The Cat With No Tail Pub, Douglas

The render on this pub had cracked badly, so the worst of it was covered over rather than hacked off.

Several elevations of the building had suffered severe cracking within the render finishes. Cracking is not only a cosmetic problem on an exposed building like this one. Every crack is a way in for water, and once water is sitting behind the face of a render it does not come back out in a hurry.

Rather than strip the lot, the worst elevations were treated to a thin coat over-render using KEIM Universal Render with KEIM glassfibremesh incorporated into it. The mesh is the part that matters: it ties the new coat together across the whole elevation, so movement in the wall behind cannot open a line up through the face again. KEIM guarantee the mesh-reinforced system not to crack.

The newly rendered elevations then received two coats of KEIM Soldalit-ME mineral paint. Mineral paint is not a plastic film sitting on the surface — it bonds into the render and stays breathable, so moisture in the wall can still find its way out. That combination is what carries the guarantee: on this job, a 20 year product warranty.