Applied exterior finishes

With the widespread use of framed construction and the move away from load-bearing stone and masonry, applied finishes became popular. Finishes were usually applied as a finish to reinforced concrete, and mainly relied on the application of a suitable render background to take out any undulations or inaccuracies in the concrete structure. See External finish options.

Typical finishes include ceramic tiles, terrazzo, plain render or Mineralite render. In contemporary construction, applied external insulation systems are becoming increasingly popular. See Tesserae.

External finishes rely not only on good adhesion to the background, but also good adhesion of the background to the substrate, be this concrete or masonry. An interphasal bond failure could have serious consequences as applied finishes are very heavy and can collapse if unbonded. See Rendering.

Typical causes of failure include traces of contamination on the substrate, a lack of mechanical key, unsuitable bonding materials or a lack of provision for building movements. See Background failure.