What Is Parging A Concrete Wall?
What Is Parging A Concrete Wall?
Parging is the coating applied to the visible (above-grade) portion of your home’s foundation walls. It is put to both poured-concrete and concrete-block foundations to conceal surface flaws, formwork markings, and the like, hence its function is mostly aesthetic.
Although the Building Code does not require a parge coat, it does serve another purpose: it functions as a weather barrier.
The situation is different for foundation walls with outside insulation. To protect the insulation from impacts and sunlight, parging over an armature or other hard finish material is required in this scenario.
How Do You Parge Concrete Walls?
Concrete’s strength and durability make it ideal for residential walls and foundations. Although concrete constructions can survive for years with little or no maintenance, they fall short in terms of aesthetics when compared to other finish alternatives.
Parging, which means coating the concrete with mortar, may be used to give your concrete walls a facelift.
Parging is comparable to a stucco application. Parging is a technique that involves some expertise and experience. Still, once mastered, it helps smooth out textured concrete, covers fractures and damage, and improves the appearance of your concrete walls.
Surface Preparation
If you want the mortar to survive, you must start with a clean, smooth wall. Scrape away any remaining mortar drips or clumps using a hammer and chisel. A putty knife can also be used to scrape away certain loose portions.
Before the parging procedure, you may need to make a few repairs to the wall.
Fill cracks that are more than 1/4 inch wide with mortar.
Apply the mortar with a trowel and let it dry before proceeding. Using a stiff wire brush, sweep away dust, sand, and debris.
Wash the walls using a garden hose and a light detergent, such as dish soap, to ensure that all of the small fragments are removed. Parging mix adheres to walls easier when they are clean and free of dirt and debris.
Before you begin applying parging to painted walls, coat them with a bonding agent. This bonding ingredient will aid the mortar’s bonding with the painted surface.
Make Your Mix
You’re ready to start mixing your parging mix now that the walls have been primed and cleaned. The parging mix is available at your local hardware shop.
While most parging mixes comprise Portland cement, sand, and lime, untrained installers may struggle to combine these elements in precise quantities to guarantee a successful installation.
Premade parging mixtures eliminate the guesswork in proportions and can significantly lower the possibility of issues with your final walls. Blend your parging mix with water according to the package directions.
If you combine it well, it should produce a thick paste. If it’s too wet or runny, add additional mix until it achieves a thicker consistency. If it’s too thick, thin it out with a little water.
Use The Parging Mixture.
Applying the parging mix with a trowel may create a smooth or textured surface.
Before you begin working, decide which option you like. To a damp wall, apply the mortar mixture. Keep the initial layer to no more than 3/8-inch thick.
Use your trowel to produce the appropriate surface texture, smoothing it out or texturing. To produce a rough texture, scratch the surface with a plasterer’s rake or brush.
The wall must cure for 24 hours before applying the second coat, which should likewise be no thicker than 3/8-inch.
A second coat isn’t necessary. If you are satisfied with the look of the wall after only one application, skip the second coat.
Over the following five days, mist the wall with water on a regular basis. This allows the layers to dry more slowly, lowering the danger of cracking or flaking over time.
