Concrete siding - features and installation

Despite the fact that concrete siding for the facade is a fairly new building material, it quickly gained some popularity. This is due to its strength, durability, as well as a number of other advantages. Next, we take a closer look at what this material is, how it has properties, and how it is assembled.

Features of concrete siding

Siding is a facade cladding material, which is a narrow panel. Its texture can imitate various natural materials, such as natural stone, brick, etc.

Siding simultaneously performs two important functions:

It must be said that concrete siding is also called fiber cement, since polymer fiber is added to its composition, which gives strength to the material. Most often for these purposes using polypropylene or cellulose fiber.

The presence of fibers can significantly increase the tensile strength of a concrete product. In fact, the fiber performs the function of reinforcement.

Virtues

Among the advantages of the material are the following points:

• Fire resistance, so that it can be used on sites with high fire safety requirements.
• Attractive appearance. In addition, a large selection of textures allows you to choose the most suitable design material.
• Frost resistance
• Moisture resistance.
• Durability - the service life is up to 60 years and more.
• Easy to process and color.
• Material is subject to rotting and fungus exposure.
• Low price panels.
• Ability to perform finishing at any time of the year.

disadvantages

As for the shortcomings, there are not so many of them:

• Large weight, resulting in the installation should be performed on a reinforced structure.
• Weak resistance to shock loads - concrete siding can crumble from hard shocks.

Siding installation

The process of covering the facade consists of several stages:

• Preparatory work;
• Installing crates;
• Fastening panels;
• Painting.

Preparatory work

Preparation for facade cladding consists in the following actions:

• First of all, it is necessary to dismantle all mounted elements - antennas, canopies, plums, etc. from the facade.
• Then you need to remove all flaking and flaking areas of the old finish.
• After that, you need to make measurements of the walls and calculate the required amount of material to make its purchase.

Mounting the frame

In most cases, siding installation is carried out on a wooden frame (crate). However, when finishing cottages, the walls are pre-sheathed with moisture-resistant plywood, to which the panels are subsequently attached.

The installation instructions for the frame are as follows:

• The first step is to cover the walls of the house with a layer of vapor insulating material..
• Further along the perimeter of the building, the starting rail is attached.. Since siding is mounted from the bottom up, the starting plate is located at the very bottom of the walls. At this stage, it is extremely important to ensure the horizontal position of the plank; therefore, the work should be performed at the building level. In addition, it should be borne in mind that the panels should not be located below 150 mm above the soil level.
• Next, install the horizontal bars. The distance between them is determined by the size of the panels. As a rule, a metal profile is used as a batten; however, a wooden frame can be made by pre-covering the slats with an anti-decay agent.

Note! When mounting the batten, it is necessary to ensure that all the strips are located in the same vertical plane.

At this process of mounting crates completed. It must be said that often a heater for concrete is laid under siding. In this case, the planks should be positioned vertically, and between them fix mineral mats.

Siding installation

Once the frame is installed, you can begin to install siding with your own hands.

Work is performed as follows:

• Begin installation from the corner. Fastening is carried out on two screws, which must be located in the middle of the profile. In this way, the first rad of panels is completely laid.
• Then mounted second row overlap with the first. The overlap must be at least 30 mm. In addition, it should be borne in mind that the distance between the panels and window or door openings should be 3 mm. Panel joints must be staggered.
• In this way, the entire facade of the building is sheathed. If necessary, concrete siding can be cut by a grinder with a diamond disc.

Note! To fit the panel under the window openings, you can increase or decrease the overlap between the rows.

Here, perhaps, all the main points of the facade siding with concrete siding. In fact, this procedure is not much different from the installation of other panel finishing materials.

Finally, it should be noted that concrete siding is sold primed, so after installation it requires painting. For these purposes, you can use water-based facade paints.

Conclusion

Concrete siding has many advantages over other finishing facade materials. In addition to the affordable price and durability, it will save on installation - by following the sequence described above, this work is not difficult to do without the help of specialists. From the video in this article, you can get more information on this topic.