Bay window rendering problem

[ADCG22]

Hi all

Thanks for your time to look at this.

In front of my house by the bay window is an area where the wheelie bins are kept and the previous owner had this area (not large, say 4m2) laid with bark chippings. Over the past two years this has got wet, full of weeds, muddy and just looks a right old mess.

I want to do a quick refresh and add some slate chippings, large pebbles or something similar.

However, I though best to fix the render problem that is evident where the render meets the ground - see photos.

a) what is causing this?
b) how best to fix this?

Can I just hack off the loose stuff, SBR slurry the bare areas and patch up the render down to ground level? There are ready to mix buckets of render out there to buy and that is what I was planning to use. Do I need to add a waterproofer to this?

The render is not damp, very sandy and dry actually and as there is a 300mm window ledge above this the ground is dry. I don't believe this render is drawing water up - no signs of damp internally at all. You advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[vinn]

The external render looks to be blown or its a very poor application - its also in ground contact.
The render is "drawing water up".
It has also been previously patched near to ground level.

The render could be hacked off to sill height, and re-rendered in a mix of 3:1 sand and lime.
Patch rendering is not a good idea.
A bell cast should be used to keep the new render about 100mm to 150mm from ground contact.
Check that the throating channel under the sill is clear and effective.

The best bay, suspended floor ventilation would be provided by air bricks/vents on three sides of the bay.

You would also be best advised to carefully examine your bay interior skirtings, and plaster/decorations for damp signs
Have you crawled under the bay floor, and examined the state of the joist tails and surrounding timber?