Wall Finishespages 245-257 in "Interior Construction and Detailing"

• Wall finishes include:• those applied as a single, thin decorative covering, such as paint,

wallpaper, and vinyl wallcovering,

• and those composed of several construction elements that can add substantial thickness to a wall, such as ceramic tile or stone panels.

• Brendan Clarke of Maharam, presented a good variety of wall coverings, including fabrics, vinyls, and some metallic based sheet products.

Acoustical panels

• when a high degree of sound absorption is desired, acoustical panels can be a good choice.

• Two primary decisions regarding acoustical panels:

• fabric type• core material

• fabric for acoustical panels must be permeable, to allow for sound energy to pass through.

• this also means that the fabric should not have a backing.

• fabrics for acoustical panels should be 'hydrophobic' which means that they do not hold and absorb moisture.

Acoustical panels: expanded polypropylene: moisture resistant, impact resistant, tackable, lightweight, indoor-outdoor

High impact fabric covered panels:compressed figerglass core, class ‘A’ fire rated, chemically hardened edges

glass reinforced gypsum ceiling panelssometimes used for acoustical purposes

For acoustical panel covering, it is important to use fabric that does not absorb and retain moisture.

• Hydrophobic fabrics do not absorb and retain moisture.• These include polyester, acetates, nylon.

• Hydrophillic fabrics absorb and retain moisture. • These include cotton, wool, and silk.

Stone used as a wall finish

• typical stone used for wall finishes include:

• granite, marble, limestone, slate, sandstone.

• manmade products, such as cast stone, can mimic the visual and material qualities of natural stone.

Stone tiles and panels

• stone tiles, and panels, used as wall finish materials have definite size constraints.

• the term ‘tile’ means a small, (generally no larger than 12”x12”) thin, modular piece of material. tiles can be made of metal, glass, wood, leather, plastic, ceramics, cork, and nearly any other material.

• ‘tile’ does not always mean ceramic.

• the table on page 252 of "Interior Construction and Detailing" lists a variety of stone types and size limitations or requirements.

details in stone wall finish installation

• stone used as a finished wall surface can be achieved using two different approaches:

• tiles: thin, small, modular, pieces, typically no larger than 12" x 12".

• panels/slabs: 3/4" up to 4" thick.

Stone tiles: granite, quartzite, multi colored slate, black slate, green slate, multi-colored

Stone wall panels: marble panels attached to a sub-surface wall

Olivetti showroom, Venice, Italy:designed by Carlo Scarpa

marble stairs, bench, balcony low wall

stone tiles

stone panels

marble floor tiles, wall tiles

granite wall panels

marble floor tiles

pattern making using tiles

slate flooring

slate

Ceramic tiles with LED lights embedded in each tile.

Finnish designer Maija Puoskari has taken inspiration from nature to create this concept of snow print tiles. Each tile looks like a silver patch of snow which is adorned with footprints of an animal.

Studio JSPR’s Cover-Tiles collection is a series of tiles that cover pipes, connections and water taps which are normally enclosed in the wall. With Cover-Tiles, these elements are all visible on the outside.

Wood tiles from DeckTiles.org at ICFF These tiles snap together.

MIO's modular 3D Wallpaper Create pattern variation by rotating the tiles or painting them. The lightweight recycled paper modules can be installed temporarily with double stick tape or permanently with wallpaper paste. A box of 12 tiles (12” x 12” x 2 1/4”) sell

for about $32.

Mio Culture - Ripple Paper Forms

Acoustic Weave 3D Wallpaper Designed to diffuse sound, reduce acoustic glare and eliminate standing waves; add to that it's green credentials

(100% recycled and recyclable paper made in closed-loop manufacturing from locally sourced materials)

wall flats Designers: Mike & Jennifer Tuttle

• Wall Flats are Inhabit's take on a modern, eco-friendly wallpaper.

• A modern embossed three-dimensional wallcovering that is good for the environment.

• Wall Flats are made from 100% bamboo pulp, one of the world’s most renewable resources. No trees were harmed in the making of this product:) They are a sustainable wallcovering that is free of chemicals and will not be a burden to the environment at the end of it's lifecycle, since the tiles are 100% bio-degradable.

• Wall Flats are designed to expand in any direction with an automatic pattern repeat and can be painted to coordinate with decor. You can cover a existing wall with Wall Flats, help disguise a not-so-smooth wall or add a modern, green wallpaper to any room setting through patterning.

wall flats Designers: Mike & Jennifer Tuttle

ceramic tile

ceramic tile

• Ceramic tile is especially useful in kitchens and bathrooms because it is water-resistant and easy to clean and extremely durable.

• Made from a mixture of clays and fired at high temperatures, tile is used for wall coverings, floors, showers, countertops, bath surrounds, and more.

• Tiles used on walls and counters are generally glazed

• Grout, a kind of mortar, is spread between tiles to lock them in place and fill the joints between them. Grout may be white or colored with pigment.

• Ceramic tile may be applied directly over drywall—if the room is likely to be damp, special moisture-resistant drywall should be used. Or tile may be applied to a mortar bed or a backer board made of a ceramic aggregate core that is coated with a thin fiberglass mesh.

mosaic tiles are typically joined into a sheet

Ceramic tile: pattern making

Mosaic tiles

Paints and Coatings

• What is paint? • Paints are made up of four components:

pigment, binder, solvent/liquid carrier, and additives.

• Varnishes, which form transparent or semi-transparent films, are made up of the last three components, with colored varnishes containing small amounts of pigment.

Paint is manufactured to meet specific needs

Types of Paint

water base paint

solvent base paintthese are the two basic types of paint generally available.

paint may have physical or chemical characteristics such as:

matte surface, semi gloss surface, high gloss surface

non-drip paint, primer, undercoats, anti-condensation,

fire retardant paint (intumescent), metallic, concrete floor

paint, porch paint, anti-fungus paint, heat resistant paint

• Pigments, which give color and opacity/covering power, are finely dispersed solid particles. In some cases they can be used to impart certain protective properties, eg rust prevention, and to control gloss levels

• The binder is the material that forms the film, giving protection to the substrate and keeping the pigment in place and evenly dispersed. It may be made up of a single, or a combination of polymers. The binder may be dissolved in a solvent, or in the form of an emulsion or colloidal dispersion in water. This results in solvent-borne and water-borne paints, respectively.

• The solvent/liquid carrier is used to effect application of the coating. It may be water or an organic solvent, or a mixture of both, and thins the paint or varnish, allowing it to be brushed, sprayed, dipped or rolled.

• Once on the substrate, the solvent evaporates, leaving the dry film coating. The term 'liquid carrier' is preferable because the liquid may not be a true solvent for the binder.

• Additives are used, in small amounts, to modify the film or paint. Examples are driers, which promote the drying time of some coatings; flow-control agents, which give a smooth surface; defoamers, which prevent the formation of bubbles that could dry in the film; and anti-skinning agents to prevent the paint from forming a 'skin' in the can

Water Base Vs. Solvent Base

• Water-based: non-flammable, clean up with water, quick drying in good conditions, low VOC content, low odor, non-yellowing

• Solvent-based: better drying in cold, damp conditions, better low-temperature storage, no can corrosion problems, less wood-grain raising, higher gloss

Fire retardant and fire resistant coatings

flame retardant paints slow the rate of flame spread

intumescent coatings bubble up, or expand, when exposed to extremely high heat

fire resistant paints are not as effective at controlling the spread of flames as intumescent, or fire retardant paints.fire resistant paint does not burn, but it also does not help

control the spread of the flames

• Washing machine manufacturers do not need to buy cans of paint to give color to their products.

• Instead, they buy huge rolls of sheet steel already treated and coated with flexible and durable paints that allow the appliance casings to be cut and formed into shape without damage.

• This technique, known as 'coil coating', used to make this 'bendable' paint. A thin coil of the metal to be painted is cleaned and pretreated before being fed along a coating line whereby the primer, top and back paint layers are applied in two stages. After each paint application, the coil is oven cured and allowed to cool before the painted coil emerges at the end of the process. The coating is formulated to have great flexibility, allowing the coated metal to be manipulated without the paint cracking.

Wallcoverings

• Wallcoverings offer improved durability over typical paint finishes while providing texture and pattern to the wall surface.

• The most widely used wallcoverings for commercial use are vinyls.

• There is a classification system used to compare all types of commercial wallcovering.

• This is the ASTM F793 Standard Classification of Wallcoverings by Durability Characteristics.

Wallcovering Classification

• Category 1: decorative only• Category 2: decorative with medium

serviceability• Category 3: decorative with high serviceability• Category 4: Type I Commercial serviceability• Category 5: Type II Commercial serviceability• Category 6: Type III Commercial serviceability

Vinyl Wallcoverings

• There is a special standard that describes vinyl wallcovering as:

• Type I: light duty, with a minimum weight of 7 oz/sq. yard

• Type II: medium duty, with a minimum weight of 13 oz/sq. yard

• Type III: heavy duty, with a minimum weight of 22 oz/sq. yard

Materials & Backings

• Vinyl: • scrim, a loosely woven fabric backing used on Type I

vinyls• Osnaburg, a loose open weave fabric used on Type II

vinyls • Drill, a dense woven fabric with good dimensional

stability used on Type II and Type III vinyls• Nonwoven, a paperlike backing used on Type I vinyls.

Surface Materials for Walls

• Wood Veneer: bonding wood veneer (about 1/64" thick)

to a woven backing material.

• Textiles: paper backing or a latex coating

• Fiberglass: a fiberglass fabric that is applied to a backing. Fiberglass wallcoverings must be painted after they are installed.

• Wallpaper: paper wallcoverings are generally restricted to residential use because of fragility and poor wear resistance.

Wall Preparation

• Four traditional ways to prepare a wall surface to receive a wallcovering:

• Seal: usually oil based

• Size: reduces the absorbency of the surface• Prime: assure proper adhesion

• Wall liner: nonwoven sheets; cover cracks or holes in preparation for a finished wallcovering

Upholstered Wall Systems

• site constructed coverings that stretch fabric taut over a frame and infill material. the frame material is typically either a plastic extrusion, or a wood frame.

Upholstered Panels

Ceiling Finishes

• Ceilings are central in defining the volume of a space and shape the diffusion of sound and light within a space.

• Ceilings also typically conceal an array of systems components, in a plenum space.

• Ceilings in a space can be:– suspended– exposed– tightly attached

Ceiling Components Manufactured by Armstrong

GRG: glass reinforced gypsum

• glass reinforced gypsum (GRG): is used to make shapes that used to be made of plaster; column covers, domes,

and molded to nearly any shape.• GRG is much stronger than standard gypsum board.