Rendered useless??

[bradleyc1982]

Can anyone help with some advice?? I have a timber framed house with lathe and cement render all the way down to the ground. Its starting to break up slightly at the bottom and i'm wondering whether it is worth having it cut back up about 150mm up the wall and a drip installed, risking damaging the soft red bricks underneath, or just patch it up and leave it touching the ground, let sleeping dogs lie so to speak.

Should this be lime or just stick with cement if i get it done?

There are no damp issues internally (as far as i know?).

I see so many period properties around my area with render all the way down to the ground, does anyone know why this is done if its so bad? Some have a sort of plinth and others just straight down.

If i do get it cut and a drip installed what should i do with the exposed brick underneath??

I have attached some photos of the wall where the cracks are.

Thanks in advance

Bradley

 

[aockenden]

That’s a timber framed house?

 

[jamest]

If that were my house, timber framed or not, I'd be stripping off the render at the bottom to see what's underneath. If it's rendered down to the ground there is a big risk (almost a certainty) that moisture will wick up the render or penetrate the render and that whatever is underneath will also wick up moisture and it won't be able to get out very easily. The result could be damage to embedded timber (assuming there is any) and damp internally (and potentially bridging of the dpc, if there is one).

If there are just bricks under the bottom 20 cm or so of the render, get it off and leave them exposed so that they can dry out into the air. Whilst you're at it, cut back that hard standing next to the wall to about 50 cm from the wall and leave the ground exposed - consider putting some gravel down, which will help reduce splash up the walls and penetration of water.

 

[bradleyc1982]

If that were my house, timber framed or not, I'd be stripping off the render at the bottom to see what's underneath. If it's rendered down to the ground there is a big risk (almost a certainty) that moisture will wick up the render or penetrate the render and that whatever is underneath will also wick up moisture and it won't be able to get out very easily. The result could be damage to embedded timber (assuming there is any) and damp internally (and potentially bridging of the dpc, if there is one).

If there are just bricks under the bottom 20 cm or so of the render, get it off and leave them exposed so that they can dry out into the air. Whilst you're at it, cut back that hard standing next to the wall to about 50 cm from the wall and leave the ground exposed - consider putting some gravel down, which will help reduce splash up the walls and penetration of water.

Yes that’s a good idea but I am worried that if I pull the cement render off I am going to damage the bricks underneath and cause more trouble?

 

[Cubist]

Yes that’s a good idea but I am worried that if I pull the cement render off I am going to damage the bricks underneath and cause more trouble?

Direct damage to any brickwork resulting from efforts to remove it are almost inevitable but... damp trapped behind the render will do much more to both the bricks and the remains fabric of the walls.

 

[Kearn]

Yes that’s a good idea but I am worried that if I pull the cement render off I am going to damage the bricks underneath and cause more trouble?

Those bricks are probably already dust…

 

[bradleyc1982]

Hopefully not dust…Jamest yes I think I will try and remove it. I think that some is brick and some is concrete, that’s what I can see under the render, unless that’s still render and there is brick under that? Anyone know the best way to go about it? How thick would it be? Don’t want to grind too deep and make the bricks any worse!! Is it a case of hammer and chisel??

 

[Kearn]

The point is, cement render externally on solid skin brick or worse still, timber, is doing way more damage than you will.

Don’t grind, get a good cold bolster and a lump hammer. Scutch chisel is also always useful. And a sensible sized pry bar.

Technique is to delaminate the render with lots of perpendicular sharp taps, then leverage the cracks and get a decent sized bar under it it prise it off. you can tap with a hammer to listen for hollow spots and find your weak starting point.

Alternatively, if you’ve lots to do, SDS pointy tip chisel at 90degs to the wall to create weaknesses and cracks, then a long flat chisel almost parallel with wall to get under the render. But, with care not to damage the substrate. Tile removing chisel is useful due to its angled head.

It could easily be a few inches thick.

 

[Cubist]

Use one or more of the existing cracks or sections where the render has blown off as a starting point for a chisel to peal or chip off the render. This will provide you with a guide to the depth of the render and where the surface line of the brickwork, or other materials below, is located.