During the construction of private houses, aerated concrete blocks have been increasingly used recently . This circumstance cannot be called random. The mentioned material has a porous structure, which is characterized by high thermal insulation qualities.
Aerated concrete absorbs a lot of moisture and dust, as a result of which it oxidizes, becomes heavy, darkens and loses its quality advantages. In order to avoid this, the exterior finish of the house is made of aerated concrete. This makes the facade resistant to external environmental influences.
Options for outdoor aerated concrete
Before performing work on finishing aerated concrete from the outside, you need to familiarize yourself with the basic technologies. The most economical method is to apply plaster. It is important to choose the right composition, preferring a vapor-permeable viscous mixture. In order to achieve a higher layer strength, an additional reinforced mesh should be used, this is especially true for difficult places, namely:
Exterior decoration of the house from aerated concrete can be done with the help of a brick. To do this, make the foundation stronger. Its width should include a brick and a block. For the reason that brick passes less steam than aerated concrete, an opening is formed between the materials. Its width should be 50 mm. This approach will eliminate the accumulation of condensate inside the structure. Ventilation is provided by empty joints between the bricks that are left at the top of the walls. The total area of these joints should be 1% of the total area of the building.
If aerated concrete blocks are characterized by a low coefficient of vapor permeability, then the formation of air gaps can be abandoned, but this approach cannot be called the best, because this will increase the thermal conductivity of the walls and lead to cooling of the premises. Heating costs will be more impressive. Without the formation of gaps, you can trim summer cottages or houses.
Facing the facades with brick, you should apply a sheet that will resist the contact of the blocks with the solution. The canvas moves as the masonry advances. The lining cannot be laid without supports. For example, a brick is connected to blocks, which will allow to obtain a monolithic structure. This indicates that four ties should be laid through each square meter. They must be provided in advance. For this, metal tapes, ties made of basalt plastic, perforated strip made of galvanized steel are usually used. Elements are inserted into blocks, while the other side is inserted into a brick.
Paint use
Exterior decoration of the house from aerated concrete can be done with paint. It will cost less than other solutions. To do this, you need a special composition or putty, which should be vapor permeable. This will protect the blocks.
Before application, the paint is diluted with water. As a minus of such a facing, a rather long time for preparing the external walls appears. All seams and irregularities must be cleaned, as well as dents and protrusions. Aerated concrete blocks can be prepared by perimeter chamfering. This will achieve smoothness and evenness.
Alternative solution: siding finish
Siding is another popular facing material for aerated concrete. It can be made on the basis of different materials. It:
This allows you to protect the facade from climatic influences. The advantage of this approach is the ability to additionally insulate the walls by laying the insulation under the siding crate. The frame, by the way, will play the main role in the casing, because it is on it that the panels will be installed, the gaps between which will provide ventilation to the structure.
Fiber cement panel installation tips
You can perform the exterior decoration of the house from aerated concrete with fiber cement panels. Fastening can be carried out directly to the wall with screws. An alternative solution is the installation of the frame. In both cases, Kleimer brackets are used for installation, through which the fasteners are screwed into the crate elements or the wall.
Fiber cement elements are fixed to each rack. The distance between the fasteners should be 600 mm horizontally. Kleimers are installed more often in areas adjacent to door and window openings, as well as in corners of a building. Such exterior decoration of the walls of the house from aerated concrete sometimes provides for the formation of an air gap, which in some cases is used to install insulation material.
Technology features
Experts do not recommend attaching panels to a frame or wall without kleimers, but in some cases this approach is the only true one. This is true if the panels require fixing in areas where it is not possible to install staples. In this case, the products are drilled through, and then screws are screwed into the holes, the head of which is recessed inward by 1.5 mm. After finishing the lining, the holes are coated with plaster with moisture resistant characteristics. For this purpose, you can use a paste-sealant, which is selected by color, and sometimes comes in the kit.
Installation Recommendations
Before you start work, you can consider a photo of the exterior decoration of the house from aerated concrete. If fiber cement siding is used as the material for cladding , the technology will be slightly different. Elements are installed at an angle, they are located with an overlap of the upper boards on the bottom. This allows you to get the effect of a shipboard or Christmas tree.
Siding will be located exclusively on the upper side of the panel and will be attached to each of the racks of the frame. When joining boards in length, a gap of 2 mm should be left between them to compensate for linear thermal expansion when exposed to temperature. Hats of self-tapping screws will overlap the boards fixed above. Plates to the wall can be installed in a frame way. This involves the use of metal frames, in the grooves of which fiber cement panels are installed. In this case, the surface of the plates and the planks of the frames will be visible.
About the frame
If the exterior decoration of the house from aerated concrete is carried out using fiber cement panels, then the crate can be made of wood or a galvanized metal profile. Horizontal elements from a bar should have a cross section within 50x30 mm. The distance between them on the wall will be 600 mm. Anchors are used for their fastening. Vertical struts of the frame, as a rule, have a size within 40x70 mm. They are fastened with two screws. The pitch between the vertical bars is also usually 600 mm. These parameters should also be adhered to for the reason that thermal insulation is usually available with such dimensions. This indicates that its installation will be easier, and there will be less waste.
Methodology
In some cases, lining with fiber cement plates and boards is from the blind area to the adjoining to the cornice. The base does not stand out. Otherwise, a zigzag-type framework should be formed, the lower part of which will be filled with expanded clay of the middle fraction. This material acts as an excellent insulation and will protect against rodents.
In order to eliminate the need for plastering the walls, the gap is filled with cement mortar, which is pre-mixed with polystyrene foam chips or polyurethane foam. Filling should be carried out sequentially, which will occur as the finishing panels are fixed. If the decoration of the house from aerated concrete is carried out outside with fiber cement elements, then whatever installation method is chosen, proceed from the bottom of the wall. You can move from the blind area, which is true if you plan to veneer the base with this material.
When cutting plates, saws should be painted with an acrylic composition, which is often supplied in the kit. The paint will mask the cut and become a protection for the end part from moisture and other factors. After the installation of the panels on the basement of the wall and above it is necessary to install a metal tide. The easiest to install is the one that attaches to the wall.
Finishing the perimeter of the openings
Having considered the options for decorating houses from aerated concrete, you can choose fiber cement slabs, which should also be installed around the windows. In order to cope with this work as accurately as possible, you should use dividing bars. The gaps are closed with a special decorative corner, which will ennoble the appearance. If wide slopes have formed around the window, then they can be decorated with the same panels to make the joint neat. To do this, the start profile is fixed to the box, and plates are installed in its grooves. The gaps before installing the plates in them are lubricated with sealant.
Facade plastering
Aerated concrete house for finishing should be prepared with a brush. Chips and dents are sealed with glue, which is pre-mixed with aerated concrete dust. The minimum layer thickness is 10 mm, the material can not be reinforced. The composition contains cool additives, thanks to this the mixture will be held on the surface as firmly as possible. If the layer thickness increases to 15 mm, then it can be reinforced with a fiberglass mesh. A more impressive finish of the house from aerated concrete is impractical.
When choosing a grid, you should prefer the one whose cells are approximately 3 mm. The material must be resistant to alkaline environments. Otherwise, after some time, the mesh will lose its strength and cease to hold the plaster, and the finishing layer will simply move away. First, a primer mixture is applied, after which reinforcement is carried out. This will create the basis for decorative plaster.
Reinforcement
Application of the composition is a strip. Until the mortar hardens, the net should be laid on it by pressing it with a grater or a notched trowel. Once the net is submerged, a wide spatula should be floated to level it. The surface at the final stage is left until dry. This period may vary in time depending on the material used. Finishing the house from aerated concrete at the next stage involves the application of a primer that paints gray and reduces porosity. After drying the primer, you can proceed to the application of decorative plaster.
Additional recommendations on which cladding for aerated concrete to choose
Quite often, consumers are wondering what is the best exterior decoration of a house made of aerated concrete. Among other solutions, it is worth highlighting the tile, which can be ceramic or clinker. Its surface is able to withstand the effects of aggressive substances and precipitation. The weight of such cladding is lower compared to brick, which reduces the load on the foundation. The dimensions of the tile are small. This indicates that continuous cladding will be time consuming.
Sometimes clinker is used to decorate facade fragments. In this case, the tile is combined with plaster. Exterior decoration of the house from aerated concrete can also be done using thermal panels, which are usually used with an impressive facade area. This allows you to decorate and warm. The front side of such panels in a factory is supplemented with stone or clinker tiles. She in this case is natural.
Conclusion
For walls made of aerated concrete, one of the many materials that are on the market today can be used as decoration. Among others, it is worth highlighting porcelain tile, which has a more impressive size compared to clinker tiles. This simplifies the continuous façade work. Porcelain can be mounted on a wooden crate or glue. In the first case, it will be possible to ensure good ventilation of the facade.
Porcelain tiles, if necessary, wall insulation can be installed on an aluminum profile. It is necessary to prepare the facade very carefully. The surface must be protected, the seams closed, and the potholes filled with foam.