Exterior Thermal Insulation (Facade Cladding) Application Techniques

When applying exterior cladding ,

1. At every working level of scaffolding, such as column grooves, jamb bottoms, sill bottom, the working platforms must be laid with planks. There should be at least two next to each other. Thus, the masters have the opportunity to work uninterruptedly along the rope. These work platforms should be steel and wrought iron if possible.
2. In terms of work safety, it should prevent slipping in rainy and humid weather. In addition, a kick plate to be attached to the planks prevents hand tools and sheathing materials from falling down, or covering the work scaffold with tarpaulin will ensure the safety of both the employees and the environment. The fact that the scaffold is steel increases the risk of power tools.  
3. In this respect, a grounded ethane network that gives branches to the scaffold on each floor should be established and electrical appliances should be energized at the shortest point. If the crane and pulley equipment, for which heat insulation material is drawn to the upper floors , are mounted at any point of the pier, the fixings on the opposite side of the pier should be tightened or a reinforcement axle should be added.  
4. This point should be surrounded by a safety strip. 
5. If sheathing is applied in the multi-storey building they live in, the occupants should be warned in terms of their children, and it should not be overlooked that it is possible for young active children to emulate the workers on the pier and go to the pier from the windows and balconies, and if necessary, they should be asked to fix the windows and doors that open to the outside. This will also be convenient from a safety point of view.
6. If the scaffolding is built on the main entrances and exits, making marquise from a temporary material (Plywood - OSB) in the form of a tunnel eliminates many troublesome situations when applying  insulation in occupied buildings .
7. Since it is not known how far the paint and mortar material flying from the top floor of a 30 m high building will go during plaster and paint application, it stains the cars in the vicinity. In this respect, it is necessary to work with a tarpaulin, if it is not possible, the widest safety strip should be applied. In high-rise buildings, the vertical length of the facade and the correspondingly excess of horizontal distances make the application and insulation solutions more special than low-rise buildings. 

Here are some of these features:

1. Work scaffolding layout, work safety and environmental safety.
2. Measures to be taken against wind loads .
3. Practical measures in façade deviations.
4. Detailed insulation material selection and termination.

Scaffolding Safety in Exterior Sheathing

It would be appropriate to pay attention to the following points in the fixation and selection of the working scaffolding institution while sheathing, that is, thermal insulation .

1. Sheathing and insulation applications are definitely not suitable to be made with basket scaffolds, which are called swing scaffolds. The fact that the production can be done piecemeal in this type of scaffolding invalidates the use of both rope and gauge and causes inconveniences in laying the thermal insulation board .

2. If possible, the fixed scaffolding to be installed covers the building as L, thus allowing at least three corners to be dominated, and it means that only one corner of the building is out of control during rope pulling, which can be easily applied to the other side later on. 

3. The scaffolding floor to be built should be leveled, if not possible, the first start should be leveled with wedges. Simple fixings such as wire and wedges and causing visual disturbances at the end of the sheathing should not be used in scaffold fixing.

4. For fixing, steel elements connected to the scaffolding and the post in the building with clamps should be used in new buildings, and steel dowels and tie rods should be used for fixing in inhabited buildings. Fixing rods and dowels should be nailed to points such as columns, beams, decks (concrete) that can meet the load of the scaffolding. However, it is useful to bring the fastening points of these dowels to dead spots on the large panel walls where the eye cannot see them easily.

In the application of exterior cladding of buildings , Considerations in Multi-Storey Buildings and Some Practical Suggestions are the application techniques of sheathing .

Wind Effects in Sheathing Application

One of the biggest problems in multi-storey buildings is repetitive wind loads. It is difficult to predict the effects of these loads on the rising points of the building according to the location of the building, the structural features of the building, geographical features and seasonal characteristics. In this respect, it is beneficial to take precautions regarding wind loads both during operation and for the longevity of the jacketing application .

One of them is to divide the façade with horizontal dilatations. Along with the benefits of these dilatation works in wind loads, it has a relative benefit in tying the façade misalignment in multi-storey buildings. Assuming each dilatation point as a breaking point at the vertical ascent, we can plumb the façade independently within each division.

It is clear that the winds to be encountered during the exterior cladding application will endanger the employees. In this respect, the number of fixings should be increased by at least 40%, especially in tarpaulin scaffolding. The end points must be finished with fixing elements such as eaves, jambs , windowsills , and copings.

Exterior Misalignments

Unfortunately, in our country, it is a normal and acceptable situation for the facades of the buildings to be crooked or to have no plumb lines and no mitered corners of a building. However , when you do it with the necessary rules for sheathing , many complications arise.

1- If we accept a building constructed with prismatic and 90/270 degree corners as a polygon, and if we make the corners vertically overlapped as required for sheathing, if the angles and plumb line are suitable, there will be no problem in closing the polygon.

However, if we accept the boards we use as vectors (XPS-X= 1.20 MT y=0.60 EPS X=100 y=0.50m), when these vectors are placed in the xyz coordinate system of our prismatic building, it is located in the corner on the 30 mt top floor of a building that has approximately 0.001 eccentricity. The adhesive thickness to be formed is 4.25 cm.

If this offset is 0.002 mm/m2, that is, in a 30 m building, the adhesive thickness is 8.50 cm at the top corner of 6 cm. It is not possible to dowel and hold the insulation plate, which is 30 m high and has this much adhesive behind it.

In practice, what we recommend in this type of buildings is to divide the facade as we mentioned above and to deal with the error amount in each division.

If the horizontal rope gaps are too high and the adhesive thickness on the back exceeds 10-12 mm, our recommendation is to apply insulation plates of different thicknesses. In this case, the anchor lengths and the adhesive properties for the additional board are determined together with the manufacturers. One of the most important issues in eliminating the eccentricity of the buildings is the intake of the relay.

The importance of installing L type scaffolding will be seen here. With the L type scaffolding, the ropes of the two main façades perpendicular to each other should be pulled horizontally and vertically to determine the façade misalignment in advance or it can be used in a laser scanner with a ratator during overtime hours.

It is recommended to plan the measures to be implemented with the survey taken on the table in advance. It will be too late to take some measures after the jamb coating has started on a façade.

Material Selection with Detailed Analysis in Thermal Insulation

We mentioned above some of the features of high-rise buildings. Due to these features, the selected exterior cladding material must have some qualifications. Some of the most important of these are:
Adhesive, plaster and insulation board types must meet the values ​​in EN norms and references.
Corner profiles, which are detail sheathing material , are reinforced, compressed, polystrol profile will be suitable for possible expansions and to meet the loads.

1. Horizontal dilatations should be produced in accordance with their function and have details that prevent water from getting into the system.
   Vertical dilatation joints (if any) must be manufactured with EPDM expansion element for this work in accordance with the technique.
   The edges of the openings must be mesh reinforced in accordance with EN norms.
2. All end points such as windows, doors, dilatations, sills, copings should be equipped with mastic, water-sensitive profiles or self-adhesive end profiles that remove the effect of water and air on the system. No net endpoint should remain unfixed.
3. Plastering and decorative sheathing should be done with a sufficient number of teams, taking into account the size of the facades, with a continuous process up to the point of division.
4. Especially in the decorative coating so that the joints do not have an annoying appearance.
5. Before dismantling the scaffold, the entire facade should be reviewed, a detailed checklist should be made, a cleaning should be done, the rigidity and impermeability of rain falls and other open rages should be tested. 
6. The relationship of hidden and open creeks with sheathing and their errors should be checked. After the scaffolding is dismantled, the fixing dowels should be insulated with Polyurethane foam, the tops should be plastered, if necessary, this plaster should be dried with a hot air gun, then the exterior paint should be touched up.

How is sheathing done?

1. Before starting the application, the surface should be cleaned of anti-adhesive substances such as dust and oil, and necessary external surface repairs should be made.
2. If the surface to be applied is not smooth, the edges of the insulation board are framed and the adhesive is applied with a lump in the middle.
3. Attention should be paid to the application of the piles in such a way that they are just below the areas where the dowel will be applied.
4. If the application surface is smooth, the bonding material is applied to the entire back surface of the insulation board with a toothed trowel.
5. After the adhesive dries (approximately 24 hours), the dowels are applied to the surface according to the application.
6. A suitable corner profile selected is mounted on all corners.
7. If there is dilatation in the detail, vertical dilatations are passed with expansion profiles.
8. After these processes, the plaster material is applied to the surface of the insulation board with the wet-on-wet method. Before the plaster dries, the cowhide mesh is mounted on the plaster.
9. It is applied on the 2nd layer of plaster and the 1st layer of mesh plaster before it dries. Care should be taken to ensure that the 1st layer of plaster is at least 2 mm, the 2nd layer of plaster is at least 1 mm, and the reinforcement mesh should be close to the surface.
10. After the plaster material has dried, the decorative exterior coating is applied to the surface.
11. After the decorative exterior coating completes its drying time, the system is completed with acrylic-based exterior paint.

---

What is Exterior Cladding?, External Wall Cladding (Sheathing) Methods

What is Sheathing?, How is Sheathing Made?

Exterior Thermal Insulation Materials and Technical Specifications

What Is External Wall Sheathing? How to Use Sheathing in Construction

Exteriror Cladding (Insulation) Materials?

---