QA

Quick Answer: How Thick Should Render Be

Traditional renders should be applied in 2 coats. The first coat should not exceed 15mm thickness and the second coat should be 5-7mm. The first coat should be slightly stronger than the second coat. Render designation M4/iii should be used.

How thick can render be?

Render prepared on site using standard sand and cement must be at least 20 to 25mm thick. However, the capability of the render is dependent upon the quality of the sand used, the design mix and is heavily reliant on good mixing techniques by the applicator.

How thick should a scratch coat be?

Bead with scratch coat using either plastic or stainless steel stop or bell beads to get the finish. The Best sand is Plastering sand from any mechant. Once mix starts to pick up scratch up with a scarifier. Thickness around 10 mm.

How thick should internal render be?

Thickness: You can apply upto 16mm in one coat, and as long as you know how to mix a decent bit of muck you won’t get slumping when working on Thermalite or similar blocks. Generally you should aim to apply an 11mm coat of render for internal work on flat walls where there aren’t any frames to work to.

What is the correct mix for external rendering?

A common mix ratio used for rendering is 6 parts sand, 1 part cement and 1 part lime. Any general purpose cement can be used, although the sand should be fine and clean of impurities. Coarser sand is usually used as the base layer and slightly finer sand for the top layer.

Do you need two coats of render?

You cant render with one coat and its doesn’t matter what type of finish you want. You need a scratch coat and a top coat so if you only have a top coat it wont adhere like it should .

Does render cause damp?

Even slight cracks in the render of a building can allow water to penetrate and become trapped between the render and brickwork. This build-up of stagnant moisture will eventually soak into the brickwork/masonry and can lead to penetrating damp within the internal wall.

Do you let the scratch coat dry?

Let the scratch coat dry before going on to the next step. Drying time will depend on temperature, humidity and airflow, and could take anywhere from 2 to 24 hours. You’ll know its dry when it turns a light gray color.

How long do you have to wait after scratch coat?

Cure Time: The scratch coat should be allowed to moist cure for a period of 3-5 days. This allows the cement to become hard enough to gain most of it’s strength before the brown coat is applied.

How long do you leave between render coats?

The second coat should be treated the same as the first, and applied before the first coat has developed too much of a set. In normal conditions this should be about one week, but there is no hard and fast rule to the time it may take; Surfaces that are very damp will take longer to harden up.

How many bags of sand do I need to render a wall?

2 Answers from MyBuilder Plasterers A bag of 25kg cement will closely do 6m2,try using 4 bags of 25kg soft sand. with a ratio 4buckets of sand x 1bucket of cement mix, will do the job.

Do you need to PVA render before plastering?

We essentially want to apply 2 coats of PVA at a 3:1 ratio to our walls. You apply the first coat, wait for it to completely dry and then apply the second coat. The best time to start plastering is when the walls are still quite tacking.

Is rendering sand the same as sharp sand?

for rendering. Sharp sand round my area means sand for screeding. Rendering sand is called Leighton Sand or Riverwashed Sand. A lot of guys here do rendering using building sand with a shovel full of sharp (screeding sand) in the mix.

What sand should I use for rendering?

The best type of sand to use is rendering or plastering sand. Coarse sand is usually used for the base layer, and sand that has a slightly fine texture as the top layer. Therefore, you can make use of building sand for the top or base layer.

What is the best mix for rendering?

Why lime helps make the best mix for rendering Instead, we make a 6:1:1 which is six parts of sand, one part of cement and one part of hydrated lime. The sand must be plastering sand or rendering sand, not building sand – do not use building sand for rendering because it shrinks and cracks.

Do you need to repoint before rendering?

No you do not need to point prior to rendering any holes or cracks will help to key the render to the structure.

How good is one coat render?

One Coat Render is a high quality, pre-blended formulation, for single coat application reducing total drying time. For use on solid substrates such as brickwork, blockwork and concrete, in moderate exposure conditions. Grey colour when dry.

How do I get a smooth finish on render?

A smooth finish – also known as a traditional, sponge, or float finish – is achieved by smoothing down a base coat render with a sponge float and coating with an external quality paint.

Can you render over Pebble Dash?

Rendering over pebbledash is easy when you use the EWI-065 One Coat Dash Cover (OCDC)! Ensure that the pebbledashed wall is stable and secure by knocking the existing substrate with a shovel or hammer. Loose pebbles should be removed, and any areas of crumbling pebbledash should be stripped back completely.

Will re rendering stop damp?

Render. Like the external wall insulation mentioned above, rendering isn’t cheap – but the render will form a protective waterproof barrier on the external walls, repelling water and preventing water ingress in future. It can also really smarten up your property.

How do you stop damp coming through render?

the only way to alleviate the problem is to remove the render, re-point the brickwork with lime mortar and if necessary re-render with lime render this will allow any moisture in the structure of the building to escape, anything else is only covering the problem up which will come back twice as bad as before.

Should render be waterproof?

The render itself eventually becomes waterlogged and full of cracks, which causes never-ending problems, and in some cases structural issues. This means that when homeowners actually get around to re-rendering their property, they want to upgrade to the strong stuff that won’t crack and is highly waterproof.