Fiberglass Plastering Mesh: Pros and Cons of Application

Glass fiber plaster mesh is an important element in modern technology. The material is used when it is necessary to strengthen wet-look finishes, hydraulic insulation, ceilings, floors. Also, using it, they restore various surfaces with elements in structures.

Fiberglass nets are used when it is necessary to carry out work in construction. At first, they were rods with wooden slats, which were stuffed onto the surface of the wall. Then they were replaced by metal nets. Now they have been replaced by products made of glass fiber and plastic.

But these elements are intended in order to strengthen the finishing layer, to create a frame inside that will hold the cladding, made as a monolithic block over the entire surface. The fabric prevents cracking, shedding, flaking, destruction.

The increase in the adhesion of the finishing material to the surface is due to the fact that its area is increased with endless embossed protrusions in the mesh elements. A layer of plaster with putty will not firmly adhere to every material. Therefore, when working with foam, silicate bricks and similar materials, reinforcement is certainly used.

Reinforcing meshes are used when you need to process joints, seams with abutments. The grid is relevant when working with materials that look like sheets. These are gypsum cardboard, expanded polystyrene, various panels with blocks.

Fiberglass mesh is used when necessary:

• installation of hydraulic insulation and thermal insulation coatings;
• when it is necessary to strengthen the places with abutments in windows and door blocks to the surface of the walls;
• reinforce self-leveling floors with screeds.

The need for strengthening and reinforcing wet-applied coatings is dictated by conventional physics. Applying a thin layer to a large surface area will result in uneven shrinkage during drying. Therefore, it can crack when ripening takes place.

In the future, the finish is exposed to changes in temperature and humidity. This contributes to the appearance of thermal expansion in materials. In different parts of the surface, the course of processes is different. As a result, an uneven change in size occurs. Cracking of the plaster occurs.

Destruction can be observed, since the recipe was not followed when the mixture was prepared. The presence of such a moment is considered normal when it is prepared on its own. There are deviations from the required parameters in the thickness of the layer, the technology is violated when laying the coating.

This can often be seen on facades with external elements in structures. Here, temperature changes with humidity are especially significant. When working on facades, stronger, more reliable nets are used from the outside.

Another major challenge when going through a wet finish is the presence of incomplete adhesion to the surface area. When the material has a smooth texture density, then water is poorly absorbed, pores with irregularities are absent on the surface. The coating on it does not hold for very long.

Fiberglass mesh, on the other hand, adheres perfectly. It will stick to the surface of almost any material. So, it will become an intermediary link that has the same adhesion to the wall surface and the material for decoration.

Reinforcement mesh can be used as a skeleton when filling spaces with voids between sheets and blocks in building materials. If such a gap is wide, the putty inside it will not adhere. It will quickly crumble. The seam will open. With the help of the mesh, the plaster is retained after it has been destroyed or cracked.

What a fiberglass mesh is made of can be understood from its name. Using aluminoborosilicate glass, thin strands are first drawn. They can be bent easily. However, they will not break. They also have high strength. Then, from them, beams are formed, which are woven like a mesh with cells of different sizes. Most often, the cell sizes are two by two, five by five and ten by ten millimeters.

The surface of the material is specially treated to increase its alkali resistance. To achieve this protection, the fibers are impregnated with a polyacrylic dispersion formulation. It allows the grid to remain inside the alkali environment for a very long time without any difficulties.

Polyacrylic impregnation is a must. When it is not there, it is impossible to use such material using plaster or putty. After a certain period of time, it will dissolve under the action of alkali.

Glass fiber plaster mesh, having a special composition with processing, is characterized by the presence of unique performance properties.

Advantages of the reinforcing mesh:

• It is resistant to aggressive environments. It can be perfectly combined with compositions of mineral plasters, in which there is precisely an alkaline environment.
• Withstands high degrees of stress.
• Able to provide surfaces with impact resistance, increases their characteristics related to strength.
• Perfectly able to adhere to the surface of putty and plaster.
• Protects the coating from cracking.

Negative characteristics:

The disadvantage of grids is that it is not necessary to apply a solution having a thickness of more than six or eight millimeters to the level of its surface. Reinforcement in this case will not be useful. The second drawback was the fact that any plastic is resistant to the aggressive actions of the chemical environment of solutions for construction. Under the action of alkalis, the reinforcing mesh dissolves.

Any property is directly dependent on the density of the mesh. This parameter is determined using the ratio of the mass of the material in grams to the square meter of its area. The higher the density, the higher the degree of mesh resistance to various external influences.

You can see that the material is versatile. It makes it possible to improve the state of quality of any process for finishing, starting with a rough leveling, ending with the execution of work by painters. It is not very expensive. The effect of use must be given due attention.

When choosing a mesh, you should pay more attention to the observance of the geometric dimensions in the canvases and cells. Look for elongated or bubbling areas. When places with distortions are found in the roll during unfolding, it will not work to perform high-quality laying of the material at the surface level.

Reinforcing mesh has a density of one hundred sixty to two hundred and twenty grams per square meter. They are used when it is necessary to perform work related to putty and plaster.

Also, nets are used in the basement and underground parts of buildings. The material that belongs to this group has a density of two hundred and twenty to three hundred and thirty grams per square meter. This type is called reinforced mesh. They can withstand significant stress under extreme conditions. These materials are more expensive.To produce them, you need to have more raw materials.

Metal mesh is used to strengthen the layer of plaster in the finish, the walls themselves, when they have an unstable surface. The material is popular. It is in demand when reinforcing a layer of plaster in the walls from the outside.

The mesh is used not only as a reinforcing primary layer in decoration. This is a decorative finish from the outside in plinths and other structures made of reinforced concrete or bricks. For different surfaces, depending on the requirements for thickness and strength in the applied layer. Meshes are used with cells that have different dimensions. The material used in the manufacture of meshes has a relief with different heights and different thicknesses.

Now the chain-link is produced using a wire with a carbon content, high alloying, from steel. It comes with a polymer coating. The chain-link, which is coated with polyvinyl chloride, lasts longer. It is not corrosive. Able to withstand actions from an external groan. However, this mesh is often used to create fences and is produced in a variety of colors.

The chain-link is made by weaving wire, which has a diameter of one to three millimeters in a spiral. Then they are crossed with each other, forming a common mesh fabric. Such a metal mesh is suitable for covering walls, during the construction of which adobe or clay was used, before applying solutions to their surface. With the help of the mesh, a reinforcing relief layer is created. It holds high volume plaster. The thicker it is, the larger the size of the cells. Attach the mesh in the same way.

Taking into account the versatility of the scope of use of reinforcing nets, the enterprises producing it offered a huge variety of assortment of this material in construction. Understanding the main criteria when choosing, you can easily make the purchase of roll material of excellent quality, which is suitable for work.

For a quick and reliable fastening of the mesh to the wall, see below.