The appearance of the building plays a very important role, so it is so important to choose the right finishing materials for the facades of private residential buildings. Many factors influence perception: color, texture, general architectural style. At the moment, the building materials market can offer a fairly large assortment of materials for facade cladding. It is important not to get lost in variety, to figure out which material is better and make the right choice, taking into account the requirements of aesthetics, heat engineering, safety and economy.
Finish requirements
Finishing materials do not affect the strength and reliability of the house, but, despite this, they are subject to quite stringent requirements that should be considered during construction:
- attractive appearance, compliance with the architectural appearance of the building and the surrounding buildings;
- frost resistance;
- wear resistance;
- resistance to ultraviolet radiation;
- ability to withstand wind loads;
- air permeability if possible, because if materials that do not allow air to pass through are used, the building will need an additional ventilation system or frequent venting, which can be inconvenient;
- compliance with the requirements of heat engineering;
- resistance to fire, if possible.
All these requirements for a private house are advisory in nature, since no one will check the project or building before the delivery, as happens with multi-unit construction.
But they should be taken into account to ensure their own safety and comfortable living conditions. The following are the most common options for decoration, their scope, advantages and disadvantages.
Decorative plaster
Common enough option. It is used to improve the appearance of brick and stone houses. There is a wide range of stucco mixtures, among which everyone will be able to choose suitable options for themselves. In addition to the decorative function, plaster is able to perform additional ones, such as:
- alignment of masonry (a rather laborious process that allows you to eliminate small deviations of the walls from the vertical, material consumption and the cost of plastering work increase);
- insulation if modern “warm” compounds are used;
- protection of an external wall from external influences;
- thermal insulation layer protection.
Depending on the thickness of the layer, additional reinforcement of the plaster coating may be required. A layer of mortar with a thickness of 40 mm or more is required for laying reinforcing meshes.
The advantages of the method include:
- attractive appearance of the building;
- suitable for houses in a different style;
- resistance to external influences;
- wide price range of mixtures, among which the buyer will be able to choose exactly what is needed;
- these finishing materials for private homes have a wide range of colors, which allows you to embody any architectural solutions;
- the ability to update the facade without serious difficulties;
- durability.
The disadvantages include the high complexity of the process. Self-decoration will require a lot of time and the presence of special skills. If previously the home foreman did not deal with stucco mortars, it would be wiser to hire a professional team, but this will become an additional line in the estimate for the decoration of the facade of the house and construction in general.
The decoration method is particularly suitable for buildings in the classical style, but will be appropriate in other concepts.
Wood or under wood finish
These modern materials are used for cladding facades of houses from almost any material in a different style. They are also suitable for creating a ventilated facade system.. Such a system will be required for wall insulation with mineral wool, the surface of which needs constant ventilation to remove condensate and other types of moisture that reduce the thermal insulation characteristics of the material.
This group of finishes for the facade include:
- lining;
- siding;
- block house.
The latter will cost a little more than the rest, but will create the illusion of a timber or log house. In addition, this material looks very impressive and presentable, although the cost is higher than that of siding or lining.
Block house - these are modern materials that will give the building a unique appearance.
Lining and siding have been used for a long time and managed to earn popularity in private housing construction. In modern construction, they have two valuable qualities: accessibility and simplicity of technology. It is these properties that have allowed these finishing methods to confidently occupy positions in the niche of the outer cladding.
The disadvantages include:
- sensitivity to moisture;
- instability to influence of fire;
- for wood materials, tendency to rot;
- exposure to aggressive environmental influences.
These disadvantages of materials are fought by periodically applying special compounds to the surface that improve the properties of wood. For example, to prevent damage by fungus, mold or rot, the surface is treated with antiseptics. To increase fire resistance it is worth using flame retardants.
This group of materials is suitable for houses in country style, Provence and others, which set themselves the task of integrating the structure into the rural landscape as organically as possible.
Finishing with stone materials or "under a stone"
This group includes methods that are well suited for facing a house in a classic style, as well as the style of Provence, country. The exterior of the building is quite heavy, but it can be beaten with interesting details. In addition, it all depends on what modern materials for the facade of the house are selected: small-format or large-format.
The following types of cladding belong to this group:
- Brick brick. The material allows you to give the facade of any house such an appearance that it seems that it is built of brick.
- A natural stone. It looks very impressive, allows you to protect the house from any external influences, but is characterized by a rather high cost, which negatively affects the overall price of the house.
- Facing tile. It can be made both under a brick, and under a stone.
These materials are suitable for finishing the facade of buildings in a different style and will protect the house from external factors. Their undoubted advantage is resistance to fire and decay.
But there are a number of disadvantages that are important to consider when designing and building a house:
- a large mass of elements, which increases the load on the foundation and walls of the house and increases the cost of their construction;
- rather high cost in comparison with other types of cladding;
- the complexity of working with the material, the complexity, which further increases the impressive mass of individual elements.
Facing panels
These modern materials for the decoration of the facade should be allocated as a separate group, because they, in addition to the decorative function, take on the insulation of houses. Suitable for creating exterior cladding in a different style.
This group includes:
- sandwich panels;
- front cartridges;
- polyurethane foam thermal panels.
The presence of a heat-insulating layer in modern material is extremely important, since it allows to reduce heating costs and reduce wall thickness. In total, the owner receives a reduction in costs for both construction and operation.