Another Rendering question

I have a 30 year old brick home that has a number of cracks inside and a few minor cracks outside.

I want to render the house but am worried that render may crack in a few years and make the job not worth doing.

If the house has a little movement would I be better of bagging it. So that if it cracks it won’t be as visible?

Last question, understanding that this will be my first attempt. Painting the render, which colour will show fewer imperfections - a light or darker colour?

Dont want to go to all this trouble if the finnish is not very good

Thanks

It would be better to use an acrylic render as it has more flexibility then sand/cement. Over all of the cracks I would recommend using fibreglass mesh (must be fibreglass - plasterers tape will be eaten by the cement in the render). This will prevent cracking through the render.

Keep in mind that although acrylic is more flexible than sand/cement, if the crack continues to open up there still is the possibility of it cracking through the render. The mesh should absorb most of the movement.

Acrylic render is just a basecoat, I would recommend having a texture coat over the top (which is coloured). As for colours with the least imperfections, go with lighter colours (less tint is added).

If you decide to paint rather then texture, I would definitely recommend a lighter colour - but you will need to do at least three coats (due to the render heavily absorbing the first coat). This paint you use must be a high quality paint, Preferably a paint sealer should be used.

Thanks heaps for your great info