Cracks and damp on outside walls

[Richard_Barnes]

Can anyone tell me if I should be concerned about any of these cracks on the external walls of my house? We got it painted a out 2 years ago and a lot of cracks have appeared since. I suspect they're just superficial but not sure why they've appeared. And the last picture shows an area where the paint didn't really cover up and is coming off.

Also there's on vertical crack about 4ft long. From the gray right up to the window. Very thin. Should I worry about that? Or just cover it up?

 

[88v8]

The render is cracking. Was it cracked before it was painted?

How old is the house?

No use filling or painting over it, it will crack again.

Yes, to a degree you do need to worry as damp will get in behind the render and eventually the render will start to blow off, especially if we have a hard winter. Worse if the paint was not breathable, as the damp will get in but won't be able to get out again.

Not that the house is going to fall down or anything, the only damage will be to your wallet.

 

[Richard_Barnes]

House is about 12 years old. Hadn't noticed any cracks in previous years. Just after this winter.

What do I actually do about the render then?

 

[Richard_Barnes]

Oh and it was painted 2 years ago now. Pretty sure there were no cracks previously either

 

[88v8]

Urrgh, I was thinking that it might be a hundred years or more.

It's not worth doing anything about the render until you know why it's cracked.

Are the cracks all in much the same area? Or distributed around the house?

Are there similar houses nearby? Is it on an estate? Have a look, see if any seem to have the same problem.

Was it rendered from new? Perhaps the render was badly applied and is blown. Does it sound hollow when tapped?

Otherwise, the render has cracked because the brick/blockwork has moved. Cracks up to window or door corners often indicate foundation movement. Apart from trees, or trees having been removed when the house was built, that can be caused by leaking drains washing away the soil.
Unlikely when the drains are plastic, it's more likely with the old clay drains, but if the cracking is near a drain it would be worth digging down to see if the soil is very wet. Not saying it's happened in your case, but builders have been known to run pipes into the ground and not actually connect them to anything so the water just goes into the soil.

Our cottage has some cracked render on a 60s extension, caused by wall-tie corrosion. Render can hide a multitude of sins, but they show up eventually.