Should I feel this gap on external wall

Mumser

I am trying to improve air leakage on my house. On looking more closely outside I discovered a gap between the pebble dash on one side of the house and the brick work. See the photos below as I know nothing of construction and find it hard to describe. It doesn't look good to me though. The gap extends from ground level to first floor where the redbrick ends. The opposite side of the house which has the same finish has pebble dash which is flush with the redbrick, so no gap.

I question whether I need to fill this with mortar? And would I then need to seal over it? Or is it ok and it is purely a cosmetic thing?

Thanks for any help.

listermint

That's just a render stop. It's to finish off where the render stops and doesn't turn the corner.

It's unsightly but not really an airgap issue. I would however put some external.silicone over it to make it much neater. The lads who completed render really should have.

10-10-20

Hello again!

That's a stop-bead which forms the edge of the external render so that there is a clean break between it and the red brick.

https://eurometals.ie/product/plaster-stop-bead/

There is no need to fill it other than for esthetic reasons, it might look cleaner if you do, but it's not contributing to internal drafts as it's on the outside of the external leaf.

10-10-20

But I will say to inspect brick mortar areas such as this to ensure that they are complete as the mortar wasn't struck right:

That hole between the red bricks should not extend back more than around 2 to 3 cms at most, if it's deeper or even passes into the cavity then I'd be filling it.