Advice on crepe

[billyo]

Hi

The crepe on my house is litterally falling off in places, allowing water to get to the render uderneath (which is also cracked in places) and causing damp/humidity/condensation in some areas inside. My quetion is, is it better to take as much off as possible; allow some drying time and then paint with one of the hydrofuge silicon solutions that waterproof and stop ingress, or leave it untill I get the crepe redone sometime next year once Ive finished the other works?

Cheers

billyo

[Cassis]

Hi Billyo

I answer this only as a DIY-er and not as one of the many builders / professional renovators who pop up here.

As I understand it, crépi is really more a decorative finish than anything else, though it does give some weather protection. 

If the render is unsound, that (rather than the crépi) could be the root cause of the damp problem ASSUMING THAT the other obvious causes (poorly fitting door and window frames, blocked gutters, leaky downpipes, water backing up against the wall, etc.) have been eliminated.

If we're sure it's penetrating damp due to crappy crépi and rotten render, I would remove all the loose crépi, go over all of the wall in question checking for loose render (tap the surface and see if it sounds firm or hollow) and remove the loose stuff, re-render where necessary, rake out any cracks and refill, then re-crépi.

One of the pros may have another approach!

[billyo]

Thanks cassis, i'll be up scrapping and raking early tomorrow!

billyo

[Cassis]

Not too early - Sunday, day of rest and all that!  Remember the French motto - "

Pas trop vite le matin et doucement l'après midi ".

[billyo]

Not forgetting 'a demain' too