Cement rendering vs acrylic rendering: which suits your walls?

We cover each one in full on our cement rendering and acrylic rendering pages. This guide puts them side by side.

What is the difference between cement and acrylic render?

Cement render, also called sand and cement render, is sand, cement, lime and water trowelled onto masonry in two coats and finished with a float. It is hard and strong, it grips brick well, and it is painted or texture-coated after it cures.

Acrylic render has acrylic polymers in it, which let it flex slightly instead of cracking when the wall moves. It is used as a system: a polymer base coat, often with fibreglass mesh bedded in, then a tinted texture finish and usually a membrane topcoat. Some acrylic products are premixed in a pail; others are cement-based renders with polymers added.

How do cement and acrylic render compare side by side?

The prices in the last row are market figures for Sydney, including GST, from What's The Damage (checked October 2026). Our guide prices use the same bands, and your written quote comes after a visit. Our house rendering cost guide explains what moves the figure.

The cure times come from the Dulux AcraTex Sedona data sheet and the Rockcote Polymer Render data sheet. Different systems set different times, so the data sheet for the system on your house is the one to follow.

Which walls need which render?

• Double brick or brick veneer: either. Cement render is the usual choice and costs less; acrylic makes sense where there are mixed materials or a history of cracking.
• Hebel or other aerated concrete (AAC): acrylic. CSR Hebel supports acrylic coating systems on its products for their flexibility and resistance to cracking, and tells owners to use Hebel-approved coatings.
• Polystyrene (EPS) cladding: a polymer base coat made for foam, with mesh bedded in, then a texture and topcoat. Plain cement render is the wrong product.
• Fibre cement board: acrylic. Rockcote's polymer base coat has to be at least 2 mm thick once dry over fibre cement sheet.
• Concrete: either, once it has cured. Mortatec's render data sheet asks for at least 5 days before new concrete is rendered.
• An already rendered wall: if the old render is sound, a polymer base coat or a texture system can go straight over it after drummy patches are cut out. If it is failing, the failed sections are repaired first.

What finishes can cement and acrylic render have?

• Cement render: a sponge-float sandy finish, a smoother float finish or a coarser texture, agreed on a sample area before the whole house is done. It is then painted or texture-coated.
• Acrylic render: most systems offer a fine sand finish, a sponge-float finish and coarser trowelled textures. The finish coat and topcoat are tinted to the colour you choose.
• Texture coatings: rolled, trowelled or sprayed over render, brick or fibre cement, giving the wall its texture and colour in one system.
• Bagging: a thin coat rubbed over brick that leaves the pattern of the bricks showing, for a lighter look without a full render.

Ask for a sample patch on your own wall before you decide: a finish looks different across a whole side of a house than it does in the hand.

Does acrylic render stop cracking?

It reduces cracking from small movements; it does not stop the cracks that come from a building moving on its footings. Those come through any finish. NSW Fair Trading's Guide to Standards and Tolerances treats a crack wider than 1 mm in a finish over a lightweight wall, within its first two years, as a defect. Cement render over brick is judged differently, by the crack-width categories for masonry walls.

On cement render, most fine cracking is shrinkage as the render ages, and the coating over it does the work. Dulux recommends against ordinary low-build paint over cement render because it cannot bridge those cracks; a texture or membrane coating can.

Which lasts longer?

There is no honest single answer. Both last a long time on a wall that suits them, is kept dry and is cleaned once a year. What shortens the life of either is water: leaking gutters, garden beds against the wall, and cracks left open. A render system's warranty, where there is one, depends on following the maker's specification and maintenance.

Can acrylic go over cement render?

Yes, and it often does. A common build-up on brick is a sand and cement render base, left to cure, then an acrylic texture and membrane coating over it. Rockcote asks for up to 28 days' cure on new site-mixed render before its acrylic base coat goes on, with an anti-efflorescent primer first.

How do you choose for your house?

Start with what the walls are made of; that rules one out on a lot of houses. Then decide on the finish and colour you want, and how much upkeep you are happy with. If you're not sure what your walls are, send us photos of each side of the house, including any exposed edges, and we will tell you which render suits them.

Ask for a free quote on 0421 541 336 (call or WhatsApp), or read more about acrylic render systems and sand and cement rendering.