One of the parts of the building or house, along with the roofs that are most exposed to the elements are the facades. Sunlight, heat, cold, rain, wind, birds… affect the facade surface every day.
This makes it necessary to pay special attention to the correct protection of facades, in order to extend their useful life, save on maintenance and keep a good external appearance.
For it we leave you a series of advices and actions that you can carry out to maintain your facade in optimal conditions. Let’s take a look at them.
Uses special paints for facades
The vast majority of facades offer a final coat of paint. We can also find brick facades, natural stone or prefabricated panels of different materials.
However, most of the time we will find a layer of paint.
This paint has to be special for facades and must offer a series of necessary characteristics for a correct performance against the elements.
Among these characteristics we can find: impermeability, breathability and resistance to microorganisms.
But there are also paints developed for more demanding conditions, such as large temperature changes (elasticity) or exposed to high salinity conditions (as for example in coastal constructions).
Finally, in addition to choosing the most suitable paint for each case, we must apply it correctly following the manufacturer’s instructions and applying the required number of coats.
Protecting the façade from water
The facades are exposed to rainwater and must be designed and built so that it does not pose a problem.
Not only to avoid filtrations, but also so that water does not accumulate at any point of the facade.
To this end, it is essential to make an appropriate design of cornices, windows, balconies and any element contained in the facade.
These elements must incorporate systems that allow the water to be evacuated as quickly and efficiently as possible.
In this way we will avoid to a great extent the appearance of humidity stains by capillarity or condensation problems in the interior of the enclosures.
Protecting the facade from the sun
The other great enemy of facades, after rain and humidity, is sunlight.
The sun not only heats our facade but also produces a progressive deterioration of all exposed materials, especially in wood composites or plastic resins.
It is for this reason that it is important to apply the appropriate treatments to each of the elements (windows, shutters, shutters, balconies, parapets …) and that this treatment is specific to that material.
The most important protection against the sun should be provided at the design stage of the building, by projecting elements that shade the facade, such as small eaves on the cornice.
These eaves generate shadows, especially in summer when the sun follows a higher trajectory and the rays strike at a greater angle.
It is also necessary to consider the different orientations of the house, since a south-facing facade is not the same as a north-facing facade.
If we cannot intervene on these elements because the house is already built, we will have to use external elements added later. Let’s see them in the next point.
Lean on the decoration
Although we continue with the idea of protecting our facade from the sun, we will see different elements that can also help us with the decoration of the facade. For example:
Awnings. Awnings are a very efficient option to protect the part of the facade most vulnerable to the sun, that is to say: windows and balconies.
In this sense, light-colored awnings respond better as they absorb less solar radiation and therefore will heat up less.
Vegetation. One of the most efficient systems to regulate the temperature of the home are green walls that protect from sunlight and therefore from heat.
This type of system requires a special treatment of the facade beforehand so that the vegetation itself does not damage the paint creating an extra problem instead of solving it.
Shutters. The correct use of blinds can save us a lot of money in heating or air conditioning. Especially in extreme climates.
If you need to build or modify your facade either for climate protection, change of texture or color call us, we have special solutions for what you need.
Local Phone: (+504) 2213 0418 Cellphone: (+504) 9515 4013
