Filling Mortar Lines - Then Paint?

I have completed a small water trough out of besser blocks that I wish to render on the outside. The joints are quite level overall but there are a few areas not 100% where I need to fill in a few mm between courses to get a perfectly flat surface without seeing the slightly textured block surface.

Reading a few of the posts, everyone suggests using a Renderit premixed product with your choice of colour to be added. Do I need to apply a fine cement/sand/lime mix and trowel over the brickwork beforehand or is that defeating the purpose of renderit?

If I am to lay a deck around it, should I render prior to laying the decking boards? Will it be a messy job?

fdip, Definitely render first before laying the decking boards! It will be 10 times easier. Also you don't need to trowel mortar over the blocks before rendering.

Can I also suggest instead of RenderIt, that you try dry acrylic render? It also comes in 20kg bags and is about the same price. You won't be disappointed.

Thanks zacnelson, i thought I would be better off if I did. Does the acrylic render fill minor imperfections to a flat surface? Do i need to go over it with a concrete mix beforehand?

no, don't go over it before hand with a concrete mix, build up 2 coats of acrylic render (with 24 hours in between). Get a plastic float and float each coat to even out the render, after you have trowelled it on. The neater you trowel it on, the easier it will be to float it. If you have pics, please post them, I would like to help you more and I think the pics will give me a better idea. See if you can capture the level of irregularity in the surface, and particularly the edges. Sometimes, (depending on the accuracy of the bricklaying or how deep the mortar is raked), it can be necessary to attach metal external angles to the edges which are then rendered over.

More later

Cheers,

Zac

Who would be the best supplier for the acrylic render? Bunnings? The Wall Store seem to have everything you need.

I did not rake the mortar. Here are some pics.
(I need to cut 2 more blocks to complete the job)

Cheers

Frank

Those pics are great, looks like you'll have NO trouble rendering that. You might even get away with only doing one base coat, if you apply the acrylic render thickly enough. Next step once you're happy with the base coat is to get a bucket of pre-mixed texture coat from Unitex (there may be other companies as well). But first things first, you need to buy a couple of bags of dry acrylic render. Where do you live in Melbourne? I know a place in Richmond where you can get bags for about $9.70 each. There is a brand of acrylic render available at Bunnings, maybe about $14 each. I guess the price doesn't matter since you probably only need 2 bags. But I recommend you buy a paddle mixer fitting for your drill; this stuff needs to be drill mixed, not done in a cement mixer. You'll find the paddle mixer in the tiling section (I think) at Bunnings, at least that's where they are at my local Bunnings. If you have any other questions, please just ask, I'm sure I've left something out.

Thanks Zac, there are only a few areas I need to build up but the acrylic render should do the job. I am in the eastern suburbs. Will drive ou to teh The Wall Store as tehy have a decent range there and see what colours they have. Then pay a visit to Bunnings.

Zac, who is the supplier in Richmond? Are they opened on weekends?