Facade works in Batumi: render, ventilated facades and cladding

Facade works in Batumi: what they include

A facade shields the walls from driving rain, salt and sun, keeps the heat in and decides how the house looks from the street. We carry out facade works in Batumi on new houses, once the windows are in and the roof is closed, and on existing buildings where old render has come away, the insulation has got wet or the owner wants a different look. The work covers wall preparation, insulation, cladding, window reveals, sills, the plinth and every junction with windows, roof and gutters.

Choosing the material, colour and joint pattern is the designer's job, covered on the facade design page. This page is about how that choice becomes a wall that will stand for decades by the sea.

Two main systems

In an insulated render facade the insulation is glued to the wall, reinforced with mesh and finished with decorative render. It is an affordable and light facade, but it keeps water out only as long as the render layer is intact. In a ventilated facade the cladding hangs on a metal subframe, with an air gap behind it and insulation under a windproof membrane. It costs more, but drops that get through a joint dry out in the gap. A detailed comparison is on the ventilated vs insulated render facade page.

The wall comes first

Any facade holds only as well as the wall beneath it. Before starting we check the substrate: masonry strength, moisture in aerated concrete, joints between concrete columns, slabs and blocks, and old render for delamination. In aerated concrete we use anchors made for porous blocks and pull-test several of them on site, especially under heavy cladding. How the walls themselves are built and where their weak points are is described on the load-bearing walls and partitions page.

Fresh aerated concrete masonry must not be closed straight away with a dense facade: the blocks release construction moisture for several months. On a new house we either let the wall dry under the roof or choose a vapour-open system that lets moisture escape outwards.

Junctions where a facade starts to fail

• the plinth, hit by splashes from the apron and by rising damp from the ground;
• window reveals and sills, where water runs down the wall in a side wind;
• the junction with the roof and parapet, where the overhang or flashing is too short;
• spots where a downpipe overflows or leaks down the wall;
• brackets for air conditioners, canopies and railings screwed through finished cladding.

We draw these junctions before work starts and photograph them before they are covered. Positions for outdoor units, cables and pipes are planned in advance so that nobody has to drill into the new facade later.

Sequence of work and weather

We start the facade once the roof is closed, the windows are in and the services that run through the walls are done. Scaffolding goes up with protective netting, which shields fresh render from direct sun and wind. Wet processes, adhesive, render and paint, are done only in dry weather, and in Batumi the schedule has to bend around them. A ventilated facade depends less on the weather, but insulation on open sections is still covered against rain.

Colour and texture are approved from trial patches and cladding samples on the wall itself, not from a catalogue. Under the Batumi sun a colour looks lighter than the sample in your hand.

Facades of commercial and multi-storey buildings

On aparthotels, offices and shops fire safety and large areas of glass are added to the requirements. There we use non-combustible insulation, mineral wool, and fit fire barriers in the ventilated facade at every floor slab. Curtain walls and glazed facades are installed on aluminium systems, see the facade glazing page.

How much facade works cost

A turnkey insulated render facade with insulation, reinforcement, decorative render and paint costs from 205 ₾ per m². A turnkey ventilated facade with porcelain or composite starts from 420 ₾ per m², a rendered facade without insulation from 100 ₾, clinker tile cladding from 245 ₾, natural stone from 385 ₾ and thermowood from 360 ₾ per m². Scaffolding with netting is from 18 ₾ per m² of facade, patch repair of render from 81 ₾ per m².

The price depends on the height of the house, the number of openings and corners, the state of the wall and access for scaffolding, and by the sea also on the corrosion class of metal and fixings. If the facade has already cracked, start with an inspection: patch facade repair is often enough. The final cost is set after measuring the facade or from the drawings, once the estimate is agreed.