# Forum Home Renovation Cladding  Repairing cracks in cladding

## jeremyp

Hello forum! 
I'm moving into a new home that has a few cracks on the external walls. I'm assuming this is some kind of sheeting with sand texture look on top? See photos attached. 
Appears that the cracks are along joins. There has been some water damage to the wall inside below the window crack which may be related (there is a clear type sealant smeared on every edge). 
My question is, what is the typical process for repair? Especially matching the texture. I don't mind painting the whole wall as I don't really like the colour anyway, hopefully I can patch fix the texture.. ?  
Thanks,  
Jeremy

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## OBBob

Hi There, presumably that's sheeting that has then been rendered? Hopefully someone can advise on how to best address that issue. I think if you just paint it the cracks will reappear quite quickly (maybe there's a bonding tape and then re-render???? not sure). Also, if that's normal silsione it'll need to come off I imagine because not much else with stick to it, it'd be unlikely you could just paint over it.

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## REBSS

I would take of the render, retape and set the joins with exterior plaster and re render. That looks like silicone and as stated above needs to be removed for a quality finish

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## r3nov8or

If it's 'blue board', horizontal joins are not recommended unless they form a control joint. But owners like the smooth rendered, built two hundred years ago, look (until it cracks, and it "always" does) and builders like to make the most out of the sheets to reduce costs and introduce horizontal joins to save a penny. Now the cost comes back... I wouldn't bother patching/retaping/resetting unless you only plan to have the place a couple of years.

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## phild01

My fear redoing the work could end up with this problem recurring.
It could be that the boards are the problem! 
edit: Agreeing with Renovator , just beat me to it!

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## jeremyp

> I would take of the render, retape and set the joins with exterior plaster and re render. That looks like silicone and as stated above needs to be removed for a quality finish

  Can the "render" be applied to the joint area only, a patch fix, then repaint? How can find out what kind of render it is, looks like there are fine sand particles in the render and the coating is quite thin.

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## jeremyp

> I wouldn't bother patching/retaping/resetting unless you only plan to have the place a couple of years.

  I expect I'll live there at least 2 years. Is there any alternative, e.g. fill the cracks in paint?

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## cyclic

I am not surprised you say the window frame has leaked.
It will continue to leak until the corners of the window frame are sealed, and it may also get into other areas of the window which I cannot see in the pic.

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## toooldforthis

I would look into why it is cracking to start with.
foundations? 
too much flex in the wall for some reason? (lack of bracing?) 
otherwise the problem might just come back.

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## cyclic

> I would look into why it is cracking to start with.
> foundations? 
> too much flex in the wall for some reason? (lack of bracing?) 
> otherwise the problem might just come back.

  Reason for cracking is because large area meets small area.
Large area can move whereas small area remains tight, i.e lack of expansion joint, also can be caused by frame shrinkage especially considering water is entering around window.

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## jeremyp

> especially considering water is entering around window.

  Yeah this sounds like the most pressing matter. I'll need to get in and check all around the window, clean and seal it up. 
Did a quick search, lot of leaky aluminium framed window threads around!

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## melton2

this happens all too often with blueboard with render on top. reasons are listed above.. 
can you take a photo of the top of the window. it sounds like the window wasnt flashed correctly.  
if you want a quick working fix, and you are not comfortable replastering the joints then rendering again, and the visual appearance isnt of extreme high priority, i would:
1. remove all the silicone (paint wont stick to it anyways, so it needs to be replaced)
2. for the cracked joints, fill them up with Sika 11FC (its very flexible..) then when that dries, patch it up with some more render, or sika mixed with really course sand/aggregate to match the render as best as possible...
3. fill all the crack around the window with sika
4. paint with a flexible paint such as dulux render refresh.

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## jeremyp

Thanks for the tips melton2. 
We are moving in this weekend so I'll finally get a good look at this. I did notice that silicon is also underneath the window frame, won't that incorrectly seal (block) the flashing? 
What is the best way to remove the silicon, totally manual process?

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## melton2

removing silicone is a totally manual process.. it can also be a real b*tch of a task but its vital you remove it all as nothing will stick to it..
you can also try something like selleys silicone remover. not sure what luck you would have with it.. maybe someone else can comment on its effectiveness.. Selleys Silicone Sealant Remover | Selleys Australia  
let us know how you go or if you have any issues...

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