huge cracks in rendering outside

[laura1111]

Hi

our house is an 1890's semi (looks like an end terrace) which is rendered around the whole house. The house was extended upstairs at the back to make 2 bedrooms upstairs and put the bathroom upstairs aswell. We are joined to a double fronted house which is only 1 room deep, so our house is basically 2 rooms deeper than next door with 3 walls exposed to weather. When we moved in 18 months ago there was a small crack on the corner of the house which went up not across the corner. i havent noticed over winter really, but went outside on saturday and the crack is massive there must be an inch-inch and a half gap. can anyone advise me if they think this is due to water getting in over winter, it freezing and warming up again, or whether it sounds more serious. there are no cracks internally, and a few minor ones elsewhere on the rendering! but it is old!

thanks

 

[gday2uk]

It is either like you said due to freezing or whoever did the rendering didn't use a stainless steel render bead (or a render bead at all) and it has rusted under the render pushing it outwards. If it is this then it is a straight forward repair.
As it's already cracked try hacking a bit off to expose underneath, hitting it with a hammer should suffice and will give you more of a clue as to what is going on, it can't hurt it as it's allready cracked and will need repairing.