TUTORIAL: Application of External Thermal Insulation SATE, tips by phases and substrates

In today’s tutorial, we give you specific advice for each of the phases to be considered in the application of the External Thermal Insulation System (EIFS).

First of all, it is necessary to take into account the substrates compatible with the installation of the SATE: traditional substrates such as ceramic brick, concrete block or prefabricated concrete. Substrates in renovation such as mortar sides, paints, exposed brick or ceramic cladding such as OSB, CLT… And we must also assess the surface conditions, such as cleanliness, hardness or permeability. Once these aspects have been checked, we can start to apply the SATE:

WATERPROOFING: Waterproof with a flexible continuous cementitious membrane PROPAM® IMPE FLEX up to 50cm high. It will also be very important to paint a section of the floor when applying it to the wall.

FIXING THE PROFILE We will fix the profile every 30 cm with zinc-plated screws, we will use connectors to ensure a minimum separation of 2 or 3 mm between profiles and thus allow the expansion of the profile with thermal shocks.

CLIP PROFILE INSTALLATION: Prior to laying the insulation board, we recommend using a PVC clip profile to clip the starting profile, for plaster up to 6mm. This minimises the risk of cracks appearing.

GLUING PLATES: Apply the PROPAM® AISTERM adhesion mortar around the entire perimeter of the plate, in a bead about 6/8 cm wide and 3 or 4 cm thick. We will also place three palm-sized central blocks, and the contact surface between the substrate and the panel must be at least 40%, with the adhesive as specified in the Lite. Installation shall always be joint-breaking, avoiding pieces smaller than 200mm by 500mm. Filling joints: Never fill joints between panels with adhesive or regularisation material. If this is done, we will be stiffening this area and it will be marked. If joints of more than 2mm are left, they should always be filled with expanded polyurethane foam or with the same insulating material.

APPLICATION WITH 8mm TOOTHED TROWEL: This ensures the recommended thickness in the first layer of reinforcement with PROPAM® AISTERM FIBRE GLASS MESH 160, which should overlap each other by 10 to 15cm.

FINISHING: Finish the installation of the SATE with a second coat of 1.5 mm, smoothing the surface with the smooth part of the trowel or blade that we use.

HOLES IN THE BUILDING: The placement of gun plates must be done in all the holes of the building, or in the corners of the windows. The edge of the panel must never coincide with the vertical or horizontal edge of the frame on the reinforced mesh. On the surface, we will also place PROPAM® AISTERM GLASS FIBRE MESH 160 and measures 25×40, or similar, on the corners of the building’s openings. Subsequently, we will apply the corner profile with mesh.