AQUAPANEL® Cement Board Indoor is specifically designed for interior applications such as internal partitions, as lining of building components, and interior suspended ceilings. While it excels indoors, it's not recommended for exterior use due to several key reasons:
- Limited weather resistance: AQUAPANEL® Cement Board Indoor has lower hydrophobic properties compared to AQUAPANEL® Cement Board Outdoor. It has higher number of capillary pores which means it absorbs more water, making it susceptible to frost damage when exposed to exterior conditions.
- Inadequate strength to handle wind pressure: AQUAPANEL® Cement Board Indoor is a relatively "soft" material meaning it's less capable of withstanding wind loads effectively. In case of high wind pressure, there could be deflections in the board, potentially compromising structural integrity.
- Additionally, the use of expanded clay as an aggregate in AQUAPANEL® Cement Board Indoor makes it less suitable for dynamic loads compared to the expanded shale used in AQUAPANEL® Cement Board Outdoor. The expanded shale blends itself better in the Portland cement, which counteracts the vibration due to wind loads.