Types of exterior finishes for aerated concrete houses

Exterior finishing of aerated concrete house is carried out after all work related to the interior finishing of the building has been completed. The technical characteristics of the materials used in this case should be the determining factor in their choice. Options for finishing the facade of a house made of aerated concrete blocks can be completely different.

Properties of finishing materials for facades

Aerated concrete blocks have a sufficiently low compressive strength, so they should not be subjected to mechanical stress or shock during transportation. Another disadvantage of these products is the high hygroscopicity or water absorption. The walls of gas blocks outside and inside must be lined with high-quality finishing material. It must have the following important properties:

1. Small weight.
2. Ease of installation.
3. Convenience in transportation.

When choosing how best to clad a house of gas blocks, you should not purchase too heavy finishing materials. They require the arrangement of a massive foundation for an aerated concrete house. Since all outdoor work will be done by hand, there should be no need to use various types of equipment in the cladding process.

Finishing walls made of aerated concrete should be carried out using materials that can withstand the effects of various external factors. This will not only allow you to decorate the landscape design of the site, but also make the building durable. Before finishing the house from aerated concrete outside, you should decide on the choice of the most suitable type of material installation technology. They must have the following functions:

• provide thermal insulation;
• protect the supporting structures of the house from moisture and wind;
• increase the sound insulation of the building;
• ensure the hygiene of the operation of the house;
• not be exposed to the negative effects of fungus, mold;
• have a high rate of water resistance;
• be frost resistant.

By finishing the exterior walls of buildings made of aerated concrete, one can conclude about the tastes and preferences of the owners of the buildings. If a country house has a well-groomed facade, then the status of its owner is appropriate. Before lining the exterior walls of aerated concrete with any finishing material, it should be remembered that it should not be cheap. Otherwise, the life of the building will decrease due to poor quality cladding.

It is possible to carry out a choice of options for finishing the facade of a house made of aerated concrete after all internal work has been completed. They involve pouring floor screed, laying tiles or plastering. These types of work often cause vapors to accumulate in the room, so they can freely escape through the thickness of the walls of aerated concrete.

Disadvantages of walls made of gas blocks

Finishing the facade of a house made of aerated concrete requires the use of moisture-resistant materials for wall cladding from the outside. This is due to the high rate of moisture absorption of the gas block. It exceeds similar characteristics of other building materials.

Being a kind of cellular concrete, lightweight aerated concrete has open pores. It also has high thermal insulation properties. The material exhibits good hygroscopicity in direct contact with a source of moisture. As a result, its weight increases and strength decreases. Subsequent freezing leads to the destruction of the wet block.

During the laying process, the material also absorbs moisture from the cement composition. As a result, the elasticity of the solution with which the material is laid is reduced. Therefore, aerated concrete finishing is required not only outside the house, but also inside.

Aluminum powder is used as a gas-forming substance in the manufacture of aerated concrete blocks. It is she who provides the porosity of the structure of the produced material. Due to the high rate of vapor permeability, finishing the facade of aerated concrete requires a constructive approach. It must be carried out in accordance with all requirements.

If the facing work was not carried out according to the rules, then the exterior finish may be performed with errors. All the nuances should be taken into account even at the design stage of building a house from aerated concrete blocks with cladding. When performing technological operations, it is always necessary to take into account the sequence of their implementation.

It is possible to build a reliable house from gas blocks only if high quality material is used. The preparation of the masonry mortar also requires a careful approach. All heat engineering calculations must be accurate, which will allow you to choose the right material for finishing walls from aerated concrete blocks from the outside.

Materials for finishing the walls of the house outside

Finishing the exterior walls of a house made of aerated concrete involves not only cladding, but also the arrangement of thermal insulation. Insulation of aerated concrete walls is best done using mineral wool. The layer of thermal insulation will largely prevent the removal of moisture from the surface of the outer walls.

To fix the insulation outside the house should be using a wooden crate soaked in an antiseptic. An ideal option for solving this problem is an iron profile. Self-tapping screws or dowels are used to fasten the outer frame to the wall surface. Insulation should be laid after installation of the crate.

Common finishing materials are:

• tile;
• siding;
• fibrolite;
• lining;
• clinker brick.

The latest finishing material is presented on the market in a wide variety. It differs according to the following criteria:

• texture;
• the form;
• dimensions;
• colors.

Before finishing the facade of the house from aerated concrete using clinker bricks, it is necessary to take into account a distance of 3-4 cm from the thermal insulation layer. Vinyl siding is well-spread on the market of finishing materials.

Clinker tiles for aerated concrete walls

A house made of aerated concrete from the outside can be lined with clinker tiles, the technical characteristics of which are reduced to the following properties of this material:

1. High thermal conductivity.
2. Long service life.
3. chemical neutrality.
4. Ecological purity.
5. Reliability and strength.
6. High density.
7. Fire resistance.
8. Frost resistance.
9. UV resistant.

It is not difficult to beautifully decorate the outer walls of houses, gazebos or verandas made of aerated concrete with tiles. Having developed a design idea, you can think about what type of clinker tile to choose. Since it is characterized by high density, the thermal conductivity of this material is quite high.

Facing aerated concrete with clinker tiles can be carried out with or without insulation. If the thickness of the outer walls is normal, then thermal insulation is not required. Laying of any finishing material that does not require additional thermal insulation is carried out close to the surface of the outer walls.

If expanded polystyrene is used as a heater, then a vapor barrier membrane is fixed on it. It allows you to protect the outer wall from condensation and moisture. It is necessary to lay the lining elements of the facing layer when erecting walls of aerated concrete or after it.

Clinker brick for aerated concrete walls

Choosing how to veneer a house from aerated concrete blocks, you can stop your attention on clinker bricks. Before buying, you need to find out the density of the material. If its surface is smooth without any interlayers or voids, then its firing was uniform. The greater the density of the clinker, the higher should be the tone emitted by the brick when tapped on it with a hammer.

Clinker may have a different structure. It depends on it the need for thermal insulation of the building. If you use front clinker bricks for facing external walls made of aerated concrete blocks, and not front ones, this will significantly increase the life of the building. At the same time, the cost of repairing the exterior walls of the house will decrease.

Cladding walls made of aerated concrete with clinker bricks is an environmentally friendly coating. It is not capable of becoming contaminated, which is especially important for buildings located in conditions in which there is an increased content of harmful substances. Facing clinker is often used for the reconstruction of worn-out facades.

Clinker brick goes well with other types of finishing materials. It can have not only red colors, but also yellow, black, white. Such material looks spectacular, decorating the facades of buildings built from aerated concrete blocks.

External finishing of gas blocks by plastering

At the present stage of construction of aerated concrete buildings, plastering of houses made of aerated concrete is common. In this case, the finishing occurs in stages:

1. The walls are thermally insulated with extruded polystyrene foam or polystyrene foam.
2. To fix the heat-insulating material, glue, dowels with hats, self-tapping screws are used.
3. A reinforcing fiberglass mesh is attached to the prepared heat-insulating layer, which makes it possible to enhance the adhesion of the insulation and the finishing layer.

High-quality thermal insulation not only provides protection from noise, but also allows you to neutralize the effect of atmospheric humidity on the surface of the walls. Since the plastering of the facade requires the installation of a reinforcing mesh, it is better to choose safe materials. They must be chemically neutral so that the cladding of the house made of aerated concrete could not adversely affect the grid up to the formation of rust.

Before finishing the surface of the outer wall, it is necessary to use a special primer. Only after that you can proceed to the finishing plaster. It must be of high quality and contain antiseptic additives. The final stage of plastering involves applying facade paint to the surface of the walls.

Natural stone for exterior wall decoration

Facade cladding can be supplemented if the house is plastered on the outside. For this, a decorative stone is used, which is laid in separate fragments. For example, we cover only corners, window openings or a plinth with it, and the main part remains plastered.

Natural stone can be used as a separate facade material. It is laid on a cement mortar, and all seams are filled with grout, which is then leveled. This type of finishing is labor intensive, so it has a high cost. The facade of aerated concrete blocks lined in this way will have a long service life.

Not every home owner has the opportunity to use natural stone for exterior walls. You can solve the problem if you use the imitation of natural material. It also has a rich appearance, which does not distinguish it from a natural sample. This will reduce the cost of facing the facade of the house.

A budget option is to use clinker tiles. It is an imitation of clinker bricks. For the manufacture of these materials, components of natural origin are used, which have different colors and textures.

Artificial stone for aerated concrete

To cheaply sheathe a house with your own hands, you can use artificial stone to decorate the facade. The choice of this material is rational. It does not have as much weight as natural stone, which is difficult to reinforce to the wall surface.

Artificial material has many positive qualities that are also characteristic of natural stone. Its cost, unlike other types of facing materials, is the lowest. It has a weight that is 1.5 times less than the natural sample.

There are several different ways to finish aerated concrete with artificial or natural stone. Due to the minimum weight, the artificial material makes the cladding lighter to a large extent. An experienced craftsman sheaths with such a stone not only the internal, but also the external walls of the house made of aerated concrete.

Artificial stone has a wide scope of use. With its help, wall cladding is made of plasterboard or thermal panels. The material is used not only in the same shape, but also combined with analogues of other colors and parameters.

To perform facade cladding with artificial stone, it will not take much effort, since on the reverse side it has a flat surface. Corner elements that allow finishing window and door openings are used for finishing corners. Facing the facades of buildings with artificial stone is a bit like a surface finished with clinker tiles.