Facade cladding: wood and stone
Finishing the front of any building is no less important than interior decoration. In addition to additional protection of the walls from environmental influences, the aesthetic component and the design of the facade cladding play a huge role.
In this article, we will talk about using what materials and their combinations the cladding of facades is carried out: the design of walls, pediments and window areas.
The content of the article
Wood for facade decoration
Wood, like no other material, is able to decorate not only the interior of the house, but also its facade. Decorative facade cladding wood can be interesting, varied, and, contrary to the property of wood, give in to decay, have a long service life.
It is possible, of course, as a budget option, to cladding the external walls with an ordinary clapboard. But it needs to be additionally treated with an antiseptic, painted, and this is an additional cost for both the purchase of the composition and the production of this work.
And you can weigh the pros and cons, and choose a more acceptable option for finishing the facade. Fortunately, there is plenty to choose from.
Thermo Wood
It is much more convenient to use heat-treated wood for facade cladding. Its price is an order of magnitude higher than that of the lining, but the quality and appearance are incomparably different.
So:
- The heat-treated facade board, or as it is also called, planken, acquires unique properties, excellent texture, and even simple types of wood look like expensive elite. The facade board has a very low coefficient of water absorption, and therefore it is completely not afraid of moisture.
- Heat-treated wood has a noble hue, with a pronounced woody pattern. Facade decoration with decorative planken lining, it consists only in the installation of the frame, as well as the board itself.
At the same time, its surface does not require finishing.
- The high density acquired during the production process provides the wood not only with moisture resistance, but also protects the board from swelling and cracking. The facade coating retains its shape, is not afraid even of such natural influences as strong winds, hail.
- What is important: in the process of thermal exposure, the wood breaks down the sugars contained in it. Due to this, it acquires immunity to the effects of microorganisms and insects, becomes uninteresting to rodents.
And yet: the surface of the facade board is not subject to fading under the influence of ultraviolet rays, which means that the initial color of the material does not change. - As follows from the foregoing, thermal wood is devoid of all those problems that are inherent in an untreated tree. Therefore, the external decorative cladding of planken has a direct economic benefit, despite the higher cost compared to lining.
- The methods for mounting the planken on the frame may vary, depending on its configuration. In the diagram shown above, a board with beveled edges, in cross section similar to a parallelogram, was used.
It is usually mounted with a gap, which allows additional ventilation. This is especially true if the facade is insulated.
- A plank having a rectangular cross-section is usually mounted butt. There is a board with a cone-shaped section, which is hung on the frame with an overlap.
This results in an unusually beautiful facade cladding. - Fastening of facade boards can be through, carried out with the help of decorative screws. The second method involves hidden mounting using metal plates.
In more detail about the methods of mounting the planken will tell the manufacturer's instructions, which is usually attached to the purchase. - On how to create a ventilated facade, what types of profiles and heaters are used, you will always find materials on the Internet, including on our website. And if the decorative exterior cladding of the facade board will be done by yourself, the best thing in this matter, the video will help you.
- As for the design of the facade, it can be done, for example, in the style of fachwerk (seeFinishing the facade of the house in the style of fachwerk or classic of the genre), as in the photo above. At the same time, you can use either a conventional lining board imitating a beam, or thermal wood with a rectangular section.
In this example, on top of the wooden cladding, decorative stitching was made with a contrasting plank. - Exterior decorative cladding with a facade board is perfectly combined with other types of materials, for example, stone. In this case, the stone, most often, serves as a material for finishing the basement, porch, veranda.
A great combination is obtained with wood panels. A great example of such a combination is presented in the picture below.
Wood-polymer cladding
In fairness, it should be said that such a design can also be done using a terrace board called decking. But this is no longer a natural tree, but a wood-polymer product.
Decking is made from wood chips with the addition of polymer resins pressed under high pressure:
- The polymers in the board make it very durable and impervious to moisture. In fact, decking has all the same qualities as planking.
The terrace board has a beautiful corrugated surface, internal grooves for ventilation and a wider range of colors.
- Numerous varieties of composite panels, which are also used for ventilated facades, have the same properties. Wood decorative panels for exterior cladding are usually coated with a colored polymer layer.
- Each manufacturer offers its own version of the panel configuration, the design of their castle joints, and, of course, its own range of colors. The front layer of the wood-polymer panel can be monophonic smooth or embossed, imitating the texture of natural materials.
There are two-sided options when both sides of the product are front, but have a different color. In this case, the decorative cladding of the outer walls is much simpler.
Installation can be done simply by turning the panel to the other side, alternating colors in a certain order.
Wooden tile in facade design
Tile decorative facade cladding is also gaining popularity: not only private houses, but also office buildings. In this case, wooden shingles, otherwise called shingles or spindles, are used for decoration, and for us the word shingles is much more familiar.
- This finishing material is a plate of wood having a small thickness. Its main advantage is that rather small fragments allow revetment of a surface with complex geometry and inaccessible areas.
For semicircular walls, this is generally hardly the most ideal option. - By cutting the chamfer on the plate at a certain angle, the master can create a voluminous surface when mounting the shingles. And to diversify the surface allows a combination of elements from different species of wood.
- Mounted shingles on a wooden crate, as shown in the diagram. The simplest pattern is a series of tiles overlapping.
Decorative cladding of the facade of the house in a more complex version, can be performed in a checkerboard pattern. - Giving the tile a certain shape by cutting the chamfer, a good master can create almost any pattern on the facade. Tiles are often used in combination with a board, for example, with wooden siding, as in our example below, where each wing of the building is faced in its own way.
Performing the cladding of the house with wooden tiles, the facade, if necessary, can be insulated. In this case, the cross section of the bars for the crate should correspond to the thickness of the insulation.
If heat-insulating work will be carried out from inside the house, a thinner rail measuring 20 * 40 mm will also be suitable for the crate. The tile itself does not need staining, as it undergoes finishing in the production process.
Stone tiles as facade cladding
Natural stone is one of the most beautiful, durable, and therefore the most expensive materials. With its help, decorative cladding of the exterior of civil buildings of any purpose is performed: administrative, public, residential.
People who are not afraid of the cost of the stone are attracted by the opportunity to create a rich exterior of the house, which is usually done once, and serves as long as the building itself stands.
- For exterior wall finishes they use various types of stone, from cobblestone and inexpensive sandstone, to marble and granite. Stone for facing works is produced in the form of tiles and slabs of various sizes.
- Wild stone has, as a rule, a smooth surface, irregular geometric shapes, but processed edges, and during installation the elements are selected by the master according to the configuration.
- The most demanded configuration of the stone are square tiles 300 * 300 * 10 mm and rectangular 600 * 300 * 20 mm. The largest plates, usually used for facing the base, have a size of 600 * 600 * 30 mm.
The size of the stone tiles affects how it is installed. - The larger the elements, the more complex the circuit. In this case, they are not just laid on the mortar: it is required to mount the metal grid with a gap on the wall and fill it with mortar.
Anchors are attached to the grid and the plates are fixed to them using special cuts, obtaining an almost monolithic connection.
- During the production of stone slabs, waste is generated that goes to the manufacture of straws or dies. The rejected tile, or the remains of the stone, is split into strips 5 cm wide, which on the front side have a natural chip.
- The wall lined with a die looks very beautiful. And, although this material is produced from industrial wastes, the cost of finishing work with its use is higher than that of a similar facade decorative tile, in which stone is cut according to the Euro standard.
- Therefore, the die is often used to decorate fragments of the facade: window or corner zones, a panel on the pediment, which may look something like the example above. The most popular stone straw in the design of the premises.
- There is a more expensive stone tile format called slab. For its manufacture, large blocks of a stone with variegated colors are usually used, which are cut into large identical plates.
They simply amaze with their beauty, and therefore cost twice as much as tile from the same stone. - The most beautiful, and, accordingly, expensive, is a facade facing decorative stone tile, which is called the Moscow Fur Coat.It has strict geometric shapes with a size of 400 * 200 * 10 mm, but the front side is not smooth, but torn, chipped over the entire area of the tile.
Its dimensions can vary only when the order is executed for a specific client.
- Such tiles are often used only for fragmentary decoration, combining with decorative plaster, as in the picture above. Its high cost does not even depend on the rock type, but on the complex technology of its production.
Therefore, many prefer to use its analogues, which can be recreated using silicone compounds and the necessary mixture. - So, we gradually moved from natural to artificial stone. Our site has a lot of articles telling about how it can be done in a building site.
On sale there is everything you need for this. To create forms, you need only a few stone samples.
- Moreover, the components of the mixture for the manufacture of facade stone can be different in composition. And you can set a shape for such a stone any, and it does not have to be an imitation of natural stone.
With the same success, it can be an imitation of brickwork, weaving vines, and any pattern you like - look at the facade shown in the photo above. - Such a beautiful tile is made not only from crumbs of natural stone, but even from ordinary concrete, the cement base of which is white cement.
Special additives added to the solution will increase the strength of the products, make them waterproof and frost-resistant. Thanks to the use of pigments, concrete can also be colored.
Using artificial stone in the design of the facade, you can get real savings, since in any situation, such a lining will be cheaper. Importantly, the analogue is always lighter in weight than natural stone, and this already reduces the load on the foundation, simplifies installation.
So the benefits are obvious. And it’s up to you to make the facade stone yourself, or buy it ready. The main thing is that the cladding was done competently, and in accordance with the technology.
