Thin cork coating

WHY A THIN CORK THERMAL COAT? 

Very often it is difficult to apply very thick panels: in order not to steal too much living space, because the "classic" thermal coat requires dowels and integral anti-cracking net, because greater skill is required for those who are preparing for the business.

In this regard, we have developed simplified laying methods, also suitable for do-it-yourself, with fine-looking thin cork and easy-to-apply adhesives. With cork thickness from 1mm to 10mm thick. The thin cork coating has a good anti-condensation and anti-mold effect, especially if the cork is left exposed. Cork can be easily grouted with TERMOFINE thermal skim coat which increases the insulating power of the thermal cork coat.
 

CALCULATE THE COST THERMAL COAT IN CORK: THERMAL COAT THICKNESS FROM 1 TO 30mm

With the spreadsheets that we have prepared in this section, you can estimate the costs of the kits that Artimestieri offers starting from the minimum thickness of 1mm up to 30mm: up to 10mm with super-compressed cork and up to 30mm with classic panel.

By entering the number of square meters to be covered, you can get the thermal coat price in a few minutes, and possibly purchase the materials necessary to make the most suitable thermal coat for your case.

1- thermal coating with cork sheets in 1/2 mm roll and ready-to-use glue click on the image on the side and activate the spreadsheet: enter the number of square meters you need to cover and you will immediately know the quantity of the products needed and, after having inserted them in the cart, you will know the total cost.                                                 

2- internal thermal coat with cork sheet of 3/6 / 10mm and termofine adhesive / smoothing compound to know which products you need and how much the kit of necessary materials costs, click on the image on the side how to lay the thin cork thermal coat and activate the spreadsheet: enter the number of square meters you need to cover and the number of packs will appear to buy.               

3- classic external insulation with 10/20/30 mm cork panels to find out which products you need and how much the kit of necessary materials costs, click on the image on the side and activate the spreadsheet: enter the number of square meters you need to cover and the number of packages to be purchased will appear. If you want a slightly granulated surface finish, just Bioart-adhesive / skim coat for cork, if you want to obtain a smooth "plaster" finish, also buy the optional Bioart fine-shave product.

WHY AN INTERNAL THERMAL COAT?

When you want to solve modest problems that do not affect the whole house: thermal insulation from the inside is the most practical form of intervention. What are the most frequent cases?
Walls to the north where the cold and heat loss are most felt by the inhabitants walls in the kitchen and bathroom, at risk of mold from condensation due to the strong presence of water vapor walls with little ventilation behind the cabinets or inside the perimeter walls with thermal bridges due to the presence of beams and pillars inside the walls in all these cases it is possible to intervene with the application of a sheet of super-compressed thin cork or a panel of greater thickness.

HOW TO GLUING CORK TO THE WALLS?

The cork can be glued with natural lime adhesive or with ready-to-use acrylic glue. TERMOFINE natural hydraulic lime adhesive is presented in 20 kg bags to be mixed with water in the recommended doses and must be spread on the wall with a notched trowel with toothing. 5x7mm the ready-to-use acrylic glue is packaged in 5kg jars or 20kg buckets, it must be spread with a much finer toothing spatulas of 1 or 2mm generally for thin thicknesses from 1 to 2 mm we recommend the use of ready-made acrylic glue for use, while for the thicker sheets the lime adhesive is more suitable. The general criterion is to apply increasing layers of adhesive as the selected cork thickness increases. The reason is to be found in the need to obtain a "sucker" effect that immediately holds the cork sheet to the wall: thin cork sheets are satisfied with a layer of thin glue but thicker panels (and consequently more rigid) need of a thicker adhesive pad to remain glued to the wall at the first support.

We do not recommend "contact" glues, those that adhere immediately: because they do not allow position adjustments and because they contain solvents and toxic substances. 

LAYING METHOD: CORK SHEETS WITH "TERMOFINE"

In the following table we illustrate the materials and the steps to lay 3/6/10 mm cork sheets with relative finishing thermal plaster:

1-sanitization of the wall

To remove mold from the walls and sanitize before proceeding with the coating, apply a coat of Toglimuffa over the entire surface. The next day, remove the dirt with a rag or glass paper.

2-preparation of the base

Apply a coat of Fondo gripping with a short-haired roller. Gripping base consolidates the surface and gives a useful roughness to the adhesion of the TERMOFINE adhesive

 
3-application of the adhesive

Now apply a coat of Bioart-Termofine Smoothing Adhesive with a 5x7 tooth trowel (the teeth of this size spread about 2kg of adhesive per m2)

4-application of cork

Glue a thin sheet of cork with a thickness of your choice: 2-3-6-10mm to the wall. The size of the cork sheets is 100x50 cm. We recommend that you apply the adhesive corresponding to the size of a sheet each time.

5-sealing the joints

Seal the joints between the cork sheets by applying the self-adhesive tape / mesh.

6-shaving of the cork

Now apply one pass of Bioart-Rasante Termofine adhesive over the entire surface with a stainless steel spatula with rounded corners. Smooth the surface using only the stainless steel spatula: do not use plastic, sponge, wood or other materials.

7-final improvement

Before complete drying, pass a second thin and smooth coat, always with a stainless steel spatula.

CORK SHEETS OR ROLLS?

 It is a common desire to be able to apply the cork without having too many joints between the parts: result obtained with the rolls 1 meter high and 10 meters long, the panels instead have the size of 100x50 cm. If the cork is thin from 1 to 3mm the application of the roll is possible without great effort, but for greater thicknesses we recommend applying the panels of 100x50 cm which are more manageable and easy to manage especially for the DIY thermal coat 

COAT COVERING: ANTI-CONDENSATION EFFECT OR THERMAL INSULATION?

To solve the most frequent cases of mold on the walls, a small layer of cork is generally sufficient, but sometimes we receive requests such as the following which highlight situations of total absence of thermal insulation of the wall:

 "Hi, I need to cover a wall of my son's bedroom which gives on the outside and therefore in winter with the use of heating, condensation is created and consequently mold, in the morning I even find the wall completely wet. Since the wall is exposed to Having seen and wanting to use cork, I was wondering first what type of cork to use, that is, classic or compressed cork? What thickness? And the main thing can I paint cork directly? If it were not possible how and what materials should I use to be able to paint it? "

in this case we have recommended to put a cork panel at least 3cm thick because it is important in cases like this to create a real thermal insulation of the wall, to eliminate both the "condensation" effect on the wall, and to increase the thermal insulation for decrease heat loss. Thanks to an adequate thermal coat it is easier to heat the rooms and obtain greater living comfort.

Therefore: thin cork sheets for modest condensation and mold problems on the walls and thicker panels to adapt the poor thermal insulation of the perimeter walls.

INTERNAL COAT INSULATION WITH BLONDE CORK PANELS

With the Italian blond cork panels it is possible to create internal coats using considerable thicknesses even up to 6 / 8cm. The procedure is not the simplified one described in thermal overcoat with blond cork (with TERMOFINE adhesive / skim coat and super-compressed cork) but the classic method of the coat with the following materials: adhesive / skim coat for cork, cork panel, dowels, anti-cracking net embedded in adhesive / smoothing for cork.

 
 
INTERNAL COAT INSULATION WITH TOASTED BROWN CORK PANELS

The same laying cycle can be done also using toasted cork panels (generally Portuguese). Brown cork has different characteristics from blond cork:
 greater insulating power for the same thickness (about + 10%) greater precision of the geometric dimensions and greater non-deformability agglomerate at high temperature without adding adhesives

Blonde cork and dark cork are also used in the outer coat, generally with greater thicknesses. The only thermal diffusion with brown cork consists of the greater level of protection from atmospheric agents that can be obtained with a protective plaster in natural lime or with suitable paints for outdoor use.

TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CORK

The following table compares the characteristics of the different types of cork:
type of cork thermal conductivity density:
extra fine sp. 1 mm 220 Kg / mc 0.045 W / mK
supercompressed thickness 2/3/6/10 mm 200 Kg / mc 0.042 W / mK
blond panel th. 1/2/3 cm 160 Kg / mc 0.044 W / mK
brown panel th. from 5 to 30cm 120 Kg / mc 0.040 / 0.042 W / mK