Some advice please from those in the know would be greatly appreciated re. the following;
Had my house rendered a couple of years ago with a nice smooth finish and I'm intending to paint this summer but firstly;
Thought that I had to seal the render first with stabilising solution prior to painting but have been told by a couple of decorators that using stabilising solution isn't neccesary, just thin down the masonry paint with water, as you would with emulsion to mist coat raw plaster then two topcoats of quality masonry paint
Secondly, there are several hairline cracks in the render, the render is solid and not blown. I assumed that these cracks would have to be filled but not sure what to use as I want to end up with the same texture and finish once the wall is painted. When using an external filler, the texture of the render around the crack changes when filling the crack as the render also becomes full of filler. I'm concerned that this will show once painted
Again I've been told that fine hairline cracks don't need filling, just work plenty of masonry paint into the crack using a stiff brush then paint over as normal either with a brush or roller
I'm a really fussy DIY decorator and after spending a fair amount on the rendering, I want to end up with a good finish
Your thoughts please ?
Kind regards
David