Can anybody recommend the best way to cover external pebble-dashed walls - altho' its more like grit-dashed with pieces of small sharp stone... looks c**p anyway! Hopefully, I'd like a smooth finish which I can then paint white. Can I just use standard undercoat and finishing plasters over the existing grit finish, or do I need something specifically for external use? And... would a coat of PVA on the grit help? Thanks guys!
You either need to knock it all off and render the wall or render over the dash to get a smooth finish Render with sand and cement or another external product not plaster Depending which method you choose you will need to PVA before application
don't put pva on it before rendering, it is not suitable for external use. only a dim dipshiyte would coat it with pva before rendering.
Are you joking If you have ever had problems putting PVA on an external wall then i'd say the problem lies with you and not with the PVA
Get off your band wagon and accept PVA does the job and like i said it's your poor skills if your work failed not the PVA which is being used for the job it is designated and has been used for decades
my work hasn't failed because i don't use pva dipshiyte. pva is a water based substrate and when in contact with water it "comes back" which can cause an outside application to fail, hence, don't use it outside it isn't needed. get back in your xr3 pikey and f uck off.
I think tinderstick is looking for a constructive answer. I have never seen a forum like this for people been aggressive. Some people make what they believe at the time to be a good answer. If there is a better way to do it then put it across in a constructive a manner. Between you two you look like you might have the answer, but what about the spec for the sand and cement render? regards vipa
No problem. Is it worth putting a plasticiser in to aid application. Also is there anything you could do enhance waterproofing. I have bought a farm house, actually i think it was a pig sty! I have a rendered gable end and i think i have soft spots that could do with replacing.
vipa, in your application you should always be using plasticiser anyway. scratch coat then your top coat add your waterproofer.
Thanks for that, I am assuming a 4-1 mix? Tinderstick, if you get it wrong after this then you will be in trouble!
i would do 5:1 scratch coat and 6:1 top coat, just make sure your top is slightly weaker than your scratch coat.
Of course hadn't thought of that. Obvious when you think about it. Just like light weight blocks and people making the mix too strong. Do you know anything about pointing? If so i will start a new thread.
not my forté but there are a few here aswell as......... http://www.trustedtradesmen.com/forum/default.asp that would be more than happy to help.
NEVER use pva externally. This one has been done to death but dj as allways is spot on. Without reiterating what has been said many times over, simply look at the back of a tub of pva and you will see that it says "Not suitable for external applications" on most, or certainly on any manufacturers web sites.
Right I think I got the best bits out of that... I'm not plastering at all - nor using PVA! Sand and cement at 5:1 scratch coat followed by a 6:1 top coat. Then I can get an external paint straight on that???
You show me a website that says don't use PVA because i can't find one, infact don't bother, continue in your little bubble world where everything you think is right is right. Pointing if you are pointing brick 2 silver - 2 building - 1 cement if the mix is too claggy add more building sand ratio to silver. render - add a shovel of hydrated lime with your 5:1/6:1 top coat and get it even and you wont have to paint the wall afterwards it will set white plus for the time of year it will speed up setting time dj SHOCKINGLY i don't have an xr3 sorry to disappoint you as you are knocking one out looking at the screwfix catalogue
You show me a website that says don't use PVA because i can't find one Didn't try very hard did you ? http://www.cornishlime.co.uk/html/download.php?type=information&id=6 about halfway down the second page it says: "PVA is not suitable for external work.
Don't listen to the scaremongers xr3i The likes of Robbo and dj. spend a lot of time worrying about what could happen in a worst case scenario which they have probably read on a website/back of a tub. I very much doubt wether dj has seen a render fail because it had pva under it To say it is water based so it will fail is missleading,exterior masonry paint is water based,roof sealing emulsion is water based etc etc. I have seen the manufacturers reccomend pva as a render admixture before The pva is not reccomended for outdoor use as it can degrade if subject to constant wetting These conditions DO NOT occur under two coats of render,if they did the render would fail anyway Is it possible that xr3i touched a raw nerve.You bodged a render or dashing job and blamed it on pva