Ventilated Rainscreen Cladding.
The essentials of a Rainscreen system are to allow the ingress of air at the base of the system and the egress of air at the top of the system. This ventilated cavity allows any water which penetrates the panel joints to be partly removed by the ‘stack effect’ and partly removed by running down the rear face of the panels and out of the base.
Advantages
- Installation is simple - allowing external cladding and internal works to proceed speedily, early and consecutively
- Problems of deterioration are halted with minimal additional load being applied to the existing structure
- Rejuvenation of external appearance
- Aesthetic colour, flexibility and shape of external facade may be dramatically altered
- Energy saving - lower running costs due to greatly improved thermal insulation
- Easily removed panels for monitoring of structure
- Reduction of the risk of condensation due to the elimination of cold bridges
Principles
- A Rainscreen system consists of an outer panel, a ventilated cavity and an inner leaf
- In driving rain conditions moisture forms a membrane across the baffled vertical and horizontal joints
- The majority of water is deflected off the outside face - any penetrating water is disposed of through drainage
- Rainscreen systems differ from brick wall sealed construction as the beneficial effects to air movement are utilised
- A Rainscreen system is pressure equalised - the joints are open or lightly baffled, allowing pressure equalisation in driving rain conditions to be instantaneous. Pressure inside the cavity is equal to pressure outside - ie, precipitation has no inclination to be driven into cavity
- A continuous vertical cavity - At least 30 mm (NHBC 38 mm) deep
Applications
- Wall cladding and facade finishes
- Spandrel panels
- Fascias and soffits
- Column covers
- Balcony and canopy cladding
- Tunnel linings
- Stairways and lifts
- Roof edgings and parapet wall copings
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