Porcelain Honeycomb Panels for Facade Renovation: Recladding and Overcladding

Recladding or Overcladding: What Changes in the Existing Wall?

Recladding removes the existing facing and replaces it with a new assembly. Overcladding retains some or all of the existing facade and adds a new outer assembly. Both can use lightweight panels, but they do not solve the same site conditions.

Removal exposes the original substrate, making deterioration and fixing locations easier to examine. It also creates demolition waste and a period when the old weather protection is absent. Retaining the facing avoids part of that demolition, but the new support system must pass through or stand clear of the retained material. The old finish does not become a structural support simply because it remains in place.

Swipe sideways to compare both renovation routes.

Recladding and overcladding compared by project task

Project task	Remove and replace	Retain and cover
Existing layers	Remove the facing and unsuitable original supports. Inspect and repair the backing before the new work closes it.	Retain identified suitable layers. Record their condition and include their mass in the complete wall proposal.
Fixing path	Connect the new panel and rail assembly to the exposed, evaluated backing.	Reach the structural backing through or around retained layers; resolve longer stand-offs and intervening voids.
Opening depth	Coordinate the replacement assembly against the existing frame, sill and head after removal.	Check the additional projection of the outer face and any sill extensions, returns and drainage changes.
Work sequence	Allow for demolition, backing repair and temporary weather protection before closing each zone.	Coordinate survey openings, drilling, new supports and panel delivery around retained construction.

Decide what stays before comparing quotations. A price for panels fixed to an exposed, repaired concrete wall cannot be compared directly with a price that includes long brackets, drilling through old finishes and new window flashings.

Survey the Existing Facing, Substrate and Water Damage

Begin with the material that is actually on the building, its attachment and the backing behind it. Record whether the old facade is adhered tile, mechanically fixed stone, precast, masonry or another construction. Photograph representative bays, corners, ground-level damage and window interfaces so a later drawing can be traced to a real location.

A local opening is especially useful when drawings do not match the building. It can reveal adhesive thickness, the position of a backing wall and whether a visually solid area conceals a cavity. Record what the opening shows rather than extending one observation to the whole elevation. Conditions near a parapet, a window and the bottom of the wall can differ because water enters and drains at different locations.

Map cracks, staining, loose pieces and displaced joints. A stain below a window may indicate a failing sill or membrane interface; adding a new panel without correcting that route can leave the source of water in place. When original supports will be removed, record how the wall is temporarily protected during the interval before the new assembly closes it.

The survey should leave the team with elevations marked by construction type, photographs keyed to those elevations, opening locations and a clear list of areas that require repair or further investigation. This is more useful to a facade designer than a folder of unlocated close-up photographs.

Compare Removed, Retained and Added Dead Loads

Calculate the change in load for each route rather than describing the panel alone as light. The simple mass calculation is area × mass per unit area. The net change then adds the new panel, rails, brackets and other new layers and subtracts the material actually removed.

This example explains why the same panel can produce different renovation outcomes. A replacement route removes weight as well as adding it; an overlay adds an outer assembly to what remains. It also shows why a reduction in facing weight does not establish the capacity of an individual anchor or an original wall.

For the new product inputs, use the panel thickness, size and weight guide. A 1,200 × 2,800 mm panel has an area of 3.36 m². At the example 12 kg/m², its panel mass is 40.32 kg. Add any attached hardware when preparing a handling plan, and use the actual package mass for unloading crates.

The product’s own wall comparison gives another useful reference: 28 kg/m² for its traditional 12 mm solid ceramic configuration versus approximately 9–16 kg/m² for the PU composite. At 1200 × 2800 mm, that is about 94 kg against 30–54 kg. Replacing that facing with the composite reduces the weight of each large piece and the facing mass transferred to the new supports. For natural stone or another existing finish, use the surveyed material weight in the same calculation.

Weight is only one reason to select the PU fiberglass backing for recladding. Its thermal movement is closer to the ceramic face, helping reduce temperature-related bending, cracking and delamination within the new panel. Maintaining the panel plane also helps rear fittings stay aligned during hanging. The thermal-expansion and backing comparison explains this material choice.

Trace the New Panel Loads Back to the Structure

The new panel transfers its weight and wind actions through its rear connection, the supporting rails and brackets, and the anchors into the building. In an overclad wall, those supports may cross old facing, insulation or a void before reaching the structure. Each intervening layer changes the connection geometry.

Measure the stand-off distance from the structural backing to the rail. Increasing it changes bracket geometry and the space needed to level the rail system. Identify where anchors encounter old joints, voids or damaged areas so the support layout can be coordinated before drilling begins.

Funtek’s material shows rear connections using embedded M8 components and riveted or mating fittings for relevant arrangements. The panel installation and fixing guide explains those panel-side details. A renovation drawing must also show how the selected connection reaches the existing structure; repeating a typical panel clip does not complete that drawing.

Do not use the flatness of a thin new facing to correct a distorted old support. Establish the supporting plane first. Otherwise the installer may be forced to pull a panel toward misplaced fittings, creating local stresses and losing the alignment that the new facade was intended to provide.

Resolve Window Returns, Corners, Drainage and Fire Interfaces

A new outer face changes the depth of every window reveal. Measure the proposed finished plane against the existing frame, sill and head. A sill that projects beyond the old wall may end behind the new surface, leaving water without a clear route out. Its extension, joints and end conditions must be considered with the panel return.

At corners, determine whether two flat panels meet, a separate return is used or a prefabricated corner is proposed. The choice affects the visible edge, rear fixing clearance and panel dimensions. Use the fabrication, exposed-edge and corner guide to develop these parts without treating an aluminum honeycomb panel’s folding method as a ceramic fabrication method.

Keep rainwater exits, ventilation paths and required cavity barriers visible on the proposed sections. A retained layer can interrupt a new drainage path; a bracket can cross a cavity barrier; a deep return can cover a weep. These are spatial coordination questions that should be resolved while the wall is still on the drawing.

The composite’s product fire classification and the requirements for a complete exterior wall are different pieces of information. Select the actual panel construction and match it to the project’s wall requirements, including retained materials, insulation and cavity details. The refurbishment route should not conceal old combustible layers from the assessment.

Plan Phased Work Around Occupied Areas

Split the elevation into work zones that can be surveyed, prepared, enclosed and handed over in a defined order. A zone should be small enough to protect while open and large enough to use the access equipment and delivery space efficiently. Tenant entrances, escape routes and deliveries have to remain compatible with that order.

Coordinate panel IDs and crate contents with the zones. If the first required corner panel is packed behind materials for a later floor, the crew has to move and expose more finished pieces than the installation needs. The receiving and handling workflow explains how the delivery record and panel register can preserve that sequence.

Before removing a facing, identify the temporary weather protection and the point at which the next zone can open. Lighter, reinforced pieces and rear fittings that can be aligned to the coordinated supports help the crew move and position panels within each zone. The documented installation comparison gives the weight, crew and fixing-work differences; combine that work with the site access and repair sequence when scheduling an occupied building.

Turn the Survey into a Reviewable Renovation Proposal

A useful initial proposal has two short wall sections: the existing assembly and the proposed assembly. Show the structural backing, retained or removed finish, bracket stand-off, rail, panel build-up and finished face. Add one representative opening and one external corner so the elevation is connected to the detail work.

For the 300 m² example above, the proposal would record the surveyed 30 kg/m² existing facing, the example 12 kg/m² new panel, the separate support-system allowance and the chosen removal route. It would also identify the window-sill changes and the zone order. Those items explain the design choice more clearly than an unsupported percentage saving.

Then list the items needed to release the next stage: repaired backing, accepted connection details, panel schedule, opening details and representative sample. The existing facade mock-up and testing plan can help structure the sample stage without repeating that whole process here.

Overseas manufacturers also treat renovation as a separate use case. Funtek porcelain honeycomb panels provide the thin face and reinforced backing discussed here; the wall survey and project details determine how that product is integrated into an existing building. For examples of the category’s overseas use, see Coldspring’s StoneLite renovation applications. Its projects illustrate possible routes; develop the proposed wall details for the selected product.