The Right Paint to Fill in the Cracks of your Monolithic Home

Looking to fill in the cracks in your monolithic or texture cladded home? A question we are often asked is, “should I use an elastomeric coating on my monolithic/texture cladded home?”

Elastomeric coatings are increasingly being touted as the “best” product for weatherproofing and solving issues with cracks in the plaster on residential houses.

As specialists in monolithic and texture cladded homes, we feel it’s our duty to let the good people of Wellington know the truth. We completely disagree!

The difference between Elastomeric Coating and Resene X-200

Thank you to Colin Gooch, the Resene Technical Director, who provided an excellent technical explanation of an elastomeric paint which you can check out here. The difference between an elastomeric coating and Resene X-200 is quite technical, so bear with us while we try and explain it.

What is Elastomeric Coating?

Elastomeric paint is designed to stretch and return to the same position. For this reason, elastomeric coatings are suitable for structures that are permanently flexing such as concrete road bridges or buildings close to heavy traffic roads. You’ll find that elastomeric coatings are generally less durable than non-extensible but flexible coatings.

In our opinion, where a building is flexing due to height or design, an elastomeric may be the right choice. But keep in mind that it is less durable and more prone to dirt pick up. You also require a lot more of it as the coverage per square metre is between 2 and 4m per litre and this can make it very expensive and time consuming to use.

What is Resene X-200?

Resene X-200 has been around for a long time and was developed to replace bitumen based waterproofing systems. Resene determined that there was a need for a coating that required the following properties:

• High water resistance.
• Maximum adhesion to a cement like coating.
• Maximum film build with a variety of application methods.
• Inherent durability characteristics so that the aesthetic appearance matches the weathertightness performance.
• Can stretch up to 200% above its original length.

The result is a product that is flexible, extremely durable and high-build paint. Resene X-200 has superior crack filling abilities and provides a weathertight membrane. This prevents water entering through the coating from the outside but allows moisture evaporation from the inside.

The Verdict

For most residential monolithic, textured, stucco or block houses, Resene X-200 is by far the best choice. It has all the attributes required to fill cracks in the plaster and provide protection against water ingress with inherent durability. In the event of cracks up to 1mm reappearing it can be rolled directly into the crack to fill it. Also, Resene X-200 is considerably less expensive to apply due to higher coverage of 5 to 7.5 square metres per litre.