How to render fake brick wall using Dulux texture paint?

[kchambers]

Renovating this old house... so over it... so much to do... so little money left.... arghhh...

The house was clad 50 years ago with these cement sheet fake bricks.... Generally speaking the boards are attached to the weatherboard house well - occassional little loose board here and there, but realistically it has held up well and it still is structurally good. Its just an eye sore - as all the 'grouting' of the boards which were caulked are cracking from years of movement.

 I really do not want to remove and replace the cladding - thats a huge cost. Yes its asbestos backed boards - which are safe as they are not broken up...

So I thought lets try the Dulux texture paint...  First attempt at rendering - using a glove... and I am pretty happy with the result.

 

 

 The above pictures shows a before and after...  The render really does hide the 'panel' look.

Although - the following day - I can see fine hairline cracks. Only visible when you stand right in front of it - from the street it looks perfect.

 

Given how it was - it is much better!... Sure a second coat might fix this... But dulex texture is expensive (all paint is these days).

Thinking I will use Sellys external no more gaps and a finger to try and fill cracks a little more before applying the paint.

Pretty easy to apply, I kind of like the product... I got coverage around what was expected... So hopefully it is only going to cost $1.5k to fix these 2 walls, as opposed to probably $20k to remove and reclad.

Thoughts anyone?

[JacobZ]

Hi @kchambers,

Thank you for your post.

Your plan to fill the gaps with Selleys White No More Gaps Exterior Gap Filler before painting over with your textured paint is exactly what I would recommend.

You can apply a thin bead using a caulking gun, then strike it off with a damp cloth or your finger to create a nice smooth seal.

Once the gaps are filled, your textured paint shouldn't have any cracks as it will have a solid surface to bond to.

What you have so far looks great, so I'm excited to see how it turns out.

Jacob