Fiber cement board is a low-maintenance and durable composite material made with cellulose fibers, cement, and sand. Builders and homeowners widely prefer it due to its excellent features. Although it’s commonly used for wall cladding of residential and commercial buildings, here are a few other uses of it.
1. Facade Cladding
There are several ways in which you can use cement fiberboard to level up your facade design. Cement fiber-based cladding products are mostly available in plank format with a thickness of around 8 mm and in different dimensions. One can easily fix these planks with steel, cement, or wooden substrates through adhesives or screws. Application area differs according to the purpose of usage like exterior walls, gates, lobby, facades, etc.
2. Ceiling
Cement fiber-based ceiling materials are available in two forms – tile and board/sheet. Different textured finishes are available for ceiling tiles. In a grid design, cement boards can be used in the form of traditional ceiling and ceiling tiles. The grid model is the best choice for projects where acoustic properties are essential, like auditoriums, halls, shared workspace, hospitals, malls, and theaters.
3. Dry Walls
Fiber cement-based wall partition solutions are best suited for high-speed construction works, mainly for a non-load bearing wall. Drywalls are comparatively lighter, easier to build, and removes the ‘curing time’ associated with brick and mortar-based construction. Cement fiber-based drywalls are more durable than gypsum drywall systems and are highly recommended in wet areas. In fact, many companies have now introduced ready-made sandwich panels made of cement fiberboard and aerated cement concrete filling for speedy construction. These premade walls can be decorated with paint, texture, wallpaper, and veneer.
4. Flooring
Cement fiber boards can be used in both traditional floors and mezzanine floors. It can withstand high pressure in heavy footfall areas. Mezzanine floors are commonly used for industrial purposes where the board acts as the final finished floor with a suitable steel, timber, or plywood framework.
5. Duct Covering
This is one of the best utilizations of fiber cement board – as it adds an aesthetic appeal to the external facade of a building when used as the casing of service pipes. MS framing is needed for this application. Different types of finishing options are available – like paint or texture or tiles and cladding, even laser or water-jet cutting can be used to enhance the external view of the casing.
6. Kitchen Cabinets and Countertop
Cement fiber boards are a great choice to build modular kitchen cabinets. Mainly 16 or 18 mm thickness boards are utilized to fabricate cupboards.
For countertop 8/12/18/20/25 mm, Cement fiber panels are ideal depending on the kind of use. One may use it as countertops in timber or MS/GI frameworks. As they are resistant to termites, moisture, and fire, they are suitable for commercial, residential, and housing applications.
So we see how versatile fiber cement boards can be. Globally, the manufacturing and consumption of cement boards are continuously increasing. A significant chunk of cement board applications is for commercial purposes rather than residential purposes.
