ᐅ Installing External Thermal Insulation Composite Systems (ETICS) on the Facade Yourself

Hello everyone,

I have a question regarding the installation of an external thermal insulation composite system (ETICS) on our facade. I have already plastered the entire interior of our house. I have also installed internal insulation and am very satisfied with the result. Now, I am considering applying the ETICS (Neopor) to our house myself. My question is: can I work on it in sections? I am thinking of the following approach:

Adhere the insulation boards (the house is 5 meters (16 feet) high and 17 meters (56 feet) long) over the full height and about 5 meters (16 feet) wide. Then apply the reinforcing mesh over that area before moving on to the next section...

For the topcoat plaster, I would hire professionals to plaster the entire surface in one go.

Do you think this approach is feasible?

If you follow the installation guidelines, it should be doable. Reinforcement is definitely necessary because Neopor is sensitive to UV light. Don’t forget the impact anchors!

However, whether a professional company will plaster it for you is another matter. They will probably not want to provide any warranty.

We had extremely bad luck with the company that did the insulation (also Neopor) — they suddenly disappeared without a trace halfway through. No other company wanted to finish the work!

So if you start the work yourself, you should also be able to finish it on your own.

Instead of plaster, for simplicity’s sake, you could apply flexible (cures to hard) thin cladding panels directly over the reinforcement layer. We will definitely do this because the plaster job looks really poor. These do not need grouting since they are so thin; after bonding, you can simply smooth the adhesive mortar in the joints with a brush, and it’s done. Suitable products are available, for example, from Elastolith (Hornbach). They look like brick slips, weigh only about 7kg/sqm (1.4 lb/sq ft), and are quite affordable.

I also think that should work. You probably want to do it that way because of the scaffolding?

Regarding plastering, I would advise you to inform yourself beforehand. It would obviously be quite unfortunate if you then have problems with a company because of that.

But why hire a company if you have already plastered everything yourself inside?