The façade is the calling card of the building and the people who live in it. The first thing you notice about a house is the exterior. There are many design solutions and options for façades (and all exterior walls). One of the most popular solutions is plastering.
Compared to other façade solutions and materials, renders have many advantages: there are suitable products and solutions for finishing any type of substructure, they are relatively easy to use even on complex façades, they come in a wide range of textures and colours, they are durable, and they can be built relatively quickly and easily.
In addition, there are insulation systems where the insulation (foam, wool) is covered with plaster. In the latter case, you can “kill two birds with one stone”: having installed the insulation on the wall, you have a substrate for plastering and finishing.
What are some good tips for building and renovating rendered facades? When it comes to insulating and plastering new houses, things are easier because the design can be planned to ensure that the wall has sufficient thermal resistance and that all the other technical building parameters are up to standard. You can also choose the right solution and materials at the design stage. The most common solution is the hot-plaster system – foam insulation and over-plastering (SerpoTerm system).
Rigid wool (SerpoMin system) can be used to build the same solution. Soft wool can also be used for insulating and plastering, but the construction of this system is a little more complicated than the previous two: fibre (lime) cement mixes are used for plastering and metal rabbet mesh for reinforcement.
Compared to other façade solutions and materials, renders have many advantages: there are suitable products and solutions for finishing any type of substructure, they are relatively easy to use even on complex façades, they come in a wide range of textures and colours, they are durable, and they can be built relatively quickly and easily.
In addition, there are insulation systems where the insulation (foam, wool) is covered with plaster. In the latter case, you can “kill two birds with one stone”: having installed the insulation on the wall, you have a substrate for plastering and finishing.
What are some good tips for building and renovating rendered facades? When it comes to insulating and plastering new houses, things are easier because the design can be planned to ensure that the wall has sufficient thermal resistance and that all the other technical building parameters are up to standard. You can also choose the right solution and materials at the design stage. The most common solution is the hot-plaster system – foam insulation and over-plastering (SerpoTerm system).
Rigid wool (SerpoMin system) can be used to build the same solution. Soft wool can also be used for insulating and plastering, but the construction of this system is a little more complicated than the previous two: fibre (lime) cement mixes are used for plastering and metal rabbet mesh for reinforcement.
When building an aerated plasterboard system, the manufacturer’s instructions must be followed. The main problem with façade construction and renovation is that the client (cooperative, homeowner) usually wants to improve the situation, but has few resources. Therefore, the cheapest possible solutions are sought, combining different materials that may not be compatible at all, omitting a certain step in the process, applying a thinner mixed layer than necessary, etc.
While at first glance this may seem a little more advantageous, in the long run the opposite may be true. Because the solution may remain incomplete or inappropriate, a newly built or renovated building will soon start to deteriorate and need to be renovated again. There’s no one to blame because there’s no warranty, and even that scant two-year warranty (if any) from the builder has passed unnoticed. However, it is not possible to guarantee, for example, when using materials from four different manufacturers.
There are also ready-made solutions where all the necessary components are available and, in cooperation with the builder, a guarantee of up to 10 years is given. However, the guarantee requires that the right materials have been used in the right place and that the builder has been professional.
Here are some recommendations to keep in mind when building a hollow core system. First, you need to decide whether to insulate the house with foam or wool. With a stone wall (e.g. Fibo-walls) it is easier because it can be insulated with wool or foam.
When renovating old houses, the first step is to find out what the load-bearing structures of the house are made of and what has been used to insulate it before. Wool should be used to insulate wooden houses. Recent practice shows that the thickness of the insulation is usually chosen by the contracting authority itself, but in any case it is also worth asking the designer/architect for advice, who will calculate the physical parameters of the external wall. It is important to consult a specialist when renovating old houses, because in the latter case, a suitable solution must be chosen for additional insulation of the existing wall.
If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, wait until you hire an amateur.
FastFassaad is the most experienced facade maintenance company in Estonia, we maintain over 50 000m2 of facades per year.
