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I decided to render the front brick wall but not the old fashion way of using concrete. As we all know bricks and concrete expand & contract at a different rate to each other and at some point it will crack & break away. I have used a Dulux 'Acra Tex 967 Tuscany Vista' http://www.dulux.com.au/specifier/our-brands/dulux-acratex
I used Arca Tex on the internal walls of my warehouse home in Sydney and I found it easy to use, that is once I got the hang of it and found my own way to get it from the handy paint tray to the wall. I did try the recommended paint roller but that was just a waste of money, more Vista flicked in my face that stuck so I just used it like a render & smudged it all over.
It is a great product and is produced for external walls though I like it inside as I needed to cover Hebel blocks which I will never use again.
The best feature of Acra Tex is that it is flexible and will expand & contract with the surface that it is adhered to, so never any worries of cracking and you can just paint straight over it.
OK so I do things my way but it seems to work and I was going for a 'Bagged Brick' finished look and I am very happy with the results.
The trusty old paint tray and cement trowel, rubber gloves of course. I scoop up a small amount and smooth it on, it's sloppy so watch out you don't drop it every where, this may be the slow way but it works. The one thing that is important to know is that you can't go back over your work once it starts to go off as you will just rub it off the wall. Do a small section at a time & get it right but never go back.
Also if you do drop lot's on the floor or ground, best to clean up as you go, when it's dry, it is super hard to get off.
Ok yes that is me working away & looking flash!!!
I did 2 coats and it look lovely, still to decide wether to paint it the same colour as the roof or keep it white.....Humm
While I was playing with rendering the front wall, Joel was fixing the Internal & External Architraves.
The windows look so dressed with the architraves and I decided to have a more traditional profile for the timber which is a solid pine & not MDF rubbish.
For the external windows, I am using the same profile in a solid Maple timber and to make sure of the lasting life of the wood, I quickly painted the back side of each board with 'Dulux Total Prep' before Joel placed them to the walls.
