Render on Victorian house is cracked and blown - how to solve

housebuyer7

Hello,

When we bought our mid-terrace Victorian house, the surveyor flagged that the render on the rear of the property had blown, had a number of cracks and was hollow in places. It has also caused damp in some areas of the house internally. They recommend we remove the render and re-render in lime render.

Since then we have had a patch removed and it’s around 2-3 layers of render that has been applied over the years. Hacking it all off will cause a lot of damage to the property. We are also now not in a position to afford to re-render in lime.

I am wondering how to move forward. Do you think we should get the whole lot hacked off and re-render in cement? (This is all we could afford), or do you think it might be feasible to not hack it all off and do remedial work instead?

Example photo attached.

stuart45

I wouldn't get the lot hacked off and then use a cement render. If you can't afford lime, I'd just repair the cracks and blown areas.

FreeBear

If you hack more than 25% of the render off, Building Regulations kick in - Building Control will probably want to see insulation added to the walls before a fresh coat of render is applied. You'd be looking at 100-150mm of cork or woodfibre boards with a lime render over the top. Detailing around the roof line is going to need quite a bit of thought, and there will be other areas that will also require careful consideration. None of this is going to be cheap, although hacking off the render yourself would save a good chunk of money.

If you are only planning on living in this house for 5 years or so, I'd go with Stuart's suggestion of patch & repair.