Methods of making smooth reinforced cementitious boards

1. A method of making a reinforced smooth cementitious board having a cement skin adjacent to an outer face, comprising:

(a) depositing a reinforcement fabric and a layer of hydraulic cementitious material, one on the other, wherein the reinforcement fabric comprises an open mesh united with a thin, porous nonwoven web, wherein the open mesh has glass fibers encapsulated with an alkali resistant material, and joined with a binder at intersection areas thereof within the open mesh;

(b) prior to depositing the reinforcement fabric and the layer of hydraulic cementitious material one on the other, applying a slurry having a cement powder and one or more of hydrophilic additives, wetting agents, foaming agents and foam boosters to either or both of the open mesh and the thin, porous nonwoven web, and drying the slurry;

(c) penetrating the open mesh with the layer of hydraulic cementitious material and imbedding the open mesh in the layer of hydraulic cementitious material;

(d) promoting penetration through the thin, porous nonwoven web by a portion of the layer of hydraulic cementitious material to form the cement skin adjacent to the outer face by having the thin, porous nonwoven web comprise alkali resistant polymer fibers coated with a hydrophilic material;

(e) penetrating through the thin, porous nonwoven web by said portion of the layer of hydraulic cementitious material to form the cement skin adjacent to the outer face and embed the thin, porous nonwoven web in the layer of hydraulic cementitious material at a depth from the outer face; and

(f) curing the layer of hydraulic cementitious material to form a layer of hardened cementitious material imbedding the open mesh and the thin, porous nonwoven web at a depth from the outer face, wherein a portion of the layer of hardened cementitious material comprises the cement skin adjacent to the outer face.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the open mesh includes coextruded alkali resistant material and glass fibers to provide sheathed glass fibers sheathed by the alkali resistant material.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the open mesh includes the glass fibers wrapped with fibers of an alkali resistant material and heat fused to the glass fibers.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nonwoven web has been made with alkali resistant polymer fibers having thereon a hydrophilic material.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nonwoven web has been made with alkali resistant polymer fibers of a polymer or copolymer of olefin, ethylene, butylene, vinyl, styrene or butadiene, and having thereon the hydrophilic material.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nonwoven web has been made as either a spun bonded web of the fibers having the hydrophilic material thereon or a carded web of the fibers having the hydrophilic material thereon.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the open mesh and the thin, porous nonwoven web have a coating of one or more of surfactants, hydrophilic compounds, foam boosters/stabilizers, and polar polymer topical solutions.