Describing a country house or a country house, we devote a lot of time to its interior decoration. But after all, the first impression of your housing largely depends on how it looks from the outside. In addition, the quality of the exterior decoration has a significant impact on the safety of the house, its durability, as well as how comfortable living in it can be. Decorating a house outside with siding is in high demand among homeowners. We want to tell you about the reasons for this popularity, about the general principles of this type of decoration and about how houses siding with siding look like.
Why is this type of decoration so popular?
Thanks to facing the house with siding, its appearance and, of course, the impression made by it are completely changing. The building looks complete. Now it is fully consistent with the style in which it was originally conceived. Facing allows not only to insulate the building, but also to protect it from wind, rain and snow.
Using siding for cottage lining allows you to save your finances and time spent on exterior finishing work. In addition, this material is characterized by good performance and resistance to external influences. Its use allows you to combine the procedure of warming a house with its exterior decoration.
This material is so diverse in its texture and color that for any cottage or cottage there is always a suitable option. Another indisputable advantage of siding is the simplicity of caring for it: it is quite simple to wash it from time to time.
Choose the appropriate type of siding
It can be assumed that all houses lined with siding are similar to each other, but this is not so. Firstly, the individual colors of the buildings are given by the color scheme chosen by its owners. Secondly, the diverse texture of this finishing material plays a significant role.
Option # 1 - Durable Vinyl Panels
Perhaps it is vinyl panels that enjoy the special attention of buyers. This siding can have a smooth surface or imitate wood, brick and even natural stone. PVC panels are indeed very diverse.
This material has many useful qualities, which provide high demand for it:
- affordable price;
- low weight of panels, which greatly facilitates the installation procedure;
- durability of the material: it is able to last more than 50 years;
- environmental friendliness;
- A wide range of this type of product is able to satisfy customers with a variety of needs.
Operation of vinyl siding is allowed at temperature conditions from 50 degrees of heat, to 50 degrees of frost. But this material is highly sensitive to temperature extremes.
Using vinyl panels for exterior cladding, it is necessary to take into account the coefficient of linear expansion of this material when heated. Otherwise, the panels may become deformed by sudden changes in temperature.
Option # 2 - classic wood siding
When we had not even heard about plastic in the building materials market, wooden siding was used for cladding houses. It is to this day that it is considered the most noble and expensive facing material.
In addition to environmental cleanliness, which is the indisputable advantage of this material, it is famous for other positive qualities.
It is inherent in:
- high level of strength;
- good thermal insulation performance;
- decorativeness.
However, wood also has disadvantages. Today it is unreasonably expensive material. In order for it to last longer, it must be treated with antiseptics and flame retardants. He also needs staining. However, wood may deform due to excess moisture and for several other reasons. And such covering will serve much less than vinyl.
Today, this type of siding is almost out of use, since it is easier and more reliable to use materials that can imitate wood.
Option # 3 - Respectable Cement Material
You can often find cement siding on the market. In the production of this building material, not only high quality cement is used, but also small elastic cellulose fibers, which are added to the solution. As a rule, such material imitates a finishing stone and is not inferior to it in technical and decorative qualities. A house with such cladding takes on a very respectable appearance.
The undoubted advantages of this facing material are:
- its increased reliability and durability;
- the material is geometrically stable and does not depend on a change in temperature conditions;
- resistance to various natural factors: rain, snow, direct sunlight;
- this material is not subject to decay, fireproof, it does not need to be processed from mold and fungus;
- cement sheathing can be easily restored without resorting to its dismantling.
The disadvantage of this material is its costly installation. Firstly, heavy cement siding is not so easy to mount. Secondly, during the installation process, a special tool is used to cut the panels. During this procedure, silicon dust is formed. To prevent it from getting into the lungs, it is necessary to use protective equipment.
To support the weight of such a facing material, the building frame must have increased strength.
Option # 4 - beautiful and expensive ceramics
And ceramic siding is used less often. It is made on the basis of silicate materials with the addition of fiber. A special hypercoating consisting of silicon-acrylic and inorganic dyes is applied to the blanks. After that, the product is subjected to hardening, as a result of which a ceramic surface is formed.
This facing material is highly resistant to rain and sun exposure. Its coating does not fade, does not respond to vibration.
The advantages of this material lies in its:
- exceptional sound and thermal insulation;
- undemanding care;
- strength, incombustibility and durability.
The disadvantages of this material are the same as those of cement products: this heavy lining requires a reinforced frame of the house. Ceramic material itself is expensive, and its installation is also not cheap.
Option # 5 - metal siding
After vinyl, metal siding, perhaps, can be called the second most popular. It is used for cladding not only residential buildings, but also public buildings. This material is made of steel, aluminum and zinc:
- Steel. Steel panels are either painted using a special powder or coated with a polymer layer. As long as the protective coating is not broken, the panels are well protected against corrosion. This material does not burn, is highly durable and decorative, easy to install. Its disadvantages are poor sound and thermal insulation properties.
- Zinc. This material has appeared on the market recently and is not in special demand due to its high cost. The surface of such panels is gray or black. Zinc siding has the main advantages of steel.
- Aluminum. Aluminum panels are practically not subject to corrosion and are lightweight. Their resistance is appropriate to use in those places where the polymer coating of steel panels can peel off the base, that is, where the panels have to be cut. This is an expensive material that is easily deformed in violation of the conditions of its transportation.
Metal siding is often used to form a high-tech design. However, not mirror panels, but products imitating a wooden beam, are in high demand. There are panels that depict a wooden blockhouse. This metal siding is very similar to logs and is called a "block house".
Option # 6 - basement siding
The panels that are used for cladding the base are made of especially durable polymers. In the process of their production, various additives and high pressure are used. The surface of the basement siding reproduces the appearance of natural materials: stone and wood.
The basement of any building must be protected by a particularly durable coating. After all, it directly contacts the surface of the earth, is subjected to mechanical stress and is subject to the influence of excess moisture. Basement panels are specially made thicker and stronger than wall ones. They can be mounted on a simple crate.
Additional advantages of this finishing material are its rich color scheme, good thermal insulation properties, high strength and decorativeness. Due to its reinforced structure, such a material has improved performance, but it is more expensive.
Wall siding is diverse. With its help, you can give the building a look corresponding to different styles. It may look like a castle made of natural stone, like a brick building and even like a log cabin. This ensures not only the decorativeness of the house, but also its thermal insulation.
This video will tell you how to choose wall and binder siding:
Calculation of the required amount of material
To calculate the need for siding, just remember the geometry that we all studied in high school. Mentally break the surface to be sheathed into rectangles and triangles. Knowing the area formulas of these figures, we calculate the total space with which we have to work. The final value of the coating is determined, after exclusion from the calculated total wall area of the area of windows and doors.
Now we have to determine how many panels we need to carry out the planned work. Siding panels produce different widths and lengths. We determine the area of one panel and divide by it the just calculated size of the surface that we will cover. We get the required number of panels. Please note that when choosing the size of the panel, we must take care to minimize the waste that will inevitably arise during the cutting process. It is customary to add up to 10% to the resulting amount of material.
In addition to the main panels for cladding, the following materials are needed:
- starting bar - with its installation, installation of siding begins. The need for it is determined by dividing the entire external perimeter of the house by the length of one bar.
- angular strips - the number of internal and external corners of the house is determined by counting their number on the sheathed surface. If the structure is higher than the length of the corner strips, the need for them increases accordingly.
- connecting strips - they are needed when the wall of the house is longer than the siding panel. Determining the need for them is carried out by the piece.
- finish strip - it is installed horizontally at the end of the lining, as well as under the windows.
- near-window profile - this element is calculated individually.
Which tool will be needed?
When the facing material is prepared for work, you need to collect all the necessary tools in one place.
We will need:
- ruler, square, tape measure;
- a hacksaw for metal with small teeth or a grinder equipped with a circle for metal;
- a furniture stapler and a hammer for working with a wooden crate;
- screwdriver and screws;
- scissors for metal, awl, knife;
- 1.5 meter level, water level, plumb line;
- pencil for construction work or chalk.
Do not forget that to work on the upper level, you will need either scaffolding or stairs.
Lathing, warming, waterproofing
Installation of external siding is not possible without a crate. With its help, the walls of the building become perfectly smooth. As the frame of the crate, a wooden beam or a special metal profile is used. Preference should be given to the profile, because it retains its performance properties longer.
As a rule, the distance between the frame rails is 50 cm - 1 meter. The actual step depends on the characteristics of the building and the width of the insulation used, which will be mounted between the rails. Frame blocks must be present where the panels are docked, located around the openings of windows and doors.
Insulate the temperature in the house in the heat and cold. You can choose different heaters, but the most acceptable is mineral wool from basalt fiber. It helps to maintain the comfort temperature inside the house. In addition, it is fireproof material. He has only one significant drawback - cotton wool can interact with moisture.
In order to protect the cotton from moisture, a waterproofing layer is used. When the mineral wool is fixed around the window, it must be cut with a small overflow according to the actual dimensions of the opening.
Details of the siding cladding process can be seen in the video:
Photo selection of siding houses
We also suggest you look at the photos of houses sheathed with various siding so that you can see how attractive they become.