Terracotta Panels and Decorative Molding (Baguette)
Generally speaking, terracotta is yellow or red fired clay brick. Terracotta clay is a primary raw material, that is taken from open quarries and mines. Terracotta's shade can be seen only after firing. Usually, it varies from dark red to light yellow. The material is used to produce terracotta panels, tiles, pots and statuettes, etc.Due to its eco-friendliness, as well as fire and frost-resistance, a series of ventilated facades was created Europe in the 1980s. Until rather recently ventilated facades were unknown in Russia, or to be more precise, were unpopular among builders and architects. It was just twenty years ago that architects turned to terracotta and succumbed to the worldwide trend of using natural materials.
Due to the high cost and complete lack of comprehension of the merits of terracota ventilated facades, the material was used rarely. Today terracotta panels and are being widely used for facing both new and old buildings. Market trends and the technological development made it possible for terracotta facades to win a position on the construction market, taking some market share away from ceramic granite.
Nowadays, terracotta panels have already become a commonly used solution for facade facing. Panels of various shapes, sizes and colours create a natural look for business centers, residential buildings and shopping malls. A facade made of terracotta is like a living being, because it looks different depending on the season, the time and the weather. Aluminstroy offers customers a large selection of UV-resistant panels, which unlike other facing materials do not fade.
Terracotta can be easily combined with other facade materials.
Terracotta panels are used for the facing. The facade terracotta has 3 levels of thicknesses:
- 0.7 inch panels are the thinnest and the most stylish ones
- 1.1 inch panels are the most poular ones; the reason for this is that few factories can produce thinner panels
- 1.6 inch tiles are used for covering ground floors
The advantages of Terracotta Panels
- Terracotta panels are fireproof: they do not burn and do not produce toxic fumes
- Self-cleaning: terracotta panels do not accumulate static electricity, which means that dust and dirt are easliy washed away by water. At the same time terracotta has very low index of water absorption (3-6%).
- Wide range of working temperatures: frost resistance to 150 cycles, thermal resistance of glazed tile - 150⁰C. When correctly installed, terracotta serves for 100-150 years.
- Stable properties: terracota's measurements remains stable over the time
- Natural materials: the product is made by means of extrusion of 100% natural clay
- Hidden installation fastenings: they are not visible, but are very reliable
- Sound insulation: due to the weight of the material and low resonance frequency of terracotta, the panels have good sound insulating properties
- Easy to install: one does not need high qualification or special tools to install terracotta panels
Business centers, residential buildings, theaters, airports, swimming pools these buildings operate in different climatic and ecological conditions in big cities, with a high level of wind stress, seasonal and daily fluctuations of temperature, vibrations, etc. Taking into account the operating conditions and people's needs, Aluminstroy offers a natural, appealing, solid and efficient protection for buildings terracotta facades.