5 Popular Composite Building Materials
Historically, houses were built with stone, wood, brick, or concrete. Today, new, high-performance building materials have emerged. They are called composite materials.
But do you know what a composite material is? It is, in fact, an assembly of at least two different components that cannot mix. The new material thus benefits from properties that its basic components alone do not possess.
Construction, renovation, insulation, these materials, with their innovative qualities, correspond to today’s real demand and needs lightness, resistance, durability… Focus on 5 of them.
1. Facade cladding
Façade cladding can be made with a composite material of recycled wood, crushed, and mixed with a polymer resin, giving it strength and stability over time.
This material is presented in strips and sheets, resists heat and humidity, and is not affected by termites, despite a wood appearance. It is available in different colors and allows you to match the style of your facade to the requirements of the region where you are building. It can be installed on an existing facade for a more classic exterior insulation.
Note: it can be washed with a simple jet of high-pressure cleaner.
2. Tiles
Resistant and light, the composite tile has many other qualities!
– It is environmentally friendly because it is made of 100% recycled materials.
– It is also 100% recyclable and produced without greenhouse gas emissions.
– It is straightforward to maintain because moss and lichen cannot adhere to it.
– It is quick to install.
Available in the different colors of clay tiles, it can imitate flat tiles, canal tiles, and slate. It has the look of traditional tile without the drawbacks.
Tip: you can complete its installation by installing a composite gutter, insensitive to corrosion.
3. Windows
In PVC combined with fiberglass, to strengthen the rigidity and reduce the weight of the sashes, the new composite windows combine the qualities of the different materials that make them up and have many advantages.
The profiles are:
– thinner than conventional models and therefore improve luminosity;
– insensitive to chemical products (oil, chemical liquids, etc.);
– provide better insulation, avoiding the thermal bridge break that causes condensation and heat loss;
– Finally, they are available in many different colors.
4. Shutters and entrance doors
Composite entrance doors are effortless and quick to maintain. Made from a fiberglass-based material that offers good insulating performance, they are perfectly resistant to various types of aggression. They are also easily painted and can even look like solid wood! They are particularly well suited to seaside areas as they are insensitive to humidity.
Composite shutters are also made of fiberglass. They can be swinging, rolling, or folding.
Good to know: both are very resistant to burglary attempts and are essential for the security of your home.
5. Terrace
Very trendy in recent years: composite wood decks, a mixture of wood fibers bound by a resin. The appearance is similar to that of wood, without the disadvantages. No particular maintenance is required, except for a shot of soapy water from time to time or even a high-pressure cleaner every spring.
This component does not change color over the years, and insects do not attack it. It is splinter-free and non-slip …
Ideally suited for a pool deck!
It is often presented in strips and is installed like a traditional wooden deck on joists (composite in this case), using suitable screws.
Read more:
– 11 Steps to Build a Brick Wall;
– What Architects Will Not Tell you!
– 9 Steps to Build a Concrete Slab
– How Do You Spray Concrete With a Concrete Mixer?