Concrete Boards For Exterior Walls – Stucco siding is a very recognizable style that has been around for ages. As new styles of exterior cladding become popular, the soothing wave and stubble style of stucco remains one of the most common choices for both residential and commercial buildings.
Innovative building materials such as fiber cement are becoming serious competition for stucco – and for good reason. When placed side by side, stucco and fiber cement are very similar, with some distinct differences that cause many homeowners to turn to fiber cement siding that looks like stucco as a way to get the best of both worlds.
Concrete Boards For Exterior Walls
One of the greatest advantages of stucco cladding is its association with classical architecture and construction practices. Stucco is easily recognized and often creates a pleasant familiarity due to its traditional appearance. Stucco is beautiful and timeless, which are by far two of the main reasons why it has remained stylish over the years.
Zmartbuild Fiber Cement Board
Another advantage of stucco cladding is the fact that it is relatively easy to work with due to the basic material composition, which is typically Portland cement, sand and water. With a little practice in the application technique, most individuals are confident in their ability to install stucco siding panels. In general, do-it-yourself projects are very appealing to homeowners in today’s market, and the fact that stucco siding is relatively easy to install at home is an advantage.
Unfortunately, this popular siding style also has some major drawbacks. For example, stucco siding does not perform well at all in heavy rain, making it a problematic exterior siding material for homes and businesses in areas with heavy snow, rain, sleet, or humidity, even in season. As most know, water damage can lead to discoloration and mold, as well as compromise the integrity of the siding.
Stucco siding is relatively affordable to install, costing about $8 per square foot, but the amount of repairs required can be quite expensive, especially for stucco-walled homes that experience regular damage from rain, snow, and moisture. Maintenance can also be difficult. It is even recommended not to use a pressure washer on stucco tiles as it can damage the surface.
Fiber cement, on the other hand, is widely considered one of the strongest exterior siding materials on the market. Because fiber cement uses a carefully formulated formulation, it is able to perform with much greater durability than other traditional siding materials. For example, fiber cement can withstand very strong winds, as well as fire resistance and moisture resistance. This makes fiber cement an ideal choice for property owners in areas with frequent inclement weather.
Fire Resistant Siding: A Textured, Modern Option
One of the keys to ensuring maximum weather resistance is proper installation. Although many experienced homeowners and experienced hobbyists have no problem working with fiber cement panels, it may be best to hire a professional contractor who is familiar with working with fiber cement, as fiber cement requires a certain level of expertise and care to provide top-notch protection. performance.
Another advantage of fiber cement panels is the incredible range of colors and textures available on the market. Fiber cement is available in a wide variety of styles, including traditional and contemporary styles, giving property owners many options to choose from.
Panels, shingles, and shingles are all available with fiber cement, and the cost of these products varies depending on the style chosen. However, those who opt for fiber cement siding can expect much lower costs in the long run, as fiber cement is extremely low maintenance and rarely requires significant maintenance or repairs.
Allura offers an innovative approach to exterior stucco wall panels by providing a fiber cement cladding that looks like stucco. Fiber cement stucco is technically not a type of classic stucco, but it achieves all the surface-level charm that usually attracts designers to the traditional stucco style. The appearance of fiber cement siding that looks like stucco is very obvious – enough to fool most people at first glance and even upon closer inspection.
Precast Concrete Wall Panels
The real benefit of choosing fiber cement stucco siding is that the panels are so durable due to the incredible strength of the fiber cement reinforcement. Fiber cement siding uses a unique material formula that allows the siding to withstand adverse weather conditions without affecting the beautiful aesthetic appearance of the surface.
This means that fibre-cement stucco cladding panels offer the best of both worlds: the beautiful, recognizable look of stucco and the superior durability of a modern, innovative building material. And that is why fiber cement stucco cladding panels are the best choice for modern buildings.
Contact the fiber cement siding experts at Allura today to learn more about a superior stucco-look siding product. Precast concrete insulating sandwich wall panels have gained popularity over the years, but some professionals are still unfamiliar with them. Reasons why they are increasingly being used instead of more traditional materials include:
Pickup Speed: A typical warehouse can be picked up in a week. Cold weather is not a factor as the panels are cast in a temperature controlled environment and transported to site when required.
From Clt Panels To Home In Five Days
Design flexibility: The casting process allows for a wide variety of finishes and patterns, including inlaid brick, stone and abrasive blasting.
Thermal efficiency: Edge-to-edge, top-to-bottom rigid insulation can be used in a relatively thin wall, providing a high effective R-value. The thermal mass of the concrete provides an additional benefit by slowing heat transfer through the wall and smoothing temperature fluctuations. (Figure 1)
Figure 1: Thermal image of a standard “stick” wall (left) and a precast wall (right). Blue shows areas with less heat transfer.
When used in conjunction with ASHRAE 90.1, the thermal performance of a building can actually be doubled by using prefabricated wall elements. This, in turn, can reduce the size of the HVAC units needed.
Insulated Concrete Forms For R 28 Walls
Competitive Costs: Precast concrete wall panels can be a cost-effective alternative to masonry or other hard wall systems and require less labor than other systems.
A typical panel has two outer concrete layers, or “eighths”, separated by rigid insulation (Figure 2), and is cast as a long line in a plant (Figure 3). One or both of the eights are usually prestressed to reduce cracking and improve performance (Figure 4).
The panels are transported to the job site and lifted by crane (Figure 5 A and B).
Panels can carry roof and floor loads or function only as cladding (load-bearing versus non-load-bearing (Figure 6A, B and C).
Exterior Cement Board Painted
Non-composite: For non-composite panels, the eight concretes act independently (Figure 7). This design is usually used when a high insulation value is required, such as a building cooler or freezer. Eight are insulated with high-performance rigid insulation and joined together only by thermally non-conductive pin connectors. The pins are made of either fiberglass and vinylester or polypropylene plastic or other non-conductive material. The inner structural wythe is usually much thicker than the outer surface of the wythe.
Fully Composite: In fully composite panels, eight act together as a unit for full horizontal shear transfer. A typical composite panel is eight times stiffer, withstands three times the stress without cracking, and has twice the strength of a non-composite panel of similar thickness. Composite panels are usually less expensive than non-composite panels, primarily because they can handle more loads and can be taller and thinner. The inner and outer eights are usually tensioned with a prestressing cable and made the same thickness to reduce internal stress. (Figure 8) Sometimes the panel is made solid below the floor line and above the sill (outside the building envelope) to facilitate assembly.
Unlike non-composite panels, composite panels often bulge when exposed to direct sunlight due to temperature rise and subsequent expansion of the outer core. This feature is normal, but should be taken into account if the panels are fixed or placed against an intermediate floor near mid-height.
Semi-composite: Semi-composite panels provide less than full shear transfer between the eight. They behave in a way between composite and non-composite. The degree of action of the composite is determined by load tests carried out by an independent testing laboratory. Patented composite partial wall systems are now available that combine the high insulating value of non-composite panels with the strength and slimness of composite panels. This is it
Board Formed Concrete Exterior Walls 3
Achieved by using a non-conductive lattice structure (Figure 9), grid or individual links between figure-eights to transfer shear. The partial action of the composite provides sufficient strength for most applications.
When determining a standard wall thickness for a project, it is important to keep in mind the differences between panel types. Since the panels are cast in a mold that is typically hundreds of feet long, ideally the thickness should be the same for all panels on a given project to avoid excessive setup costs. Sometimes a designer will select a panel thickness based on the assumption of full composite performance, but then require a thermal performance that can only be achieved with a thicker, more expensive non-composite design. Working with a local precast fabricator to estimate panel thickness can ensure design requirements are met
