The next step after glazing in the arrangement of the balcony is its sheathing. The modern construction market is simply amazing with the variety of cladding options offered. Among the entire range, you can choose the most suitable material for quality and cost.
One of the most common materials for balcony cladding are PVC panels. Not only will the appearance of such a design be very beautiful, the lining of the balcony plastic panels can be produced independently.
Strengths: durability, quality finishes and reasonable price. The company is positioned as one of the leading Belgian manufacturers. Precast architectural concrete has been fashionable for many years. It combines the structural, functional, aesthetic and economic benefits of concrete in a single element.
The company quickly became one of the key players in this field. Precast concrete has been used in many applications for the facades of post-war residential buildings, for example, in the form of small panels fixed to a supporting structure, large supporting wall panels, baluster parapets, Insulated sandwich panels for exterior walls, claustra in decorative openwork walls, etc. the huge choice in terms of shape, composition and surface finish explains the great popularity of precast concrete elements. The economic advantage associated with shorter construction times and improved quality due to the factory's controlled environment has also greatly contributed to their growing use.
Variety of PVC panels
Panels are PVC strips with longitudinal stiffening ribs in the internal space. There are seamless versions of PVC elements, which during installation will form a solid space, without gaps and seam, between which gaps will be visible on the finished surface. These cracks do not spoil the appearance in any way, but rather help to visually stretch the room and raise the ceilings.
The post-war modernization of the construction sector as a whole was also noticeable in this specific part of the industry, for example, with the widespread use of new machines and the introduction of new materials. However, the significant increase in scientific and technical knowledge, experience and technology by precast concrete manufacturers has often been held in the private circle of companies and their own research laboratories.
prefabricated industry development
Specific ranges of products have been developed in different application areas: while the development of public road network and power grid requires pipes, light poles and poles, the residential sector mainly uses tiles, concrete brick blocks and floor elements.
All PVC panels can be divided according to the following features:
Advantages and disadvantages of PVC sheathing
Balcony decoration PVC panels very common, but they have both their pros and cons. Consider first the positive aspects of using this material:
Despite all the advantages listed above, plastic panels also have negative points, which cannot be ignored:
Concrete in houses
The financial and technical advantages of precast concrete elements became more and more important, and more and more companies specialized in this area, creating an ever-growing range of products. On the facade, in post-war residential buildings, visual facade elements of three main types are used: cladding panels, prefabricated architectural concrete and sandwich panels. At the beginning of the post-war period, cladding panels attached to the supporting structure were mainly used.
Their size was often modest. Precast architectural concrete has been widely used in office buildings as well as residential buildings, especially apartment towers. These panels, often one story high, included a core of polystyrene or other insulating material, and were often used for walls with four fronts.
- Occurrence of an unpleasant odor when ignited.
- Poor tolerance to temperature changes, as a result of which deformation of the material is possible.
- Instability to mechanical influences. It is necessary to finish the loggia only with material that has a thickness of more than 8 mm.
Fasteners for installing products on the crate
In addition to these three main types of precast concrete façade elements, other products with clearly decorative purposes have also been used, such as decorative frames and decorative concrete blocks. Decorative blocks were small in size, such as facade bricks, and had a special surface finish on the side. In the early post-war years, precast concrete panels were used to cover bearing walls and ram. These dimensions were calculated to give a weight of about 50 kg to allow two workers to climb onto the panel.
Self-paneled balcony
Before sheathing a balcony with PVC panels, it must be glazed, sealed and insulated, otherwise the finish will lose all meaning, and the material will simply deteriorate under the influence of the external environment.
Room preparation
Glazing is usually made using double-glazed windows, which are this moment are the most suitable option for carrying out these works. Glazing will not cost so much if you do not buy windows with ventilation valves and additional elements.
The latter often consisted of two successive layers of concrete, a base layer and an outer surface or finish layer, thrown relatively quickly one after the other to ensure bonding between them. The composition of the surface layer was more special and expensive than that of the conventional concrete base layer. To attach the panels to the structure, several types of anchors, fasteners or clips of the same type were used to fasten the natural stone panels. It is not advisable to use anchors previously attached to the boards due to their vulnerability during transport.
Important! Frames should not be all deaf, the possibility of opening is necessary.
You can also glaze the balcony with wooden frames, but in this case it will take a lot of time to seal all the holes and seal the frame.
At the stage of warming, the outer side of the fence is also sheathed, if it is not a deaf stone, but a lattice one. In the process of sealing, all cracks are filled with mounting foam or silicone to exclude places where street air enters the balcony room. It must be a completely sealed box, into which external air does not enter in any way.
Instructions for the phased insulation of the balcony
For popular masonry walls, a popular fixing method was to install a metal anchor in brick wall copper wire, and then insert it into the grooves provided in the concrete panels. For concrete concrete walls, special anchor rails can be installed into the wall. It was recommended to create a depth of about 2 cm between the supporting structure and the panels. Sufficient fastenings must be provided to ensure a flat surface throughout the wall. Another option was to use thicker, edge-reinforced panels that were incorporated into the supporting structure at the time of its erection, providing a strong bond.
Warming is carried out using foam or mineral wool, other warming materials can also be used. Slabs of material are laid in a pre-prepared crate, on which the panels will subsequently be attached. The crate is installed by mounting the profile to the wall in increments of 50-70 cm. Fastening is done on self-tapping screws and dowels.
For vertical connections, especially for wider panels, several other options have been developed. If the panels had a groove or void on the side, this cavity could be filled with thin mortar. The joints can also be opened with an elastic sealant on the bottom of the joint. The most commonly used synthetic rubbers such as thiokol, neoprene and butyl.
A third possibility, although less used, was metallic connecting elements such as connecting flanges or expanded sealing profiles with cover strips and clamping feet, often supplemented with an elastic sealant. In practice, it was mostly washed concrete panels and flat panels, in gray or just beige, that were used. For panels whose aggregates were visible, a simple technique was to fill the mold with a layer of sand prior to pouring the concrete: by brushing the surface after demolding, the aggregates could be seen.
Necessary materials and tools
After the preparatory work you will need to prepare all those tools that will be useful in the work and purchase all necessary material. For work you will need:
- Perforator or drill
- Screwdriver with magnetic nozzle
- Level
- Construction foam
- Galvanized profiles or timber for purlins
- plastic corners
- Insulation, if not already insulated
- Hangers
- Consumables in the form of dowels and screws
- Skirting boards and profiles for window sills
ceiling lining
Finishing the balcony with plastic panels begins with the ceiling, on which a metal profile is installed. Further work technology is as follows:
Types of mounting profiles
Compared to washed concrete panels with visible aggregates, flat panels were more susceptible to water intrusion, soiling and damage, among others. The formwork was fixed on a special vibrating table and was vigorously shaken as it was filled with concrete. This process allowed the material to be compacted quickly and efficiently, creating an exceptionally strong, rigid and thin element. The manufacturing process has ensured quality workmanship and excellent surface finish. Where appropriate, these elements can be useful in additional surface treatments at the factory, such as sandblasting or acid washing.
- Installation around the entire perimeter of starting metal profiles.
- Attaching profiles to the wall with a puncher and a screwdriver.
- Installation in the middle of the ceiling of a metal profile.
Important! With a ceiling width less than or equal to 1.2 m, 1 profile can be used. Otherwise, you will need several.
The main disadvantage was that heavy equipment was required; As a result, this technology was out of reach for small entrepreneurs. However, the latter could have ordered the elements from the Dutch Shockbeton plant in Zwijndrecht. In the post-war period, Shock Concrete was used in many European countries, but also in Africa, Asia and the United States. It was then that trends evolved from relatively small and simple facing panels to prefabricated elements of the height of one floor and determined the architectural layout of the facade.
Precast architectural concrete
Flat panels and curved shapes are possible, and surfaces can be textured. On the other hand, for housing projects, whose prestigious function and financial budget were often much lower, precast architectural concrete was less used, and if it were, it was less for the formal possibilities offered only for the aesthetics of its surface finish. Precast architectural concrete elements most often contained frames, solid panels, and parapets. Prefabricated elements tended to be modular: for widths, a 30 cm module was mostly used, and for heights, elements were usually sized by measuring the distance from floor to floor.
- Installation to the central starting profiles.
- Broach wiring to each light source.
- Inserting the first panel into the start profile and attaching it to the edges and to the guide.
- Installation of all subsequent panels.
- At the end, you need to cut off the excess from the last panel so that it goes beyond the previous one not by 7, but by 5 mm. Further, these two panels are interchanged and the last slides without a gap into the extreme profile. If necessary, you can use plastic moldings.
In the same way, the panels are fastened to a wooden crate, which is mounted in advance.
If specific facade elements were designed in the form window frames, glazing could be included in the factory. Connections and connections have been designed in different ways. This made it possible to fix elements with protruding reinforcing bars, after which the joint was filled concrete concrete. Reinforcing bars can also be connected to the framing frame, cast in place, so that the façade elements act as lost formwork. The load-bearing load-bearing façade elements were also suspended from adjustable stainless steel anchors.
Installing panels on walls
Attaching panels to walls can be varied:
You can attach panels to a wooden crate in different ways:
- Self-tapping screws designed for wood. Elements with a length of 16 to 19 mm are used, which are screwed in with a screwdriver or screwdriver. At any time, you can unscrew the fasteners and release the panel.
- Staples that require a special stapler. In this way, installation is quick, but if necessary, removing such a mount will be problematic.
- Kleimers - fasteners that are first installed on the crate, and then the panel is screwed to them using a self-tapping screw. This mounting option is not very convenient, since when the panel is stressed, the self-tapping screw can come out of the clamp.
Joints can be "open" or "closed". The seams usually had a width of 6 to 18 mm. Panels, in which window and door frames were pre-cut and sometimes integrated pipes, increasingly consisted of different layers: not only an additional external finishing layer, but also an internal hollow, filled or unfilled insulation material. This latter option has come up with increasing frequency, especially since the oil crisis.
Subsequently, several Belgian companies with precast concrete panels began to prepare elements for the construction of small-scale social housing complexes. The results were more or less identical: in addition to reducing costs by 10-15%, the construction period was reduced to half or even one third of the time allowed by traditional construction methods.
Important! Under no circumstances should nails be used to fasten the panels to the wooden batten, as this could break the panel.
First of all, they are attached to the crate plastic profiles, such as outside corners. After that, profiles are installed in the corners, and, last but not least, horizontal profiles are attached. After such preparation, do-it-yourself work on cladding the balcony with plastic panels is carried out according to the following algorithm:
In most cases, the panels included brick inlay: bricks were placed at the bottom of the formwork and held together by a layer of poured concrete above it. If this type of panel required more labor and was more expensive than its solid concrete counterpart, it would make sense to introduce a new construction technique with traditional appearance. Great importance attached to the technical qualities of building systems. The proposals were carefully studied in advance, and several checks and measurements were carried out during and after construction.
In Mouscron, where the "Expo Village" was organized by the Union of Entrepreneurs-Designers in the system, and not by a housing company, nine construction companies built a total of 20 houses. Fourteen of them were built from concrete concrete hollow walls. These hollow walls were made of concrete inner wall and an external wall, either a brick or concrete floor. The void between the inner and outer walls was ventilated or insulated. Were plain walls, but most contractors used hollow walls.
Installation of panels starts from the corner opposite the window. The panel must be cut to the desired size and inserted into the upper and lower profiles, and then into the starting one. It is set according to the level and attached to the horizontal bars.
Each subsequent panel is installed in the groove of the previous one and attached.
Manufacturers of concrete facade elements
Finally, in Heist, where 106 houses were built by eight companies, hollow concrete prefabs predominated. concrete walls and insulating core. Most of these companies have been diversified, meaning that they have all chosen to offer a wide variety of products rather than focusing on a particular style or element. The four main concrete surface options were smooth, washed, acid washed, or ground. Manufacturers also proposed changes in connection and parts, as well as in chemical composition.
Thus, the entire balcony is sheathed. In the necessary places, the panels are cut with a knife.
Conclusion
Sheathing a balcony with PVC panels is a simple and budgetary way to achieve beauty and high-quality indoor coverage with your own hands. You don’t need special knowledge to create a panel surface, the main thing is the right choice of material and following the work technology.
After the balcony or loggia is sealed with glazing, you can start Finishing work. As a rule, plastic panels are chosen for this, as they are sold in a large assortment and at an affordable cost, and they also have a lot of positive aspects.
Advantages and disadvantages of PVC panels for a balcony
What materials are better to use for or loggia? Almost every master with extensive experience will say that these are PVC panels. Plastic has become a part Everyday life and it can be found in various places.
So what are its advantages:
- Environmental friendliness;
- Ease of installation;
- moisture resistance;
- No need to level the walls;
- Ease of care;
- To clean, simply wipe with a damp cloth;
- A light weight;
- Optimal cost;
- Large color palette;
- Various invoices.
Plastic panels cannot be called ideal, since PVC is exactly the same as others. Decoration Materials have their drawbacks. The disadvantages include flammability, the presence of an unpleasant odor during melting, lack of resistance to sudden changes in temperature, lack of resistance to mechanical stress.
It is advisable to install laminated PVC panels in, otherwise, they may be damaged during the first temperature drops associated with seasonal changes.
Which PVC panels are better to choose for a balcony
Plastic panels are three-dimensional strips, for the manufacture of which polyvinyl chloride is used, and inside they have a longitudinal stiffener. The balcony can be sheathed with panels of a seamless look, which, when assembled, looks chic and simply incredibly beautiful. In addition, there are seamed plastic panels that form a beautiful finish that will have seams that, when joined, form an element between each panel.
Due to such vertical seams, the walls of the room are visually enlarged, which is considered a winning option for balconies, since they are narrow and long.
As a rule, PVC panels differ in size and type of coating. standard size products are considered to be 2.5-6 m long and 44-244 mm wide. Panels for balconies are chosen in a width of 25-40 mm. There is an option to choose a plastic lining, the width of which is 10-20 cm. It can be used for both ceiling and walls.
Wall plastic panels are a finish:
- Stylish;
- Modern;
- Very comfortable and practical.
According to the type of coating, PVC panels can be with different surface finishes. Thermal printing can be applied to them, and PVC panels are now in great demand, which are an imitation of wood, natural stone or other natural materials. If necessary, you can find a special thermal film to decorate the plastic panels if they have lost their proper look.
In general, the sale goes a large number of plastic panels, which can be chosen for any style decision, designer finish and your own preferences. The most important thing is that PVC panels have a protective film that prevents moisture from penetrating inside and mold with fungus.
PVC balcony ceiling decoration
In order for the loggia to be completely comfortable and cozy, you need to carry out sealing, insulate the room and take care of the ceiling sheathing. Installation of plastic panels on the ceiling is carried out according to technology, the violation of which can lead to the collapse of the structure and damage to the proper form.
Instruction:
- A metal frame is installed. Namely, a starting profile with a galvanized coating should be installed around the entire perimeter of the ceiling. Further in the profile located along the wall? holes must be made with a puncher.
- Dowel-nails are installed there, and the installation of the main structure from the profile is carried out.
- In the middle of the ceiling, the profile is additionally mounted on special metal hangers. If the width of the balcony is only 120 cm, then it is enough to lay the central profile.
- If it is planned to install built-in luminaires, then it is required to carry out wiring at the stage of installation of profiles.
- Next, the first plastic panel is inserted and screwed onto the guide profile along the edge with screws.
All subsequent panels are laid end-to-end with the previous ones, which are also mounted on self-tapping screws to metal profiles. Is the last panel trimmed like this? so that it enters between the penultimate element and the wall without an opening.
Panels for balcony walls
Panels, first of all, are purchased specifically for balcony walls, and the space located under the window is initially finished. In general, finishing work is carried out in exactly the same way as in the previous version.
Namely:
- For wall cladding, you first need to make a frame from a metal profile. It is not advisable to choose a timber frame, since wood can lose its proper properties in just a couple of years, especially if the room has poor waterproofing.
- The lower profile is installed at the floor level, and foundations must also be made in the middle of the wall. As a rule, the step between vertical profiles is 50 cm.
- The voids between the frame must be filled with a pre-selected insulation, and if there are gaps, then to seal them, you need to use mounting foam.
- Once the panels are all installed, be sure to close the gaps between the wall and ceiling and the wall and floor. Drafts can enter these holes, and besides, unfinished repairs are unlikely to look aesthetically pleasing.
There is nothing difficult in this process. Plastic is a material from the category of cheap and affordable with a beautiful appearance. Due to the PVC cladding, you can make the balcony cozy, comfortable, and even arrange it in a certain design solution.
It is worth noting that even a beginner can cope with the work, you just need to study the technology, purchase material and prepare essential tool. The most important thing is to maintain patience, accuracy and follow the instructions exactly.
As for tools and materials, it is enough to have:
- Perforator or drill;
- Mounting foam;
- Building level;
- plastic corner;
- plinth;
- PVC panels;
- window sill profile;
- insulation;
- Hangers;
- profiles;
- Dowels and screws.
Installation of plastic panels for a balcony (video)
PVC panels are considered the best option for balconies, but, as already noted, only if the room is carefully insulated and waterproofed. It is worth noting that PVC panels are not difficult to find, you just have to decide on the size and appearance, so that the balcony is truly attractive and cozy.
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