch. Repairing a larger area also means it will a easier to blend and less noticeable than a filled crack.

 

[andys]

It might be a good idea to take the render off a good foot either side of the crack to see if the blocks have cracked underneath. If they have, then fix expanded metal lathe to the blocks before rendering the patch. Repairing a larger area also means it will a easier to blend and less noticeable than a filled crack.

Thanks, that's a good point.

 

[Stay Frosty]

If you were going to spend a few grand then hack off that sand cement render and get the blockwork rendered with Monocouche, looks like the render they use around the Med and is coloured all the way through the coat.

Gets sprayed onto the blocks on day one and then trowelled up the next day to give that Club Tropicano finish, I am a bit of a Monocouche fan boy but 'tis expensive.

 

[andys]

If you were going to spend a few grand then hack off that sand cement render and get the blockwork rendered with Monocouche, looks like the render they use around the Med and is coloured all the way through the coat.

Gets sprayed onto the blocks on day one and then trowelled up the next day to give that Club Tropicano finish, I am a bit of a Monocouche fan boy but 'tis expensive.

I’m not going to spend a few grand, I don’t really want to spend a few hundred, so it’s going to be patch up I think.

 

[Stay Frosty]

I think Stevie Wonder must have rendered the upper half front of our place but sadly spending a few grand making a 3 bed semi look sharp in a street full of 3 bed semis means sadly I probably won't be rerendering either!

 

[dubber36]

There's always stone cladding.

 

[Vinci]

There's always stone cladding.

As a residential Surveyor, please no, that’s almost as bad as spray-on foam in the roof. Please don’t.

 

[andys]

As a residential Surveyor, please no, that’s almost as bad as spray-on foam in the roof. Please don’t.

I think it was a joke