Wall Coatings: Exterior Wall Problems

There are many reasons why people decide to invest in exterior wall coatings; in order to improve the appearance of their property or to avoid the rigmarole of having to periodically carry out exterior decoration or repairs, or even having experienced a problem or problems, they just require a sure-fire solution. 

Recently we visited a customer in Basingstoke whose property suffered from an acute penetrating damp problem and in order to cure this problem she had the following work carried out :-

• The wall ties replaced
• Cavity trays replaced
• Repointing carried out
• Various lead flashing replaced
• Even a double glazed unit was replaced!

. .. . Needless to say none of the above worked and in fact all that was required was a waterproof breathable coating in order to allow the existing damp to dry out and prevent any further penetration of moisture . So when the ANDURA exterior wall protection system was applied the problem disappeared.

Potential exterior wall problems can appear in a number of ways e.g.

Deterioration of Pointing	Spalling Bricks	Stress / Step Fracture
This is quite obviously recognised by the mortar either powdering when touched or just missing (this is more prevalent in properties that date from the mid 20th century or before where sand and lime, rather than sand and cement mortar were used) The problem occurs when pollution and acid rain come into contact with the lime and actually eat away at it leaving just sand.	This occurs when water or moisture penetrates the porous brick, freezes and expands during cold periods and then the surface is "baked" by the sun which eventually leads to the protective surface simply falling away (much like tearing the crust off a loaf of bread and exposing the fragile centre) When this process begins if not treated it will drastically reduce the life expectancy of the wall.	This is caused by movement of the building and the obvious issue is the crack that will appear and allow water penetration. This can rapidly cause the onset of serious problems including structural.
Damaged Render	Damaged Pebbledash	Penetrating Damp
Render by nature is prone to cracking, blowing (becoming detached from the wall) or even crumbling. Other factors that could lead to premature ageing could be incorrect mix of materials at point of application or just damp (Render is obviously porous and at capacity is capable of holding 1.5 pints of water per square yard) If left unattended further problems are sure to develop.	Pebbledash or spa not only suffers from the same problems as render but because of the extra ingredients (stones) can also fall victim to more damp problems than render alone. Because the base is impregnated with stones, which theoretically reduces the porous surface area of the base and repels water, in actual fact as the base breaks down over time the stones simply fall away to leave tiny reservoirs which actually increases the porous surface area and therefore the potential to take on moisture leading to more rapid onset of further problems.	Caused by penetration of moisture from the outside to inside wall, this can be caused by moisture "soaking" through a single skin wall or even travelling across wall ties in the case of a cavity being present. This is initially an unpleasant but minor problem which if left untreated can ultimately lead to structural problems. .
Rising Damp	Solutions
	So What are the potential solutions? View our wall coating solutions information for more details
Much the same as penetrating damp apart from the problem originates from below the damp proofing course and shows that this protective layer is damaged and this will lead to the same cosmetic and eventually structural problems as penetrating damp.