Finishing the exterior walls of the house: choose the material

Gusevsky Andrey Anatolyevich

Combination of materials in the exterior

The design of buildings implies not only the creation of a cozy and comfortable decoration inside the house, cottage, even a garden house, but also the exterior wall decoration. The presented photo and video materials demonstrate that the created certain style from the outside can be continued by the interior design of the rooms.
Exterior wall decoration requires special attention to materials and color schemes, analysis of the nuances of the general architectural style at an early stage of design. “Hurry, you make people laugh,” hasty finishing decisions at the final stage of construction can lead to difficult fixes.

Importance of exterior decoration

Whatever your choice finishing materials walls, any surface of the building needs protection. A new house will receive a face that can preserve youth for many years, the old building will improve its appearance, hide flaws, smooth out flaws.
Exceptions include houses made of logs, the wood of which is polished with love, impregnated with fire-resistant compounds, joints are well insulated and coated with UV-resistant varnish or paint (stain). The rest of the other walls, even those made of bricks, need to be finished.
Repair and decoration of walls outside the house perform several functional tasks that differ in the primary and the rest.
So:

• Protective function against adverse environmental influences. The walls of the buildings are load-bearing structures that protect the inhabitants from storms and winds, melt water and rain, temperature extremes and abrasive friction, snow deposits and icing.
  The appearance of the selected finish extends the life of the supporting structures.
• No one is safe from cataclysms, which include a fire. Exterior finish walls should be fire resistant and at the same time high-quality thermal insulation from non-combustible heaters.
• Wall decoration of the house from the outside should be chosen in such a way as to solve the problems of noise and sound insulation. There was no trouble due to condensation and sufficient air circulation was ensured.
  All vapor-tight membranes, special materials, and various films were protected from aggressive environmental influences.
• Giving the building an aesthetic appearance, a certain style, decorating with various finishing materials and drawing up its compositional paintings, allows the external decoration of the walls.

Attention: Before warming the walls of the house outside, data is calculated taking into account the peculiarities of using the heating system. Based on these data, the thickness of the insulating material is determined.

How to make the right choice

Like a lady, there are many dresses, but there is nothing to wear, so here, the choice is large, which one is right

Finishing the exterior walls of the cottage is no different from decorating the walls of cottages or houses. You can choose low-cost finishing materials suitable for the walls of the cottage.
Stucco was and remains relevant, simple and cheap finishing of external walls available for do-it-yourselfers. In some cases, plaster is used as a preparatory operation for painting, eliminating large defects and irregularities on the wall, it allows you to create uniform and even coatings.
There are several types of plastering materials for exterior decoration. The price of cement plaster is lower, but the quality is worse than gypsum, which is more expensive and more durable.
So:

• The gypsum-based mixture is more plastic, has good adhesion, which creates reliable adhesion to the surface. Gypsum has the ability to let in moist air, to prevent waterlogging of the walls, the plaster does not corrode and rot.
  The advantages of plaster include the solidity of the obtained surfaces, the technological accuracy of the applied plaster on the surface and sufficient durability, provided that all technological requirements are observed. The disadvantages are the complexity of plastering, technological operations are performed manually, which increases the time of work.
• The plaster is applied to quality prepared walls, cleaned of dust, exfoliated particles and cut with a spatula, existing cracks. The longevity of the finish depends on the materials of the walls, if they have low strength and are made of cinder blocks or adobe, then the metal plaster mesh is pre-attached to the wall with brackets or nails.

Attention: The weak surface of the wall must be covered with a deep impregnation primer.

• A little special place is given to the plaster of the house, which is part of the work on the insulation of external walls. For such coatings, a special composition is used.
  Since the plaster is located on top of the insulation layer, it is mandatory that a fiberglass plaster mesh is glued under it. Warming the wall in this way gives a good effect.

Siding the house

Decorated with siding and a wooden clapboard, the cottage takes the form of a neat and pretty house. It will look, of course, an inexpensive building.
If you are creating the image of a serious and expensive summer house, you should never finish it with siding, which is associated with economical decoration, but if you make a conscious choice to get an economy decoration, then you have found your ideal material.

Masters work

Fine material suitable for exterior wall decoration. Easy installation and handling does not require any special tools for cutting it during installation.
There are several types of siding for exterior decoration: vinyl (PVC), acrylic, block house, metal, wood, cement for plinth, wood, panels made of polypropylene. The technology for cladding with these materials differs slightly in the details.
Therefore, regardless of the choice of material, it is necessary to perform general actions:

• Prepare all the necessary consumables, the necessary tools, components and fasteners, and a sufficient number of beams, battens, insulation boards to equip the crate.
• The installation of the battens precedes the installation of siding and performs the preparation of the surface of the walls. It is necessary to dismantle all drainpipes, shutters, fixtures and other architectural elements that interfere with the work.
  The entire cleaned surface is worn with vertical slats, stuffed at a distance of 30-40 cm from each other.
• The installation of the initial bar, external and internal angles at the joints of the walls. A horizontal line is drawn along the perimeter of the building at least 4 cm from the lower ground level or surface.
  The initial bar is mounted with the upper edge along the drawn line, attaching with nails or cuts itself. Window and door openings are made with trim levels by connecting and other elements.

Attention: You should pay special attention to the choice of fasteners and the materials from which they are made so as not to get rusty streaks on the panels in the future.

• Finishing PVC exterior walls has many advantages. It does not attract dirt and dust so that its surface shines daily; a garden hose and a good pressure of water in it are enough.
  The panels are lightweight, and their installation does not require special lifting equipment. The siding has special locks latches, which facilitates and is mounted in any weather.
  It refers to practically non-combustible materials that allow walls to “breathe”.

Distinctive features of installation

So:

• Horizontally vinyl and acrylic siding, the block house is stacked in rows from the back of the cottage towards the pediment. Basement panels are mounted from left to right, and the lining of the next wall is performed only after sheathing the previous one.
• The installation instructions for vertical panels differ in their features. The crate is not located vertically, but horizontally.
  Installation of panels is carried out from the center to the edges or from the corners of the wall, if a pattern is not formed or symmetry is not maintained.
• Do not be afraid of experiments in a combination of siding in different shades or textures. External differences of the panels themselves do not affect the stages of their installation, they are identical.
  It is important to purchase panels of the same manufacturers and follow the recommendations for their installation.

Excellent performance, proven for decades, a large number of colors, a variety of textures, durability and ease of care puts siding on a par with the best finishing materials. Its application eliminates the question: is it worth it to carry out its installation yourself or is it better to hire a team of specialists?
The answer is simple - save your money.