The equipment you will need to paint render is as follows:

  • Paint – Best to use outdoor acrylic, semi gloss or low sheen.
  • Hose/broom
  • Thick paint roller
  • Paint brush
  • Paint tray
  • Masking tape
  • Drop sheets

Preperations

Before render is painted, the general work area must first be cleaned and prepared accordingly.
To avoid any unwanted pieces of cement under the render paint, the render will need to be cleaed by sweeping it with an old broom, or by simply hosing it down briefly under reasonable pressure.

You will need to place dropsheets around areas where paint can fall such as pavement or windows. Dropsheets can be bought from your local hardware store and are in most cases very affordable depending on what they are made out of and their durability.
Tape the dropsheets down to make sure that they don’t move around, and when walking on them or placing ladders on them, try to avoid tearing or damaging them as this will result in multiple paint smudges spotted around when the dropsheets are removed.
Things like window edges and ceilings will need to be taped up to ensure that no paint ends up where you don’t want it to be. Make sure that you do this carefully, and keep the tape in a perfectly straight line to ensure an excellent finish.
Make sure that the render is properly dried before painting. If it is not, this could cause problems both immediately and later on down the track such as peeling, cracking and bubbling.

Painting

When pouring the paint into the paint tray,ensure that it is not over-filled. This reduces the likelyhood of applying the paint too thick, which can cause the paint to crack or peel over time. Better results are more likely from applying multiple thin coats of paint as opposed to one thick coat.
Make sure that the roller is firmly pressed against the tray and roll it to squeeze out excess paint. Press the roller firmly against the render as you roll, to help squeeze the paint into the tiny holes and bumps. Use a paint brush to touch up the areas that are too hard to get to with the roller. Once you have finished, allow sufficient time for the paint to dry and repeat the whole process. When removing masking tape, make sure you wait until the paint is completely dry as the paint can peel off with the tape. If you get too excited and remove the tape too early, you will probably need to go along and fix it with a touch up brush.