What Type of Facade Does My House Have?

Before you make your big decision on what type of facade paint to choose for your house, it is a good idea to examine carefully what type of facade you have, what material it is made of and, finally yet importantly, whether it has been treated with facade paint or similar products before.

Mineral facades either have untreated surfaces made of bricks, tiles, light concrete, concrete, sand lime bricks, LECA blocks or similar materials. Alternatively, the surfaces have been plastered using cement mortar or lime mortar.

Non-mineral facades are usually facades made of the materials mentioned above that have been treated with acrylic plastic paint, oil emulsion paint, silicone-based impregnated coatings and paints. Or facades made of other materials, such as wood, steel sheets, etc.

Pure mineral surfaces are the most vapour permeable, i.e. they allow the wall to breathe.

The moisture that is absorbed naturally in masonry should be able to pass through the wall rather easily without meeting any resistance from the outermost coating. This quality is termed vapour permeability.

Usually, when you see paint peeling, it is on facades that have been treated with very "closed" paints. These easily cause build-ups of moisture/water on the backside of the paint, which will eventually let go of the wall. It is thus important to consider this when you choose what paint to use.

If your facade has been painted with one of these "closed" paints, and you choose to paint it over without completely cleaning the old paint, you must be careful not to use a type of paint that will prevent the wall from breathing.

Also, depending on what type of facade you have, note that you have to wait until the facade is "ready" before you paint it. "Ready" means that the underlying layer has softened and is dry.