Decking

Wall cladding

Installation instructions

Geschrieben von: Eric

Mittwoch, 14. Oktober 2009 um 09:57 Uhr

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WHAT NOT TO DO

when installing a composite wall cladding

Working with wood plastic composites (WPCs), especially the solid type like eco-Profil, is as easy as working with softwood timber.

One should never assume that the general rules for working with natural materials do not apply for wood plastic composites.

The main topics that have given rise to subsequent problems (and this holds for ALL WPC boards) are:

foresee end-to-end gaps that allow for thermal expansion;
design and build your cladding in such a way that sufficient ventilation/aeration allows the space behind the cladding sheets to dry out as thoroughly as the visible surface:
always stick to the support beam or joist spacing that is prescribed by the vendor.

END-TO-END GAPS

WPC products tend to show some longitudinal expansion when heated. On sunny days, the sun can easily heat a wall surface to over 60°C. To compensate for the effects of thermal contraction and expansion, the following installation standards should be maintained:

End-to-end gap (mm) between sheets for an expected surface temperature increase to 60°C
Board temperature (°C) during installation	Board length
Board temperature (°C) during installation	2,4 m	3,6 m
10	4	6
15	4	6
20	3	5
25	3	5
30	3	4
35	3	4
The wall cladding sheets must span at least three joists.

Gap to be kept between the first board and an obstacle (e.g. a window): keep 1 cm.

VENTILATE

Just as with natural wood, a long term difference in humidity between the front and the back of the board can eventually lead to distortion of the board.

Therefore, the following needs to be foreseen:

sufficient space behind the supporting surface and the deck bottom, so as not to obstruct the natural flow of air below the deck;
the top and bottom sides of the cladding need to be free to allow the natural air flow to aerate the space behind the boards and fully dry out the supporting beams. If needed, insects and the likes may be kept out of the cavity by obstructing the aeration vents with a mosquito net.

JOIST SPACING:

Supports clearance:

Max. 40 cm (16”) centre distance

When the sheets are to be mounted diagonally, reduce the on-center joist spacing by 10 cm (4”).

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HOW TO HANDLE AND MOUNT YOUR SIDING BOARDS

for maximised success

STORAGE:

Dry shelter, well ventilated, away from direct sun exposure.

The wood plastic composite will expand when heated. For a uniform behaviour of all the boards after installation and in order to preview the appropriate gap (see below), it is recommended that all boards be used at the same temperature. Therefore, it is a good idea to keep the boards that will be used out of direct sun heat whilst cladding your wall.

Also, the initial colour change of the boards can happen quite fast. Therefore, if pallets are stored out of direct sunlight, the wall covering will have an even colour right from the start.

TRANSPORTATION:

Horizontally, on evenly distributed supports in such a way that no tension occurs in the materials and that sagging is avoided.

This method of transporting the boards will keep them perfectly straight, thus making installation still that little bit easier.

HANDLING:

Unload the products with care.

The sides of the board, when hitting an obstacle with some force, may damage the surroundings or may get damaged themselves. This may make installation more difficult or induce product loss.

INSTALLATION:

Can be worked with standard wood working tools.

The eco-Profil wood plastic composite materials can easily be cut, routed, sanded, or otherwise transformed using standard tools. For cutting, it is recommended to use carbide tip blades with coarse teeth. Fine teeth blades typically give more rise to friction and thus wear more easily.

For safety reasons:

when using power tools, wear work gloves and safety goggles and avoid loose clothing or jewelry that can be entrained with the machine parts;

wash hands after working with any construction material before eating, drinking or smoking;
avoid prolonged inhalation of saw dust from wood;
dispose of cut-offs as ordinary household waste

VENTILATION:

Just like with natural wood, sufficient unobstructed air flow is required to allow thorough drying of the space behind the cladding. Flow-through vents are to be foreseen for this purpose along the bottom and top of the wall.

Typically a minimum thickness of 18 mm (3/4”) needs to be foreseen for the supporting slat.

When the wall cladding elements are mounted vertically on a horizontal slat, all natural aeration is obstructed. Therefore, supplementary openings need to be installed. A handy solution is to lath the wall in the vertical sense first, then adding horizontal laths.
Alternatively, the horizontal laths can be regularly interrupted, with gaps that are shifted in the vertical plane.

Sufficient ventilation slots are to be foreseen to remain open, especially around windows and other obstructions.

Insects: Toe prevent insects from entering the void, it is recommended to cover the ventilation slots with a water resistant mosquito net. Good ventilation also hinders nesting of insects.

MOUNTING:

To compensate for the effects of thermal contraction and expansion, the following installation standards should be maintained:

End-to-end gap (mm) between boards for an expected surface temperature increase to 60°C
Board temperature during installation (°C)	Board length
Board temperature during installation (°C)	2,4 m	3,6 m
10	4	6
15	4	6
20	3	5
25	3	5
30	3	4
35	3	4
The board must span at least three joists.

The boards will be fixed against laths that will be well positioned beforehand, according to the designer's specifications. depending on the local conditions, weatherproof laths may be preferable. Supports clearance: a maximum of 40 cm (14”) centre distance should be respected.
Humidity should not be allowed to flow onto the inner wall. Therefore, a water repellent sheet that is vapour permeating should be used behind the support structure. Preferably, for visual reasons, this sheets should be black or dark grey. It should at least be UV stabilised. The clearance between the sheet and the wall cladding should be at least 15 mm. Water that will flow into the void should be allowed to get back out and the remainders should easily evaporate and the vapours entrained with natural air venting.

Only use stainless steel fixtures and eco-Profil clips type Freyr CB100. These clips should be put over the top of the boards loosely, so that they can freely glide sideways. This will assure that the thermal expansion can be compensated.

Gap to be kept between the first board and an obstacle (e.g. a wall): keep 1 cm.