Aerated Concrete Block Preperation Prior to PVC Wall Cladding

[Tez162003]

Hi everyone, first post, new to the forum, it's been a while since I've been on a forum (car foums back in the day) but gave up car money pits to get a house money pit instead.

So, I am going to be PVC cladding the internal walls of my garage (same as Altro Whiterock). The reason being its more durable than boarding the walls, plus plasterboard will be too thick to install where the garage door tracks fix to the walls.

The walls are a mixture of aerated concrete blocks, brick and brick piers. I have stripped the facing brickwork of any of its texture to 'smooth it out' and have sanded the blockwork so that the faces are flush, the cladding is only 2.5mm thick with a 4mm full covaergae adhesive I cant have any excessive raised blockwork faces, being its a garage the builder clearly wasn't giving it thier A-game when laying the blocks here.

So, the below picture is where its at now, the blockwork is very pourous and I imagine sealing the blockwork would be best to help the cladding adhere to the walls. So the question is, what should i use to prep the walls (particularly the blockwork) prior to installing the caldding panels? Will PVA be good enough (if so what ratios PVA / water) or does anyone recommend anythign else?

Thanks for the help, looking forward to contributing more as I start some of my bigger projects.

 

[Swwils]

What's the purpose of the cladding? To make it look better?

Or do you have a use for the space in mind.

 

[Tez162003]

Like a lot of people want with their houses, one goal is to make it look better and put your own personal touch on something. The main aim is to have a very clean, simplistic space, large format tiled flooring, cladded walls, modular storage cabinets to one side and a TV on the other. The space will be used for car work but mostly detailing, so walls that can be wiped clean easily are ideal.

 

[Swwils]

Why not get it skimmed?

 

[Notch7]

Like a lot of people want with their houses, one goal is to make it look better and put your own personal touch on something. The main aim is to have a very clean, simplistic space, large format tiled flooring, cladded walls, modular storage cabinets to one side and a TV on the other. The space will be used for car work but mostly detailing, so walls that can be wiped clean easily are ideal.

is it cavity construction?

I’m just wondering if you get damp on the walls ever?

I clad part of my garage with melamine faced mdf - which I slightly regret as in the winter, It gets condensation on it which gets on anything hung up against the wall.

I hope your garage is drier and warmer than mine and won’t suffer the same fate.

 

[Tez162003]

The walls are a mixture, the RHS is an external wall and the LHS is external up the the brick pier at which point its internal. All external walls are cavity except for a random section in the middle that is just single skin brick, and the back wall is internal too.

I didn't go with skimming the walls as I've never been told anything good about doing that from the people i've spoken to, plus again it would be a painted finish which i didn't really want.

Other options are out the window now anyways, the pallet in the middle of the floor in the picture is the cladding (all the trim pieces are elsewhere), but I cant install it until i know whats best to prepare the aerated blockwork. I assume PVA will be fine say minimum 24 hours before installing the cladding, PVA would seals the face, stops dust and stops the moisture from the adhesive getting sapped into the masonry.

Just to note before anyone mentions it, the cladding will only be going down as far as the DPC as to not bridge the DPC and introduce potential future rising damp isues.

 

[Tez162003]

is it cavity construction?

I’m just wondering if you get damp on the walls ever?

I clad part of my garage with melamine faced mdf - which I slightly regret as in the winter, It gets condensation on it which gets on anything hung up against the wall.

I hope your garage is drier and warmer than mine and won’t suffer the same fate.

The only damp i've seen is damp in the engineeing brick below DPC to one corner near the garage door. The garage is internal / part of the house so hopefully it is reasonably warm for a garage come winter. The plan is to effectively make a 'detailing bay' so the walls will not have anything on them, other than a TV on a brakcet away from the wall.