Exterior render blown around windows / corners

[Whiteth89]

Hi All,

Quick prelude to say I've been an avid follower of this forum for a while. The Mrs and I recently bought our first house together and she has a long list of jobs for me to do so hopefully there will be a few pointers / lessons learned which I can share along the way.

Currently I have damp / render headaches

On the exterior wall of my semi, around the window frames, the render is crumbling away. Internal / external photos are here; https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B6XsT02RaFc5OTk5VU9uQVpuU3M&usp=sharing

A few facts / background;

- the rendering was done by the previous owner (not a builder ) approx 6 to 8 years ago
- the damage can only be seen in the corners of windows OR where its been exposed to consistent damp (ie next to an external tap)
- the worst patch (shown in the photos) has quite bad damp on the wall inside (paint bobbling), needs a dehumidifier on all the time
- what started as very small cracks has deteriorated quick quickly in the recent weather (storms, v high wind and rain)


Keen to resolve ASAP and preferably myself. First thoughts were to get a tub of Wickes render repair / mortar and patch it up.

Never attempted anything like this before so any advice / feedback is welcome.

TW

 

[Blagard]

Very probably a poor bond to the background and once water gets in frost will do the rest.

Once loose render is removed check around the windows to ensure they are sealed to the structure and rectify as necessary

Make good the render to finish off.

 

[dishman]

I would say it depends what your budget is and how bad the rest of the rendering is on the whole house.

Is there any point in patch repairing if it is all of low quality finish/specification and will probably just get worse in other areas over time?

You could end up with lots of patches all over the property.

Unless done well and the repaired areas are discreet, the patches may well show up/be visible to some degree. However if the damaged render is just around the windows, you may be ok...

The more expensive option is to re-render the whole place.

there are different types of render:

Sand and Cement then painted to a colour you prefer. Most common, cheapest but takes longer to do. Some question over how well sand/cement lets the property breathe and move. Hairline cracks can appear. But this method has been used for decades so....

Modern monocouche Render: This is usually sprayed on, is pre-coloured and is meant to have polymers included in the mix. These supposedly allow the brickwork beneath to breath and are move flexible with movement, so less chance of cracks appearing. But, this is a more expensive material, however labour costs my be lower as it takes less time to apply. and should not need re-painting in the future....

There are other types too.....too much choice!


On a separate point, are your walls cavity walls? Are you sure the blown render is causing the damp?

As a further caveat, I am not a plasterer. I have similar blown render, so have been researching all the options lately. I plan to re-render the whole house...

 

[jeds]

Can't see from the photos - are the corner beads corroded?

 

[Whiteth89]

Thanks for the quick replies.

Very probably a poor bond to the background and once water gets in frost will do the rest.

Makes sense, especially given the problems are appearing wherever there is a bead on the rear external wall (which takes all the weather).

Once loose render is removed check around the windows to ensure they are sealed to the structure and rectify as necessary

Make good the render to finish off.

What would I need to do this / how is it done? Would it need a builder?

Can't see from the photos - are the corner beads corroded?

The corner beads look ok to my untrained eye. Anything specific i should be looking for?

 

[Whiteth89]

Any ideas