Due to its positive properties, wood concrete is a versatile and durable material for building a house. However, when using concrete filled with wood chips, it is necessary to take into account the high degree of water absorption of this component. Based on this, the front (and sometimes interior) finishing of this material is a prerequisite. Most often, plaster is used for these purposes. To figure out how to plaster the walls of wood concrete yourself, first of all, it is worth considering the features of this finishing method.
Advantages of plastering wood concrete walls
When applying plaster to wood concrete, you can significantly improve its characteristics, since such a coating performs the following functions:
- Heat protection. The house is kept warm without the "steam room" effect. Due to its good vapor permeability, the plaster allows the wood concrete to "breathe".
- Soundproof. If the plaster is not painted, it will reliably protect you from unwanted noise.
- Waterproofing. Plastered wood concrete repels water, so rooms with high humidity (but not more than 70%) do not require additional finishing. To enhance the water-repellent properties when applying the plaster, it is recommended to use a gunning machine.
Plaster is also necessary if corrosive acid vapors affect the walls of the building.
Another plus of the plaster is its composition, which forms a rough surface, allowing a high level of adhesion of the plaster material to the arbolite surface. In this case, you do not have to additionally process the walls and prepare them for decoration.
In addition, it is necessary to renew the plastered facade of the building no more than once every 8-9 years. To do this, it is enough to "walk" the walls with a primer, spending a minimum of money on it.
If we talk about what exactly can be used to plaster walls made of wood concrete, then it is worth highlighting several types of this finishing material.
Compositions of plaster for wood concrete walls
For self-finishing of wood concrete surfaces, it is recommended to use the following types of plasters:
- Cement. A mixture of sifted sand and cement is suitable for standard walls about 30 cm thick. The plaster is applied 2 cm thick.
- Plaster. Gypsum and various fillers are used as a finishing material.
- Lime. The main component is lime. In this case, after covering the surface with plaster, it is putty on the primer and painted with facade paint.
- Compositions for decorative finishing. Such plasters are of different types: lime, acrylic, latex and others. The acrylic composition is considered the most convenient to work with. Also decorative mixtures are characterized by high vapor permeability.
Some experts add lime paste (about 0.5-1 part) or water-retaining additives to ordinary cement mortar.
However, it should be borne in mind that with the addition of some additives (expanded polystyrene, foam glass or slag), the walls will "breathe" worse. This is due to the differing vapor permeability of the materials, as a result of which a dew point is formed (the walls freeze through and become covered with damp spots inside). If you do not want to violate the air permeability of wood concrete, then it is recommended to use expanded clay, barite, perlite or vermiculite as additives.
The process of applying plaster to an arbolite surface differs from the processing of other concretes in its simplicity. It is possible to apply a protective layer almost immediately after construction; it is not necessary to treat the surface or use reinforcing mesh.
Healthy! The use of a reinforcing mesh in the plastering process will increase the service life of the finish, but even without it, the plaster composition will firmly "stick" to the surface.
Nevertheless, before you quickly plaster the walls of wood concrete yourself, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with some of the features of external and internal finishing with various materials.
Features of internal and external decoration of wood concrete walls
If you plan to use plaster as cladding, then you must take into account that this building material should not be used for interior decoration of premises with aggressive conditions.
Mixes for plaster, which include perlite, are good insulation materials, therefore, after processing, the surface can be pasted over with wallpaper.
Also, lining is used for interior decoration, however, such a cladding has its own disadvantages:
- high cost;
- high fire hazard;
- during installation, it is necessary to prepare a wooden crate.
For interior decoration, drywall is used, with which you can make any shape and create a unique design of the room. However, it also requires a frame to be prepared.
If we talk about how to cover the walls of the house from the outside, then the same plaster will be the cheapest and most affordable option. Some people prefer brick because of its heat and sound insulation characteristics, but in addition to its high cost, it requires constant maintenance. Although it is not required to prepare a layer of insulation during the installation of bricks, a gap of 40-50 mm must be left between the wood concrete and the brickwork to avoid moisture. In addition, a good ventilation system must be installed for brick cladding, otherwise the wood concrete blocks will quickly collapse.
If you plan to do the work yourself, spending a minimum of effort and money, then it is better to give preference to ordinary plaster.
Almost every individual developer who is familiar with the basic stages of work is capable of creating a high-quality finishing layer from a hardened building composition with his own hands.
If the final plastering of the walls is carried out on uneven surfaces, then special beacons are necessarily installed, however, if there are planes without significant differences, the profiles may not be installed.
Materials and tools
- Plaster mix acts as the basis. For cement products are used, and inside - based on gypsum.
- Guide profiles made of metal will serve as a guide for lateral coating.
- Rotary hammer with a special attachment for the preparation of the solution will allow for high-quality stirring.
- Dowels and screws will be needed to fix the beacons. The first of them are needed for attaching elements to a concrete surface.
- Building level at least two meters in length will allow alignment of the guide plates.
- Cutting tool like a grinder or scissors for metal is necessary for cutting profiles.
- Hammer required for driving dowels into a concrete wall. It is advisable to use a lightweight tool.
- Aluminum rule 2-2.5 meters long is necessary to level the applied layer.
- Putty knife 15 centimeters wide will be the main tool for throwing the finished mixture.
- Wooden float allows for high-quality mashing to make the surface smoother.
- Primer used to improve adhesion between lateral planes and applied formation.
- A container like a bucket, basin, or trough is needed for mixing the solution and delivering it to the place of work.
- Roller or brush required for the application of a primer. You will also need a small container.
- Measurement is made using a regular tape measure, the length of which should not be less than 3 meters.
Addition!
When simple plastering of walls indoors or from the outside is carried out, gloves are mandatory to protect hands from adhesion of the solution.
Basic stages of the process
This instruction is intended to consider the main stages of the work, so that it would be easier for novice craftsmen to navigate when applying the mixture. According to this scheme, both indoor and outdoor wall plastering is performed. In this case, the material of the lateral planes does not really matter, but there are some subtleties when working with individual views.
Surface priming
It is possible to improve the adhesion of the mortar to the base if the vertical edges are processed with a special compound. On smooth surfaces, Concrete Contact is usually applied. When plastering arbolite walls is performed, as a rule, a deep penetration primer is used, because this material has a porous structure.
Installation of guide profiles
To determine the location, preliminary marking is carried out, after which the elements are attached to the surface.
The main advantage of using guide plates is the possibility of quick installation, while special skills are not required.
- First, the lateral surface is examined for vertical deviation, for which a two-meter level is applied to it. If there are depressions and bumps, then they are marked with a marker.
- Further, the marking is carried out to determine the location of the metal beacons. The spacing between vertical elements depends on the length of the rule used.
- Self-tapping screws are fixed at the edges using dowels. If it is supposed to plaster the walls from a bar, then the fasteners are screwed directly into the side plane.
- Before metal profiles are installed, all screws must be aligned. For this, the cord is usually pulled diagonally. With this option, it is possible to correctly set the beacons.
- After installing the landmarks in the form of self-tapping screws, the profiles are fastened. Small piles of the mixture are made between the fasteners. Beacons by pressing through the rule deepen until they stop.
Note!
When plastering the walls in Khrushchev is carried out, special attention is paid to the evenness of the guide profiles, since most often such structures have curved surfaces.
Self-application of the mixture
At this stage, the side planes are coated with a special compound, the price of which is usually not very high if it is not required to improve the characteristics of the finishing layer.
To avoid deformations of the wooden rule, it is advisable to cover it with waterproof paint, then the main tool will serve for a long time.
- Immediately after installing the beacons, you can start applying the solution to the side edges of the room. To do this, the bucket is filled by a third with water, and the dry mixture is added inside and thoroughly mixed with a mixer.
- Using the cape method, the finished composition is applied to a vertical surface. A spatula is used as a basic tool. The layer of the finishing mortar must be sufficiently dense and protrude beyond the profiles.
- With the help of the mixture, it is evenly distributed between the vertical beacons. The movement is carried out from the bottom up along a zigzag trajectory, and the solution is thrown from above.
Attention!
If the walls are plastered from shell rock, it is recommended to moisten before applying the mixture, otherwise the finishing material will quickly give off moisture and crack.
Surface grout
The final leveling of the finishing layer is carried out after it has hardened. During the work, a wooden float is used, which is applied to the lateral plane and moves in a circle, producing high-quality grinding.
- Irregularities and bubbles that appear must be sealed without fail, because this is due to the fact that the main composition does not completely reach the side surface.
- When plastering walls made of wood concrete, it is recommended to use a vapor-proof mixture with good moisture-resistant characteristics from the outside.
- If the differences on one plane exceed 5 cm, then you need to apply the solution in two layers. The first one is thrown in immediately without preliminary alignment, and the second one is laid after a couple of days.
Application conditions
Basic requirements for wall plastering are reflected in SNiP III-21-73, and the quality of work is divided into three levels.
- For normal finishes, some deviations are allowed, not exceeding 3 mm per square meter. At the same time, such irregularities should be no more than 15 mm at the full height of the room.
- More stringent requirements are imposed on improved plaster. Vertically, you can leave a slope of less than 2 mm per square meter, but not more than 5 mm relative to the entire height of the room.
- The most stringent requirements are for high-quality side cladding. Deviations should not exceed 1 mm per square meter. As for the height of the room, a skew of no more than 5 mm is allowed.
additional information
This guide covers the main stages of wet finishing of premises and facades, as well as the requirements for the quality of the work carried out. To create a high-quality finishing layer on your own, it is enough to study the sequence of basic operations. In addition, there is a video in this article for an object lesson.
When erecting walls from wood concrete blocks, it must be remembered that wood concrete absorbs water very quickly. Therefore, before laying the blocks, it is necessary to moisten the blocks in order to avoid drying out of the mortar, which leads to cracks. This is especially true in hot and dry weather. Recommendeduse a "warm" perlite-based solution to avoid "cold bridges".
One of the best finishing of wood concrete walls outside, in our opinion, is a ventilated facade. On the one hand, this is the protection of the material from external influences and, on the other hand, the ability for excess moisture not to accumulate inside, but to pass through the walls without hindrance, leaving them dry.
The ventilation façade can be either hinged or brick with a gap of about 5 cm.
The most popular finish for wood concrete is plaster. Nowadays, plaster with perlite is very popular, which not only protects against blowing and improves the appearance, but also gives significant insulation to the walls.
If you decide to make your own masonry mortar and plaster with perlite, it is better to wet the perlite before mixing. Wet perlite is much easier to apply - it does not scatter. In addition, perlite first absorbs water, then gives it back, which creates additional difficulties when preparing a solution with dry perlite.
FINISHING ARBOLITE PRODUCTS
Finishing wood concrete products is one of the most important technological operations. The durability of the structures themselves, as well as the buildings that are built of them, largely depends on the quality of the finish. Physical examinations of buildings for various purposes, carried out in various climatic zones of our country, showed that in structures with a good protective and finishing coating, arbolite has a stable humidity not exceeding 12%, and the buildings are in good condition. And vice versa, with poor-quality protective and finishing coatings, a large number of cracks appear on the surfaces of structures, the textured layer peels off, and the structures themselves warp. The moisture content of wood concrete in such structures, regardless of the orientation of the walls and climatic zones, is usually high (more than 30%). With such humidity, the strength indicators of wood concrete sharply decrease, its deformability increases, its thermophysical properties deteriorate, and conditions are created for its biological damage.
Due to the fact that wood concrete has a large-pore structure and high sorption surface moisture, structures made of this material must be covered with protective and finishing coatings. The type of protective finishing coating is determined in each specific case, depending on the purpose of the building, its location, existing factory technology and economic feasibility.
Cement-sand mortars, concrete, slab facing and paint and varnish coatings are currently used as protective and finishing coatings. To date, the finishing of wood concrete at some operating enterprises is carried out by the method of outlining with a cement-sand layer with a thickness of 15-20 mm and, as a rule, one side is finished.
Several enterprises of the USSR Ministry of Forestry carry out bilateral invoicing. Most often, buildings erected from wood concrete structures are finished at the construction site. In this case, the walls of wood concrete structures are plastered with a cement-sand mortar, then whitewash with pigment additives is used from the outside (less often painting with paint coatings), and from the inside, depending on the purpose of the building, wallpaper is pasted or painted with various colorful compounds ... However, the quality of such finishing is not always high.
In order to protect wood concrete in structures from moisture, we conducted research to find effective protective and finishing coatings. For the research, such protective paint-and-varnish coatings were selected, which have proven themselves well in the process of operation with cellular concrete. These are paints TsPKhV, KCH-26, VA-27A, latex-organosilicon whitewashing, lime-organosilicon whitewashing, etc.
The quality of the finish was assessed by the frost resistance of the protective and finishing coatings and wood concrete protected by them, by their resistance to alternating wetting and drying, by the decrease in the adhesion strength of the textured layer and wood concrete from these influences. As a result of the research, the following was established:
the best resistance to frost was shown by coating with cement-perchlorovinyl paint both on the textured layer and on wood concrete;
paints KCH-26 and VA-27 A, not intended for external coatings, but showing sufficient resistance to frost, can be recommended for finishing and protecting the internal surface of the enclosing structures of unheated buildings with a wet operating mode;
Latex-organosilicon whitewashing recommended by the “Guidelines for the Design and Manufacturing of Arbolite Products” can also be used for the protective and finishing coating of arbolite structures. However, it should be noted that during its preparation and application, difficulties arise associated with the ongoing reaction between the components of the protein and its stratification. At the same time, it was noted in the studies that small cracks formed on the coating with VA-27A paint after 45 cycles. The formation of cracks on the coating with KCH-26 paint began after 35 cycles, and the latex-organosilicon paint began to peel off from the textured layer in places after 40 cycles.
Thus, the most durable in this respect is the coating with cement-perchlorovinyl paint both on wood concrete and on the textured layer.
The results of studies of frost resistance of textured layers with various chemical additives and protective finishing coatings also showed the following:
a decrease in water absorption through the textured layer contributes to an increase in its frost resistance;
the studied additives introduced into the textured layer have a positive effect both on reducing water absorption through the textured layer and on the adhesion of the textured layer with wood concrete; the best results were obtained with the introduction of polyvinyl acetate emulsion, calcium nitrate and GKZh-94 into the textured layer;
During the studies, an increase in the adhesion forces of the textured layer with wood concrete was observed after testing the samples for frost resistance, which is probably due to the good waterproofing properties of these coatings, which cause low water absorption of the samples. This allows us to recommend such compositions for implementation in construction practice;
the adhesion strength of the textured layer with wood concrete decreases with moistening and drying, as well as the strength of wood concrete, but more intensively. This is explained, apparently, by the different magnitude of moisture deformations of the textured layer and wood concrete and the concentration of stresses in the boundary zone;
All protective and finishing coatings applied to the textured layer increase frost resistance and resistance to alternating moisture and drying of the textured layer in comparison with uncoated control samples in proportion to their decrease in water absorption through the textured layer.
The most effective coatings turned out to be latex-organosilicon whitewashing and CPHV paint, less effective - coatings with calcium stearate and lime-organosilicon painting. Good protection against moisture is provided by the treatment of the textured layer with water repellents and polymer materials (GKZH-10, PVA, latex SKS - 65GP).
As studies have shown, coating the surfaces of wood concrete structures significantly increases the durability of this material, gives products and buildings built from them a beautiful appearance. However, these types of finishes have not yet found wide application in the production of wood concrete, as they are scarce and quite expensive. Taking into account all these factors, we have proposed the protection and finishing of wood concrete with concrete layers with the simultaneous installation of a decorative coating made of ceramic breccia.
From the book by A.S. Shcherbakov, L.P. Khoroshun, V.S. Podchufarov “Arbolit. Improving quality and durability "1979.
Interior and exterior decoration of a house made of wood concrete
Arbolite houses have a number of significant advantages in comparison with houses built from other materials.
Such buildings not only have excellent thermal insulation qualities, they are environmentally friendly and affordable for most developers. In addition, everyone can do it, and there is no shortage of materials for their manufacture today.
Unfortunately, in addition to advantages, it also has a number of significant disadvantages. The main one is the high hygroscopicity of the material, it just like a sponge absorbs moisture. In addition, wood concrete blocks do not always have the correct geometry, but here, of course, much depends on the technology of their manufacture.
Whatever it was, but all of the above disadvantages of wood concrete, in the most negative way affect the decoration of the house from it, both inside and outside. What materials are used to decorate walls made of wood concrete will be discussed below.
The house is finished from wood concrete inside and outside, for various reasons. The exterior decoration of the wood concrete house will be required not only to give the structure a beautiful and complete appearance. It is very important to protect its surfaces from the harmful effects of external factors.
In particular, as mentioned above, wood concrete houses are afraid of moisture. Under its strong influence, they begin to gradually collapse, which is fraught with large financial waste. Therefore, immediately after distilling the walls from wood concrete, it is recommended to protect them with a layer of finishing material.
A variety of building materials can serve as a decoration for the outer walls of an arbolite house. The most common of all, however, is ordinary plaster. is simple and accessible to perform, and the appearance of an arbolite house will not end up being worse than a brick or cinder block structure.
No less popular materials for finishing arbolite walls are lining and its varieties, for example, a block house. These materials are fixed on a pre-assembled frame made of metal profiles or bars. Nevertheless, before you carry out the exterior decoration of houses from wood concrete with wooden materials, you need to think carefully and protect them before use.
Also, the decoration of a wood concrete house with facing bricks is also very popular today, and the technology itself is practically no different from finishing a building made of materials other than wood concrete.
Decorating houses from wood concrete inside
Inside, the wood concrete house, as well as outside, is most often plastered. Nevertheless, completely different ones can be used for these purposes, including bayramiks for example or any others.
At the same time, it is worthwhile to understand the importance of the correct choice of finishing materials for walls of an arbolite house in rooms such as a bathroom and a toilet. Here it is better to use plaster after all, because otherwise moisture will constantly collect under the crate, which will certainly lead to damage to the walls over time.
When starting to decorate a house from wood concrete, you need to properly prepare for this difficult process. Today, it is not difficult to find videos and recommendations on the topic of wood concrete houses on the Internet. So, having studied the information thoroughly and weighing all the "pros and cons", you can profit and save not only on building a house, but also on finishing it.
DIY plaster on wood concrete
Arbolite, a "specific" building material that strongly absorbs moisture and can gradually collapse under its influence. However, this fact does not mean that wood concrete walls cannot be plastered with wet mortars.
You should also know that having built its walls, at least from the outside, it is recommended to immediately insulate and decorate with finishing material. Only in this case, their surface will be reliably protected from the negative effects of moisture, and, accordingly, will last much longer.
Asking the question of how to plaster the wood concrete, it is important to know that almost any modern finishing materials can be used for these purposes. Can be used for plastering walls made of wood concrete blocks and ordinary cement plaster. However, due to the fact that arbolite absorbs water very strongly, the process of plastering the walls becomes a little more complicated.
Firstly, it is recommended to apply plaster on walls made of wood concrete with a thickness of at least 2 centimeters. In the very composition of the cement-sand mixture, it is recommended to add water-retaining additives or, in extreme cases, 0.5-1 part of milk of lime.
The very same plaster on arbolite differs little from plastering walls made of bricks, for example, or cinder block. In a sense, it is even simplified due to the presence of a rough surface of wood concrete, with a large number of cracks - the solution adheres to it much better.
There may be some difficulties with the thickness of the plaster on wood concrete, since those people who have come across this building material for walls know that it does not always differ in the evenness of its geometric shapes. And if the differences in the surface of the walls are significant, then sometimes you have to throw in two or three layers of plaster in order to finally level them.
In this case, unfortunately, one cannot do without the use of guide beacons. Before exposing them, you should carefully mark the surface to be plastered, find the most protruding places on it, etc.
How it is done has already been described in previous issues. As for the plaster of wood concrete blocks, the situation is similar. The only difference is in the number of layers to be applied and in their thickness.
The first plaster layer should not be made too large, but before applying the second layer, you need to wait a while. Fortunately, arbolite, as mentioned above, absorbs moisture very strongly, as you can see with your own eyes by watching a video about arbolite blocks.
Video about wood concrete blocks