Exterior finish of aerated concrete house - responsible business
The first question that arises before each owner of a newly built house is the decoration of its facades. This process largely depends on the construction of the building, and on the materials used for its construction.
Exterior decoration for a house made of aerated concrete is more important than, for example, for a brick building - because of the structure of aerated concrete.
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Features of aerated concrete walls
This type of concrete belongs to the category of lightweight cellular concrete. If we compare it with foam concrete, then, in contrast to it, aerated concrete has open pores.
Initially, both of these materials were created as insulation, and later began to be used for masonry walls. The technologies for their production are different, so the properties and characteristics of these concrete are different.
As a gas-forming substance during manufacture, aluminum powder is added to the composition of aerated concrete. It is to her that concrete owes its porous structure. The same fact is also responsible for its high vapor permeability, which in terms of performance exceeds this criterion for all other structural materials. Finishing the facade of the house from aerated concrete blocks should be carried out strictly according to technology that takes into account, first of all, this factor.
It should also be noted that if violations were made during the erection of the walls themselves, this may affect their appearance even after proper decoration. Such violations include neglect of the masonry reinforcement process or the use of the wrong masonry mortar. Therefore, if you are building a house with your own hands from gas blocks, then, first of all, you will need the instructions of their manufacturer.
Many customers, in order to save money, mistakenly prefer to do without a project during construction. Moreover, any mistake made during the construction process can significantly increase your costs: if not immediately, then after the shrinkage of the house, for sure. And the exterior finish of gas silicate walls is no exception. For example, a competent heat engineering calculation may show that the thickness of the walls of your house is such that they do not need additional insulation. It will be enough just to plaster the walls - here you have the savings.
And if insulation is necessary, then what materials are best used for this? Let's say you want to use a facing brick. It is necessary to calculate whether the foundation will support its weight, because the brickwork will rest on the base. In general, there are many nuances.
You should take into account that the exterior decoration of the house from aerated concrete should be carried out only after the completion of the interior decoration. In any case, after all the wet processes - floor screed, plastering, tile laying.
In this case, the pairs formed in the process of these works will be able to exit through the thickness of the walls. And to do all this better in the summer.
Facade plastering
The question often arises, how to sheathe a house from aerated concrete from the outside? What is the best option for facing the facade of aerated concrete houses? Facing can be carried out with a variety of materials. Some of them are specially designed for working with cellular concrete. Take at least plaster.
Conventional cement-based mortars are not suitable for this purpose. Aerated concrete instantly takes moisture from them, and no primer will help here.
As soon as such plaster dries, its surface is covered with a web of cracks. Therefore, mixtures with special additives that prevent the absorption of moisture have been developed for gas blocks.There are no differences from similar work on brick walls, the sequence of work remains the same. First, surface preparation is carried out, including cleaning of excess mortar and dust. After the walls are primed with a composition designed specifically for aerated concrete.
The next step will be the installation of plaster mesh. To do this, use either a metal option with small cells, or a fiberglass mesh.
It is fixed to the wall with ordinary screws.
The presence of the mesh during the plastering process guarantees good adhesion to the surface. Those who neglect the use of reinforcing mesh, usually have to redo the work due to the fact that the layer of plaster can completely move away from the wall.
Then the solution is kneaded by adding water to the dry plaster mixture and plastering is performed. If you have not encountered such work before, watch a video in advance or read materials on this topic.
When the plastering process is complete, it’s time to design. facade decoration. You can do with simple coloring of the surfaces, but at the same time use two or three shades as in the photo above. Different elements can be painted in different colors, or a stencil can be used to draw lines or patterns.
At the end of the finish lining, it is advisable to treat the surface with a special hydrophobic impregnation with water-repellent properties. It is called “water repellent”. As you know, for aerated concrete also has its own composition. Those water repellents that are used for ordinary concrete and brick, in this case, will be useless.
The water repellent is applied in a thin layer - this is enough to protect the decorative surface from the effects of precipitation and dust buildup. Such impregnation allows the house to "breathe", while improving the thermal insulation properties of the material on which it is applied.
Perhaps you prefer not to paint the walls, but to use decorative plaster. In this case, pigments or filler of marble chips are added to the last batch of the solution.
The plastered surface can be decorated in another way. For example, execute half-timbered decoration. To do this, they mount a contrast-painted wooden or polyurethane board.
Smooth and uniformly painted surfaces are perfectly combined with other types of finishes. It can be fragments of the facade, tiled or with decorative stone. Most often, this is the basement, window and corner zones, pediment or porch.
Exterior decoration in an aerated concrete house will look great if, along with plastering, to use for cladding panels for home decoration. They can be decorated with piers, balcony parapets, if any.
And the base, lined in this way, will look just fine.
Stucco decoration of the facade is carried out if the building is located in a climatic zone, which can do without insulation. Or when it is necessary to do warming, but frame interior walling: panels, clapboard, drywall, is chosen as the interior finish.
In this case, the walls can be insulated from the inside. If the facade needs to be insulated from the outside, then for its sheathing it is better to choose a different method.
Brick and tile cladding
Exterior finish of aerated concrete houses with facing bricks is perhaps one of the best options. Due to its hollow structure, it provides a favorable microclimate, has a good appearance. The surface of the brick is durable and resistant to weathering.
The price of such finishes is an order of magnitude higher than plastering. Brick wall cladding is quite time-consuming and requires certain professional skills. After all, the brick needs not only to be beautifully laid on the mortar, but also to perform competent fastening of the brickwork to the wall.
Professionals know many ways to process bricks and options for laying them. Due to this, the lined surface can have a unique relief. In addition to the facade cladding in the same style, landscape design and the fence of the local area can be done.
Such cladding is used only in low-rise construction. If the building is higher than two floors, it is possible to imitate brickwork with the help of metal or fiber cement facade panels mounted on the frame.
If you didn’t like the proposed options for cladding the house from aerated concrete from the outside, then pay attention to a more profitable way - finishing with tiles: clinker or porcelain. The surface of the tile better resists the effects of precipitation, aggressive substances. Its weight is much lower, which reduces the load on the foundation.
The dimensions of the clinker tiles are small, approximately like the side of a clay brick. Therefore, to perform continuous cladding with such small elements is laborious. More often clinker decorate only fragments of the facade, combining them with plaster.
For facing large-area houses, thermal panels are often used, which simultaneously carry out insulation and decoration of the facade. The front side of such panels in the factory is faced with clinker or stone tiles. In this case, the tile is natural, not imitation.
Porcelain tile has larger dimensions than clinker tiles, which greatly simplifies the implementation of continuous cladding. Moreover, it can be mounted not only on glue, but also on a wooden crate, thereby ensuring good ventilation of the facade.
If it is necessary to insulate the walls, porcelain tiles can be mounted on an aluminum profile, laying a heater in the cells of the frame. Who is interested in this issue, look for materials on the construction of ventilated facades.
Surface preparation for brick or tile lining should be done very carefully. This stage includes not only surface cleaning. For example, sealing joints, potholes and visible voids with mounting foam, gluing them with insulating tape and then sealing them with putty. After the walls are primed with the composition that we mentioned above.
This is not a complete list of materials that can be used for exterior decoration of a house built from gas blocks. For decoration use plastic, various types of siding and exterior clapboardwood panels.
So choose your option, combine materials, use decorative overhead elements. Take the decoration with the utmost seriousness, follow the technology exactly - and you will get a high-quality decorative coating of the facade.
