Newly rendered outside wall cracking and damp - Help!

[WoodyNot]

Hello to all. Newbie here with help sought.

I've had my front outside wall rendered about 3 months ago. The builder had someone else to do the work. Once the rendering was complete, the following day there was rain for a few hours which obviously soaked the still damp/drying render. A whole load of cement/gray dust started running down the bottom half of the wall which now dried has stained the paint and is difficult to clean off.

The render which eventually dried now is covered in hairline cracks - which, when it rains is obviously allowing rain to be soaked/sucked in.

The builder said the method used to render the wall was a 'new' type of rendering whereby the old render did not need to be hacked off and a skip wouldn't be required.

The new render is supposed to be painted over with some kind of weather proof paint.

There's a few things I'm not convinced about that the job has been done right.

1. The cement has cracked and to me is allowing water to seep inside.
2. The builder has denied there was no need to cover the render.
3. No cover protection was used to protect the paintwork of the lower half of the house.

I want the render painted but no way can this be painted like this?

Also, how can any weather/water proofing be applied to the render like this with the cracks, surely sealing it in this state would just be sealing water that's already soaked into the render.

Any help/ideas on what to do next would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dontbelieveawordofit]

get him out.
the original should have been hacked off.
the finish is poor . the mix looks far too strong. my guess is the whole thing has already blown and isn’t keyed or correctly bonded to the existing render.
if you tap it with a screwdriver it’ll most likely all sound hollow.

 

[WoodyNot]

@bennymultifinish

Thanks for your reply, much appreciated.

Tapping the wall with a screwdriver isn't something I have tried but I will try that.

As for your reply; quote: "the original should have been hacked off" ... the builder said he knew of a 'new' method of rendering the wall which does not require the existing render to be hacked off and saves the cost of hiring a skip -- thus, the new render can be applied over the existing render.

I'm no expert but this doesn't sound right to me.

 

[dontbelieveawordofit]

there are modern renders that can be applied , together with correct primers and reinforcing mesh over existing render or dashed surfaces, that need to be mainly sound.
what you have there looks like normal sand and cement render which I would rarely if ever recommend going over existing sand and cement with.

 

[ted456]

Woodynot,
If you've not paid then dont pay.

You need to have all the recent render, and whatever its backing is, hacked off back to bare masonry. But first, protective sheeting for below and all frames and fixtures.
Moisture trapped in render can enter the cavity or pass thro a solid wall.
When the masonry is exposed then why not post pics of it on here? A pic of the whole elevation would also help?

Sand & Cement renders are rarely used by modern, educated and informed renderer's. 3:1 or 4:1 sand & lime mix is a better possibility.

The flashing should have been wedged and pointed in before any rendering took place.