Intercrete Masonry Units

Lightweight plaster. Suitable undercoats include British Gypsum’s Thistle Bonding, Thistle Hardwall and Thistle Tough Coat. The finishing coat can include Thistle Multi-Finish or similar.

Dense plaster. A backing coat of 1:1:6 cement: lime: sand or 1:5 to 6 cement: sand,with added plasticiser with a setting coat of gypsum plaster, e.g. Thistle Multi-Finish or similar. 

Depending on exposure conditions, it may be necessary to treat the surface with a spatterdash coat of 1:1 cement: sand: followed when dry and hard with a backing coat 10mm thickness of 1:1:6 cement: lime: sand, ruled out, and lightly scratched. A final or subsequent coat of 5 mm thickness using the same mix finished with a wood float, is applied. All types of paint finishes are satisfactory.

In housing where walls are often plastered, ceramic tiling is fixed with proprietary adhesive. In buildings other than housing, the wall is rendered using a mix of 1:4 cement: sand, ruled out level, and the tiles are fixed using an adhesive. Adequate drying time should be given to the render coat before tiling commences.

Intercrete Close Textured units can be painted directly using cement or water-based paints. An economic finish can be achieved using a mist coat (diluted emulsion) followed by 2 coats of emulsion.  The paint can be brush or spray applied. The opacity will depend upon the quality of the paint and the number of coats applied.

Drylining using Gypsum Wallboard or similar, fixed either by adhesive dabs, or screw fixing to metal firrings, or nailing to timber battens. If required, thermal laminate plasterboards can be used, fixed in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations.

Cutting:

Cut with a bolster. Use of mechanical cutting lowers wastage and enables cleaner cuts when fair face work is involved. Norton Clipper masonry saws or similar are recommended. Chasing dense concrete masonry is laborious and should be avoided where possible. If unavoidable it should be carried out using mechanical means.

Chasing:

For fast efficient chasing, use a disc cutter or Kango electric hammer with chasing bit.

Fixings:

Use masonry nails or screw fixings and proprietary plugs into standard strength material. Masonry nails may be required into high strength material. Joint mortar can be utilised for minor fixings.

Interfuse Ltd operates a formalised Quality Assurance system at both Syston and Gainsborough plants. All masonry units are subject to stringent quality control checks and are tested daily in our own laboratory. A documented factory production control system is in operation with regular checks made on raw materials, production and finished units. A stock control system is in operation with written procedures for non-conforming products. All products are produced to the current European Standards.

Each pack is marked for traceability of product and unit clarification, as given on the delivery ticket.

The environmental impact of Intercrete constructions can be assessed by referring to BRE’s Green Guide to Specification, with many constructions achieving the highest A or A+ rating.

At the end of the life of the building, Intercrete units, which are inert, can be crushed down and recycled. ­Their use in buildings will far exceed the usual 60-year design life expectancy, making Intercrete a very sustainable material.