Render Bead - do I fill gap with mortar? Please help

[sattira]

I have bought a house which is only rendered on the front of the house. The side is still brick. Where the two meet there is a stop bead with a 2-5mm gap behind the stop bead. It is firmly stuck to the house and there is no cracking but the problem is....I have damp within one foot of this bead on both the ground floor and the first floor. I think the water might be getting behind the bead.....at this point I'm trying to eliminate reasons. The main question is...should the bead be filled with mortar or sealant or left as it is to breathe?

Many thanks for your help

 

[roughcaster]

I wouldn't use mortar to fill the gap, i'd use a tube of flexible movement joint filler, applied with an applicator gun. Choose a colour that is similar to the colour of the render. Go to your local builder merchant, tell him what you're looking for, (a tube of flexible movement joint filler), and he will advise.

 

[sattira]

Roughcaster - so it should be filled? I will get the right stuff then I just didn't want to fill it and hear the famous 'you shouldn't of done that' seems the cause of the damp but I couldn't find another house with a stop bead on to compare. They are normally all rendered or no render or no stop bead.
Thanks for your help

 

[roughcaster]

If you don't fill that gap, rainwater/snow will get into it, which, at this time of year could freeze, expand, and could cause the render to "blow" down the corner.
Hard to say whether this gap is the cause of your damp.