The high maintenance of painted sand render

Painted sand render - Painted sand render is a fairly high maintenance item. It is a cheap alternative to acrylic render which is more durable and more costly. The downside is it will require re-painting approx. every 2-3 years. The darker the colour you paint it, the quicker it will require re-painting. The paint generally will oxidise and become porous which then lets in moisture and causes hairline cracking (map cracking) in the surface. Avoid having garden beds directly against the render as this will expedite the process. If you have a home with badly degraded render then don't despair, as there are ways of restoring it back to... its original condition. If the render is cracked and hollow the render has debonded from the substrate. This is the worst case scenario and will require re-bonding using a process of drilling holes into the render until you hit the bricks then injecting a product that will re-adhere it to the bricks. If it is cracked but not hollow then using a bridging membrane will remedy the problem. A bridging membrane is basically a paint that is very flexible and goes on thicker ( A standard coat of paint is approx. 50 microns vs a bridging membrane 150 microns). This paint will fill into the cracks and provide a uniform flexible coating over the render and restore it back to new. The main lesson to learn is to look for the signs and avoid costly remedial work. If the render shows discolouration treat it before you have to undertake these repairs