Lintel blown? resin filler

Dry_Rot

Mmmm, shouldn't comment really, as I am a wall tie specialist. I wouldn't use decorators caulk, it is not colour stable and the holes will stand out a mile after a few years of sunlight on them. Dyed mortar is a better bet. The caulk may wash out anyway. Are you sure it isn't mastic? Many use this, but the colour does lighten with age.

I am confused about the ash comment - if the concrete has spalled then a cementitious repair is the best bet anyway. Helibeams from Helifix are great but are not needed if the lintel is sound.

anna.bloom

So decorators caulk is not awful then? The house is white and needs painting, so i wouldnt mind what colour it is. i just dont want the water to get through.

I dont understand about the ash either. The house is covered in cracks, horizontal cracks. This one above the kitchen window ran horrizontally along the top of the lintel, so it looked like it could have blown. Thankfully it is concrete and hasnt. He just said the water had got into the crack and soaked up into the ash?

Thanks for your help by the way! everyone. I really appreciate it.

iamcornholio

Your wall tie man seems a bit clueless

If this horizontal crack is due to ash, then ash over time with water forms a weak acid which attacks cement and can cause it to expand and crack. Ash is a bad thing in concrete

With lintels, when the horizontal steel reinforcement corrodes it can have the appearance of ash flakes

Cracks in lintels have specific causes. Vertical cracks are due to loading, and horizontal cracks are invariably always due to the steel reinforcement corroding and blowing the concrete

Be sure that your mans render repair, is not just hiding a problem behind it