In need of diy and a re-paint

Some building/painting advice needed please. My bungalow is 66 years old and part brick part render. The front as you can see has to cope with the weather, facing south east and in a coastal position. It was last painted two and a half years ago and has been in this mess for the last year.

The problem is keeping masonry paint on it. Many years ago before we bought it somebody had a coating put on it, this is gradually peeling off and has now got to the point where it has to be stripped by hand, there's no other way of shifting it without it costing a fortune. We also have a problem keeping the paint on the parts of the brickwork that has no coating now. Why do people paint brick, what's the point?! It has been sealed before painting in the past but it makes no difference. Would an oil base paint be better please?

The left hand side is rendered, the cracks that need to be filled are surface so they are not an issue but the coating was put on this surface too so the whole lot needs to be stripped. The rest of the bungalow doesn't need re-painting.

All advice gratefully received please.

 

Get some Sandtex. It's brilliant stuff...plasticised and lasts years. It's waterproof and dirt resistant. Just use a stiff brush to get rid of the loose bits on your walls, and whap the Sandtex on.

http://www.screwfix.com/p/sandtex-u...d Decorating&gclid=CMuYvqfX88QCFUTJtAodkB0AOw

They do white, cream etc.... it really is brilliant stuff.

 

Simon......Sorry, Sandtex is what's on it now, well was on it!

FC......A pressure washer doesn't touch it sadly, it's been tried. My neighbour had the same coating on his walls and spent days using a scraper to remove it. I think the only thing that will shift it now is sand blasting but I haven't got the pennies for that.

It's not so much the removal of the surface which we know will be down to elbow grease but what we can paint it with that will stay on more than eighteen months.

 

Looks to me like it needs to be stripped back to brickwork.
But as you say, probably an expensive job.
The" coating" looks like it was just some kind of textured paint, hard to shift in places and falling off in others, as you say, why do people paint brickwork.
(unless they are trying to hide something)

Personally I wouldn't even consider an oil based paint.
But I'm no expert.

The render appears to be cracking, so probably the damp is getting behind it, so not really much you can do there without it costing a mint.

 

Not come across Snowcem since the 60s

 

My old Dad loved Snowcem, if you stood still long enough,..... you got a coat.
I always kept on the move.

But usually got the job of mixing it.

 

No it wasn't a textured paint Pete and I'm trying to remember the name of the blasted stuff! It was definitely a wall coating I think the name ended in ...tex and no it wasn't Sandtex.

Yes, it all probably needs replacing even though the cracks are only surface but we want to move house so are not inclined to spend a fortune on it.

FC.....The Nilfisk idea is a good possibility and so is Snowcem, that's a name from the past! But will it be a problem just coating the front of the bungalow with it?

 

When I say textured paint I did mean as in wall coating.
As different from the resin types that they use.

What I meant was, if you can get it off, the brickwork will become porous again,like it was originally.

 

We're about to have an estimate from someone for the work as it's a bit beyond other half and I now. The chap we have in mind wants to know exactly what we need him to do and the materials he is to use, he's taking his lead from us, so we need to get it right. It may turn out that it will be easier and cheaper to re-render but that doesn't help the brickwork situation. I'll keep you posted.

 

Shame you want to sell, I think it would look really nice even with the brickwork rendered. Looks like the brick faces are blown, rendering it would help stop them perishing further (I am a plasterer).

 

You need to remove all of the coating on that wall. This would be better done by getting a local sand blasting company to take it all off. It a dusty messy job but trust me it needs doing.

You then need to treat the wall with a stabilising solution then repoint/fix the various cracks before painting with a breathable paint. Using a non breathable paint will simply mean it will happen again.
Think of the walls of your house as lungs. Wall need to breath and if they don't they will contain the moisture within the fabric of the wall. There is moisture from within the walls that needs to escape and this is a quite natural factor. Painting with old fashioned paints is the most common cause of the failure of the coating which in this case is paint.

If you try to blast that lot of with water you will simply make the problem worse. Yes you will remove some of the paint but you will drive in much moisture and the whole cycle will start again.

HTH.

Charlie.