Do You Have to Paint Acrylic Render?

If you've recently opted for a new acrylic render finish on your exterior walls, then you've probably got a lot of questions about the best way to care for it.

For many, it's easy to assume that painting acrylic rendering is best. But is this really necessary?

To help answer that with tips from Mister Render, we'll look at what exactly acrylic render is below and talk about how it and traditional render simply don't need to be treated the same - and that might mean painted walls aren't necessary at all...

Acrylic rendering explained

Acrylic render is a simple but effective coating for your house's exterior. A wet, thin coat is applied to the outside of your property and left to dry. You typically buy these acrylic based renders with different grain sizes - the lower the number the less textured it is - and you also buy them in a specific colour.

A range of colours and a range of finishes are available.

They come premixed and a professional will apply them to your walls for you.

How does it differ from cement render?

The material properties vary significantly between acrylic renders and traditional rendering mixes like cement render. Acrylic render is more flexible than traditional renders, and is much less likely to crack, for example. Unsightly hairline cracks are all too common with cement rendering.

But perhaps the BIGGEST difference is the different colours that are available. Acrylic renders have a wide variety of colour options, allowing the rendered surface to be transformed the moment the application process begins.

With traditional render, exterior paint with natural expansion and a water resistant finish is usually necessary to transform the look of your property. Here, a house paint is necessary.

But is it necessary for acrylic rendering?

Is it necessary to paint acrylic render?

No.

It really isn't necessary because covering an expensive acrylic render in paint really doesn't make a lot of sense.

Hopefully, if your acrylic rendering is new, you will have just chosen a colour you love, and your render will look great. Both acrylic and silicone render, for example, come with premixed colour into the render itself, making it look amazing.

Painted walls simply aren't necessary in these cases.

But is that true of all acrylic render types? Because really there are three broad categories of acrylic render and the more detail you have about each rendered finish, the better...

Different types of acrylic render

If you already have a new, existing render, then this information may be coming a little too late - but if you're only thinking of covering your house in acrylic render, then this information will certainly help.

There are other renders out there, but there are also other types of acrylic render in a range of colours and finishes that might better suit your needs.

Coloured render

Choosing a coloured render here means that the acrylic render is a top coat and finish. Usually applied as a top coat over two coats of render, this offers great weather protection but more importantly for today's post: A HUGE selection of colours.

When most people think acrylic render, this is what they're talking about.

Painted textured finish

Since most acrylic renders are more flexible than traditional options, there are even more finishes available too. This painted, textured finish is an example of a coloured render with a larger grain size, making it look like a painted wall, when in actual fact it's rendered.

A range of colours are available here, and you get the same painted finish effect, but with none of the extra cost, paint, or time.

Basecoat

Some people opt for an acrylic base coat finish, which is often just grey or white, and will almost certainly need to be painted for a colourful and protected finish.

A basecoat is generally applied to most surfaces - fibre cement sheeting, previous cement render, silicon render, block cement - almost anything besides wood, really. But without a topcoat of coloured renders or painted textured renders, painting would be necessary.

Painting rendered exterior walls

So, to help sum up the section above - when is painting acrylic render necessary?

If you use only a base coat in white or grey, then you may need to do some painting to get an attractive finish and to protect the render beneath. Much like with traditional cement render or fibre cement.

But if your render is already coloured, then painting is rarely necessary. However this guide on painting exterior render should help.

What if I change my mind about the coloured renders?

Acrylic renders rarely have a limited range of colour options available, but depending on the type of render you wanted, you may not have had all colour options open to you.

To save money, we could tell you to learn to love the colour of your rendering - but that wouldn't be helpful at all.

So, is painting an option if the colour acrylic rendering you have isn't to your taste after all? Absolutely.

If you no longer like the colour, then just like with cement render, you can change the colour with paints, but it might be difficult.

Which paint is best?

Painting acrylic rendering is difficult when the base colour is bold. Changing that colour will require multiple coats.

Besides that, you need to find the best paints to use. Acrylic based paints usually make the most sense, but there are so many options out there you're better off talking to the pros about it.

Like our expert team of professionals...

Call in the professionals

If painting your render really is your only option, then you should ALWAYS consult with professional painters.

We can tell you the best route to save you time and money, help you pick out the paints you need, and even complete the work for you at a competitive price.

Remember: if your render needs painting, call in the professionals.

Final thoughts

A fast drying acrylic render with a tight seal and pop of colour is a wonderful thing. It looks great. But if you no longer like the colour, and the render itself is still intact, then painting it isn't a bad idea.

But it isn't necessary.

Acrylic renders are designed to last a long time and the colour rarely fades. So you won't have to use paints with this type of render, but you can if you want to change the colour.