Roughcast House Wall

[jonnypetrie]

On the west facing wall of my house I've noticed that the roughcasting is coming away from the wall. I've noticed this because the paint is cracking and it's sounding hollow when tapped, I've also got small areas of damp inside.

My first question is does this sound like both layers of the roughcasting are detaching, or just the top layer? If it's only the top layer how difficult would it be to remove? Same question if both layers?

Second question, is this something I could contemplate doing myself (novice) or should I get someone in to do it?

Cheers

 

[roughcaster]

On the west facing wall of my house I've noticed that the roughcasting is coming away from the wall. I've noticed this because the paint is cracking and it's sounding hollow when tapped, I've also got small areas of damp inside.

My first question is does this sound like both layers of the roughcasting are detaching, or just the top layer? If it's only the top layer how difficult would it be to remove? Same question if both layers?

Second question, is this something I could contemplate doing myself (novice) or should I get someone in to do it?

Cheers

It could be just the top layer of roughcast that's come loose John, or it could be both, top coat and scratch coat,,, hard to say. Either way, if it has come loose, then it wouldn't be that difficult to remove from the wall/s. Whether you do it yourself or not is up to you, but it's worth getting some on the spot advice first and take it from there. What are the walls constructed from,, brick, block,stone?? When you say the paint on the surface is cracking, it sounds to me as if you're decribing older "wet dash", which could mean stonework underneath the coating.

 

[jonnypetrie]

Untitled

• jonnypetrie
• 23 May 2011
• 1

Here's a pic of the wall, if you look close enough you may see some peeling paint just after the 1st window. The house is a 1930's bungalow so may be older wetcast?. What's the difference between roughcast and wetdash?. If it's wetdash would it create any added difficulty to get it sorted?

I may get someone in to do it, but take it off myself.

 

[roughcaster]

That is wetdash on the wall, and i can see the peeling paint. The difference between wetdash and roughcast (dry dash)??? Roughcasting is where the dry chips are cast onto the wet top coat,, but with wet dash, the small chips/aggregate are mixed similar to a wet concrete, and thrown onto the wall as a wet mix,, the wall gets a tight buttercoat of render just before the wetmix is cast/thrown on. It's not as common as drydash, and you might have to look around to get someone to do it. I don't think you would have a problem taking it off, but if you do, do it carefully,, you dont want to damage the wall underneath, or the glass and window cill, plus,,, make sure you have someone lined up ready to scratch coat it in as soon as possible after it's been stripped.