External rendering is the process of applying building walls with a smooth external finish. The buildings are those built from concrete blocks. The render is a bonding agent or mortar composed of fine aggregate and cement.

An external render is great wall protection. It can last long and resist weather. It offers good bond strength to your wall. Materials like earth must be rendered all the time while materials like stone and brick do not need rendering but they can be rendered.

Materials for External Rendering

Originally, render was made from cement, sand and lime. It can also be made from a plasticizer, which is a substance that will improve the workability of the render. The render can be painted so that it will look attractive and can be protected from weather. However, you can also avail of self-colored cement renders.

Function

External rendering can be applied to your exterior walls in order to minimize moisture which penetrates into your undering masonry. This can also be utilized for improving the look of a plain masonry wall.

Things to Consider

In terms of external rendering, there are things to be taken into account including the kind of base material or substrate, the exposure level to rain and wind and the finished exterior's desired look. In turn, such factors will dictate the render's composition and the coats that you should apply.

Before you apply a render to your wall, you need to keep in mind some things. For repairing decayed render, it is important to brush off the wall so that any loose material will be removed. After this, you can bond the external render correctly to your wall. This also depends on the kind of wall finish you have. You can observe that while the water in a number of external renders evaporate, the latter will shrink. You can avoid this if you ensure that your wall is wetted properly beforehand and the coats applied are one-half inch thick. This is helpful in drying the mix sooner. The wall's deep hollows can be covered up using small tile bits. The mortar should be dry before the application of the first coat. After doing the fairly thin coat, you can apply unique coats using a trowel. The mortar will begin to have cracks when it is drying up. You should make sure that the cracks are caused by the shrinking process instead of the breakdown of the previous coat.

Article originally published at Source by Jessie Reyes