Impregnating the facade of your house is a job of which you will see visible results in the not too distant future. And if you are a bit handy, you can do it yourself. After all, moisture is the number one enemy of many building materials. Driving rain can lead to annoying inconveniences on the facade of your house, such as mold and salt rash, frost damage and moss and algae growth. To limit the risk of this, you can make the facade moisture-resistant, but do not wait too long. Prevention is better than cure.
Make a facade moisture resistant
In the autumn, when prolonged driving rains ravage our façade, we have to deal with pocket water that sooner or later leaves its mark. There is a cheap and effective way to prevent this: impregnation.
Brick and concrete walls remain in better condition when contamination does not have a chance to penetrate into the porous substrate. As a result, a number of known defects can be avoided:
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Mold nuisance on the inside, due to the facade breaking through;
- White spots from salt rash;
- Frost damage: a porous facade absorbs more water and frozen water expands by no less than 10%;
- Reduced insulation value of the facade;
- Stubborn moss and algae formation.
- It is therefore very important to impregnate a facade. The facade will then no longer absorb water, but it can still breathe.
Do it yourself
Impregnating the facade is something handy handymen among us can do very well themselves; We don’t need more than a ladder, bucket, block brush, a little bit of good will and of course an impregnation agent. After all, impregnation is nothing more than waterproofing the facade with a chemical liquid.
Impregnating agents for stony surfaces are available at the coast and in the hardware stores. A good impregnating agent is not cheap, but the professional advises to spend a little more on it in the specialist shop, because they give a little more advice there.
Incidentally, there are now also water-based impregnation products available that are more environmentally friendly than the traditional silicone-based products. Impregnating agents are often transparent so that the structure or appearance of the wall does not change after use. In other words: after the agent has been applied, you will only see drop formation on the wall after a rain shower; Same effect as a waxed car. I just mentioned a block brush, but you can also tackle the facade with a roller.
Method
- Before applying the impregnating agent, ensure a clean, dust-free and dry surface;
- You must first remove moss, paint residues and any dirty white salt stains;
- Also check the jointing. It is best to re-grout damaged joints;
- Cracks and fissures in the facade must also be repaired first;
- Cover materials that should not be treated, such as doors, windows and sills with foil;
- Work from top to bottom and divide the surface to be treated into smaller pieces.
Cost reduction
Impregnating facade work is indispensable in this day and age. Due to the high acidity and increasing pollution in the precipitation, the jointing is deteriorated faster and faster. By impregnation (nowadays it is also referred to as hydrophobing), the life of a facade surface is considerably extended.
In contrast to a full-fledged facade renovation, the impregnation of the facade is a job that you can do yourself and that is usually done in one day. The costs are thus recouped; Because the facade remains dry after an impregnation treatment, it will have a greater insulating effect without losing the ventilating effect. This can result in significant energy savings.
Rising moisture is disastrous for foundation and walls
With continuous driving rain on the windward side and with leaking roof tiles, the cause of moisture problems is quickly found. But the reason is not always obvious. For example, did you know that rising damp is the most common cause for moisture damage to foundations and exterior walls? This damage usually manifests itself in places other than where it is caused.