What is facing balconies: materials and methods of their use

Gusevsky Andrey Anatolyevich

Materials for facing balconies: plaster and paint

Given that the balcony is the only place in the apartment where you can breathe fresh air, many try to equip a recreation area in it, as in the photo above. The facing materials for the balcony can be used very different: those that are used for interior decoration, and many of those that are designed for facade work.
In this article we will try to tell you what these materials are and how they are used.

Plastic panels, MDF and lining

Good balcony decoration or loggias for homeowners is of no small importance, because the interior of this room is visible not only from the inside, but also from the outside. The most commonly used method of decorating balconies is lining them on a wooden crate with various panels.
So:

• The main criterion for the popularity of a particular material, as a rule, is its price. And this is not surprising, because facing plastic balconies is half the price of wood or plastering.
• The main requirements for finishing the loggia or balcony are resistance to humidity, temperature extremes and ultraviolet. In any case, if the room is not heated, such properties of finishing materials are decisive.

Facing the plastic balcony: practicality and nice design

• Plastic fully meets all these requirements, having other, no less valuable properties. These include a high melting point, a pleasant aesthetic appearance of the coating, ease of maintenance during operation.
• The ease of processing panels and their installation is important. Therefore, balcony facing plastic can be done without problems by hand, it would be a desire.
  By the way, our site has detailed instructions on this topic, which will help you figure out what and how to do.
• Despite the higher cost, another type of panels - MDF - is in great demand among the population. These are wood-fiber products, which are made from wood chips of fine dispersion.

Plastic and MDF in the skin of the balcony

• The binder, in this case, is lingin, which is released from the wood during its deep processing. Polymers, if added to the mixture, then in very small quantities.
  The chips are pressed under the influence of high pressure and temperature.
• Similar technology gives MDF panels high strength, which exceeds that of many wood species. And thanks to the dense, non-porous structure, this material for facing the balcony is quite suitable: it is quite resistant to high humidity, and, accordingly, to the development of microorganisms on its surface.
• Both plastic and MDF panels are mounted in a tongue-and-groove way. The sheathing technology is the same in both cases. The only difference is that the thermal expansion of MDF is higher than that of plastic.

Klyammery - the best option for attaching MDF and lining

• Therefore, those types of mechanical fastening (screws, nails, construction stapler) that are great for PVC panels, at installation of MDF it is undesirable to apply - they can be warped. An ideal option for MDF, as well as for a lining board, is fastening with kleimers.
• For covering the balcony, you can use not only long panels, but also sheet laminated MDF, which is used in the manufacture of furniture. In this case, the range of material textures is wider.
• Here, not only imitations of wood, but also various types of stone. The surface of the sheets can be embossed, veneered, painted or varnished.
  Agree that such a lining with lacquered MDF sheets, as in our example below, looks very impressive.

Lining the balcony with laminated MDF

• But, no matter how beautiful and practical MDF panels are, many people prefer natural wood: both its natural texture and the unique aroma that wood-particle panels lose in the production process.
• In this case, the lining becomes an indispensable assistant in the decoration of the balcony. If you want the skin to be of high quality and pleasing to the eye, use a board of at least class “A”.
• This type of finish can be monotonous, especially if both the walls and the ceiling are sheathed. You can get rid of this sensation in different ways: use different board configurations, mount it in different directions, paint so that several shades alternate either on the skin elements or on the surfaces.

Cladding for the balcony

• In the picture above you can see that all surfaces lined with wood combine several colors: radiator grille, floor, window sills (seeHow to finish the windowsill and slopes) This principle of selection of shades works in relation to other types of finishing materials.
• The facing materials for the balcony, which we have combined in this chapter, are different only in composition and characteristics. They have one thing in common: a tongue-and-groove joint. And therefore, the installation is carried out almost the same way - in any case, the installation of the crate.

To find out how the frame is mounted from a metal profile, or from wooden bars, you can watch a video, read articles on the topic. And we will talk about what other materials are used for facing the balcony.

Brick, tile and stone

Brick design is now at the peak of its popularity. And if it is good for living quarters, then using it to decorate a balcony or loggia, which does not need to be insulated, is the best option.
Especially if the house is brick:

• The cost of wall decoration, in this case, will be minimal: buy a primer and paint, or hydrophobic impregnation. The beauty of such a wall decor is the quality of the surface preparation, from which it is necessary to remove the influx of mortar, putty, if necessary, potholes on the brick.

Brick Loggia Design

• If the walls have not been plastered before, and the brickwork is relatively flat, the walls are not even painted, but simply treated with impregnation. Otherwise, they can be whitened, as in the picture above, painted in a bright color, or to perform decorative stitching.
• One problem: as experience shows, brick walls in multi-storey buildings are rarely even so smooth as to decorate the masonry directly. In this case, a brick-like tile will help out.
• Options may be different: clinker tiles; "Wild boar"; facing tile for the balcony, cut in the form of bricks made of natural stone. But, if you need to get a complete imitation of a brick surface, clinker is best, of course.
  In the example given by us below, they are even lined with window sills.

Tiling the balcony

• This tile does not need to be imitated. It is manufactured using the same technology as high-quality clinker bricks. The difference between them is only in thickness.
• To stick the tiles on the walls, their surface is preferably pre-aligned. This can be done by plastering, or sheathing with cement-bonded particleboards.
• Minor irregularities can be eliminated by laying the tile on a cement-adhesive mortar, adjusting the thickness of its layer. But this method is convenient when the tile format is larger.
  So its installation is faster, and the lining of slopes is easier to do.

Ceramic slopes

• And yet, tile for facing the balcony is often used as a floor covering, in any case, porcelain. Even if the walls are simply and unpretentiously finished, the original floor covering with a beautiful pattern will make the interior interesting and memorable.
• Importantly, such a floor is equally good for glazed balconies, and for outdoor terraces and loggias. Porcelain tile is one of the most affordable options.
• But nothing prevents you from using more expensive types of tiles: clinker, metlach, terracotta or even majolica. There would be money, and any whim could be fulfilled.

Clinker flooring

• Unlike ceramic tiles, stone cladding of a balcony should be unequivocally made on a level surface. And you need to try to do this carefully so that excess solution does not fall on the front surface.
• If this is not a problem for ceramics, then on the surface of the stone, often having a porous structure, spots may remain, which are then difficult to remove. Therefore, facing with a stone of the balcony, which is carried out simultaneously with leveling, as a method of installation, is not acceptable.
  And it doesn’t matter what type of stone is used: natural or decorative.

Facing the balcony with artificial stone

• By the way, artificial stone for facing the balcony is used more often than natural. Firstly, it is much easier.
  And this is very important for the remote structure, which is the balcony. Secondly: having a shape, a decorative stone can be cast at home by buying a dry mix intended for this purpose in a store.

The photo above shows an example where the walls and parapet of the loggia are completely lined with stone. But such a design is quite rare.
Basically, the stone is used to clad one wall, corner zones, or to perform the original panel.

Front materials

We have already mentioned that many facade materials are used to decorate balconies, and not only outside but also inside. One such material is siding.
Metal, of course, will not give comfort to the room, so it is not necessary to use aluminum panels for interior decoration.

Facing the siding of the balcony

So:

• There are other types of siding that fit perfectly into the interior of a balcony or loggia: polymer, vinyl, wood, fiber-cement. All of them have a beautiful appearance, a variety of colors and reliefs.
• From PVC, MDF and lining panels, siding panels differ in the way of fastening. It is carried out using lock joints, plus a mounting edge for fixing to the base with nails and screws.
• Cladding of balconies with siding is also performed both on a wooden crate and on a metal frame. Theoretically, in the presence of perfectly even walls, siding, and all other types of panels, can be mounted on glue.
  But practically such walls are rare, and if you had to level them, then, as a rule, other types of finishes are chosen.

External facing of a balcony with a professional sheet

• But when it is required to insulate the walls, facing the balcony with siding, and with other materials mounted on the frame, is the best choice.
  In this case, all cracks are closed with mounting foam, the wall is treated with a penetrating primer, the insulating material is laid in the cells of the crate, and closed with a vapor barrier film. Then the panels are mounted.
• When it comes to the balcony, and not about the loggia, insulation can be done outside, in the same order. In this case, balconies can be lined with corrugated board, as a cheaper material. Naturally, siding panels, along with a professional sheet, are used for this purpose.

Facade board in the design of the terrace

• And finally, I want to say about such a wonderful cladding as a facade board.This concept combines various types of materials used for cladding facades, and more recently - for interior design.

This is planken from heat-treated natural wood; and a terrace board called decking; and composite polymer panels "liquid wood". We gave you an example of facing the facade of the terrace, but, believe me, on the balcony, such covering will look no worse.