Types of building materials for walls. What should we build a house: what is better, what material to choose, what house is better and cheaper? Favorite: cheap foam concrete house
Home is what we leave behind, what connects generations. What this memory of us will be depends on us. True, the construction of a house strongly depends on the amount of our money, and on the climate of the area where it is located. And now it is dazzling from the variety of building materials in the eyes. Therefore, in order for the house to be strong, cozy and stand for a long time, it is necessary to take into account not only the merits of this or that material, but also its shortcomings, so that our beauty does not decay and crumble in a few years.
Basic materials for building a house
With all the diversity and dissimilarity of houses, we build them practically from only two materials: wood and stone. In fairness, it should be noted that they are specially processed, they are given the properties necessary in each specific case.
Let's look at a tree: a rounded log, a simple and glued beam, a gun carriage. Everything seems to be from the same material, but the characteristics, for example, of glued laminated timber and rounded logs differ like heaven and earth. But there are still frame houses, also consisting of wood and insulation.
Under the stone, in general, it is not meant a wild stone (it mainly goes for backfilling for a foundation or for decorative finishing), but artificially created. Well, since it was created by the mind and hands of a person, then the properties of the stone were given such as the person needed. And no matter how frightening the abundance of brands and standards of such a stone, it easily fits into the following classification:
Brick;
Blocks where the binder is cement;
Building blocks made without the use of cement, based on lime or clay.
The greatest variety of manufacturing technologies (hence, types) exists in the second group, that is, the group of building blocks made on the basis of cement.In housing construction, lightweight concretes are most often used, which differ in the brand of cement, the composition of the filler, and the composition of the heat-insulating component. And already, depending on these characteristics, it is possible to distinguish cellular concretes, where air or gas bubbles serve as thermal insulation, and blocks, where this role is played by expanded clay, wood chips or foam balls. However, in order...
Brick: pros and cons
Yes, the brick is durable, frost-resistant, not afraid of fungus and does not rot. It is not afraid of precipitation and does not burn, solar ultraviolet does not have any effect on the brick. The brick is durable, and also meets all environmental and aesthetic standards. The strength of the house is explained both by the quality of the material and the method of laying - each next laid row of bricks knits the previous one, that is, there are no vertical seams passing through at least two rows.
Due to the high thermal conductivity of the brick, the house cools down quickly, and it takes several days to warm it up so that it does not seem that the house is damp. This is quite simply explained: when laying, the thickness of the solution is somewhere 1 cm , and with small brick sizes, such a thickness of mortar is no longer a "bridge", but a real "bridge" of cold. The deadlines for the delivery of brick houses are usually delayed, since they cannot be immediately plastered for two reasons: shrinkage of the house (and the house will certainly settle due to its significant weight) and the moisture in the solution, which takes several months to completely evaporate. In addition to all these shortcomings, a brick can collapse if it absorbs moisture before winter. And this is possible even if all brick production technologies are observed, if clay with salts dissolved in it is caught: water will wash the salt out of the brick, and it will occupy the voids itself. This is the beginning of a destructive process.And one moment. The cost of brick production is at least one and a half times more expensive than the production of other materials from which walls are erected. Considering that a brick is several times smaller than any other building block, the labor intensity of construction increases significantly. Together, the price and laboriousness make a brick house quite expensive.
Properties of cellular concrete
Cellular concrete includes foam concrete and aerated concrete blocks. Inside the concrete in the first case there are cells with air, in the second - with hydrogen. In the first case, bubbles form as a result of foaming, the concrete hardens under normal conditions. In the second, aluminum powder or paste is added to the solution, which, when interacting with water, release gas (hydrogen). The solution "grows", it is sent to an autoclave, where it solidifies at a certain temperature and pressure. Let's look at the pros and cons of these materials separately.
foam concrete
we knew in the middle of the last century, but they started building from it recently, when they started talking about heat saving everywhere. After all, air is an excellent heat insulator. At the same time, almost no sounds pass through the foam concrete. Since foam blocks are light and larger than bricks, laying does not become a time-consuming process. And it’s easy to ditch walls for communication systems. How easy it is to give the block various shapes, which means you can create bay windows, make an oval wall, etc. In addition, foam concrete does not burn and is easy to transport.
The disadvantages include a rather high moisture absorption (though at a shallow depth). The walls require annual settlement, and they must stand on stable slab foundations, otherwise significant cracks appear on the blocks as a result of deformations.
aerated concrete
even lighter than foam concrete, perfectly processed (it can be cutwith an ordinary hacksaw, drill with ordinary drills, etc.). Heat-insulating and noise-protective functions are also on top. Lightness requires less labor, and good heat-shielding properties reduce the amount of material needed. With all this, one should not forget about high strength at a relatively low price.
Disadvantages can appear in two cases. The wall breathes and therefore gradually accumulates moisture. To eliminate this phenomenon, you need a wall finish with good waterproofing. The second minus is the fragility of aerated concrete, that is, the wall should not experience any movement in order to avoid cracks. And for this you need a solid strip foundation.Other lightweight concretes
These concretes are heavier than cellular ones: instead of gas or air, which change the properties of the wall material, they contain heavier components. Therefore, these concretes are approximately 1.2 - 1.5 times heavier than water, while dry foam concrete and aerated concrete can be held on the surface of the water. Nevertheless, these components are not crushed stone, gravel, but wood, expanded clay, that is, compared to heavy concrete, this material has a much lower specific gravity.
Expanded clay concrete
contains a relatively light component(foamed and baked clay). With a low weight of the blocks, this material is durable, versatile (not only load-bearing walls are laid from it, but also partitions, and they also fill frames in monolithic housing construction). The material is an excellent sound insulator, it is more moisture resistant than concrete, it is better resistant to aggressive environments, and in terms of other best qualities it is not inferior to cellular concrete.
The porosity of expanded clay concrete, improving its thermal and noise-protective qualities, reduces frost resistance, due to the ingress of moisture into the pores. Porosity also affects strength: you always have to accurately calculate whether the lower blocks can withstand the load of the rest of the structure (does our private developer know the strength of materials?).
IN polystyrene concrete
the role of a heat and sound insulator is played by polystyrene balls evenly distributed in concrete. It seems that the material is good for everyone: it is both warm and durable, it retains noise well, it is light and not expensive, but everything crosses out one drawback. But what...In a fire, polystyrene begins to melt, releasing toxins.
slag concrete
The name is more collective than specific. The point is that inas a filler in this building material, there can be both slag and coal, ash, an admixture of expanded clay with something, screenings, etc. Specifically, slag is used from the waste of metallurgical production. To comply with environmental standards, it is aged outdoors for a year. For external walls, blocks with a large fraction of the filler are ideal, for internal walls - with a fine one. Voids to improve thermal properties are created using special molds for the production of this type of concrete. The material is strong, cheap, very durable. The high speed of the construction of cinder block walls is also important.
The disadvantages include low sound insulation. It is understandable, a denser material - higher sound conductivity. Also, the material is afraid of water ingress, so it is desirable to veneer it. But if you overlay a house of cinder blocks with bricks, then this significantly increases the cost of construction. In addition, it is bad to lay communications in cinder concrete, and if some kind of groove or hole is needed, it is better to foresee them in advance and put a bar in the right place in the cinder block blank.
Arbolite blocks
is a building material, the main components of which are concrete and organic filler: wood chips, flax fiber or seed cake, from which oil has already been squeezed. Of course, most often it is wood chips. A characteristic feature of wood concrete is that, unlike other lightweight concretes, there is only 10-20% concrete in it, everything else is wood chips.
A house made of such blocks in terms of properties is more like a wooden house, but unlike it, it is practically not susceptible to microorganisms and fungi. One of its interesting material properties is that a block of arbolite is able to restore its shape when ultimate loads are stopped. It keeps heat in and keeps noise out. It does not burn, but when exposed to an open flame, it begins to smolder. It is necessary to remove the source of the flame - smoldering stops. Eco-friendly, breathable material.The disadvantage of arbolite is increased moisture permeability, and therefore inside the room the relative humidity cannot exceed 75%, but outside there must be a cladding. The foundation must rise above the blind area by at least half a meter so that spray does not fly onto the wood concrete blocks. For the same half a meter, the roof overhangs should extend beyond the walls so that water rarely hits the wall.
Blocks without cement
When choosing a material for building walls, you can come acrossgas silicate
. Attention! Do not confuse it with aerated concrete. We already know that cement is needed for the production of aerated concrete. In the production of gas silicate, lime acts as a binding element. The porous structure is acquired due to gases released during the interaction of quicklime with aluminum particles. And what is the difference between the qualities of gas silicate and aerated concrete? Aerated concrete due to cement is more durable, gas silicate due to lime reduces heat loss and better protects against noise. With all the high qualities of gas silicate blocks (lightness, insulating properties, low cost, etc.), in them, as in foam concrete, the formation of a fungus is possible due to the porous structure.
ceramic blocks
also does not contain cement. In addition to clay, their composition may include sand and sawdust. The voids inside the blocks resemble honeycombs. Outside, on the side faces, the blocks have grooves and protrusions. This allows you to do without vertical seams when laying. As a building material, ceramic blocks are durable, they can be used to build multi-storey buildings. They are very light,good soundproofing and thermal insulation. A significant drawback of walls made of this material is the impossibility of perforating (and often just drilling) and fixing something on the walls, since the abundance of voids and the fragility of thin partitions do not allow even a cork to be installed.
It's time to explain why aerated concrete is the most correct material for the walls of a country house and no other material can compete with it in terms of its characteristics. I propose to consider together all the building materials currently on the market (including rare and exotic ones) and make sure that there is no better material than aerated concrete for low-rise construction.
But in any case, a frame house made of wooden wall materials is the best thing to choose in our time. Thus, we actually get that with all the variety of existing building materials, we are left with only two options:
House made of cellular concrete (aerated concrete)
Frame house
All other building materials, in principle, are not consistent and it makes no sense to consider them if you are building a house for the long term for long-term and comfortable operation. And now is the time to make a direct comparison of a house made of aerated concrete and a frame.
Let me remind you that in both cases we are guided by the fact that the house will be built on a monolithic foundation slab, that is, the low heat capacity of the walls of a frame house is not relevant in our case. If you decide to build a frame house on a pile foundation, then soberly understand that the heat capacity of such a house will tend to zero and any shutdown of heating in winter will lead to almost instant freezing of the whole house. If we are talking about a house for permanent residence and year-round operation, it must have an extremely high heat capacity of the building envelope, because. it is on this parameter that the comfort of operating such a house directly depends.
The main advantage of a frame house is the ability to get an incredibly “warm” wall at a minimum cost. This is directly related to the fact that for light insulation, the resistance to heat transfer per centimeter of thickness is 2-3 times less than that of solid wood or even aerated concrete.
The second predominantly frame houses is the speed of erection of the supporting frame of walls and roofs. In fact, the advantage is rather doubtful if you approach the house as a complex object. Because the subsequent finishing of the frame house, firstly, will no longer be so fast, and secondly, you will also have to tinker with the engineering systems. But if you want to get a roof over your head here and now (it doesn’t matter that you still have to work and work under this roof so that the house finally looks like a house), then you can agree to a frame house. The same applies to the recently popular modular houses assembled in production. Their manufacturers position the assembly in the hangar as an advantage for the customer, although in fact the customer should not care at all, because. This does not affect the production time in any way. But for the performer, the assembly under the roof of the hangar is a big plus, because. allows to reduce costs and downtime associated with the unpredictability of the weather, if we consider the option of building on the customer's site. But on the other hand, the customer becomes severely limited by the too small sizes of individual modules, which are completely uncomfortable for subsequent operation (for example, ceilings in a normal house should be at least 2.8 meters).
This is where the advantages of frame houses end and the disadvantages begin.
First, and most important. Frame houses are now being built by everyone who is not too lazy (because the cost of building a frame house is extremely low and you can “weld” well), which requires special control over compliance with construction technology. Otherwise, you can get such a barn, which will collapse at the slightest gust of wind. According to the link in the video, everything that could be broken was broken, but in fact, during a hurricane, it is very likely that a well-built frame house will collapse to one degree or another, and you need to be prepared for this. The calculation of loads for a frame house must be done more carefully than for a stone house, paradoxical as it may seem.
The second disadvantage of frame houses is the expensive finishing and laying of engineering systems in an open way. After all, it is forbidden to lay electrical wiring in combustible structures, and therefore it will have to be conducted in an open way, which is very doubtful from an aesthetic point of view. In a house made of cellular concrete, everything is much simpler - all communications and wires are laid in the walls, which are then plastered. Absolutely the same as they do in apartments.
By the way, about ventilation. If you “forget” to do it in an aerated concrete house, then the high vapor permeability of the walls will allow you to somehow cope with excess humidity in the house, and in a frame thermos house without ventilation with a microclimate, everything will be very bad.
What else?
The sound insulation of a frame house is just as bad as that of an unplastered cellular concrete house.
Hanging heavy objects on the walls is possible only on the supporting frame.
Mice and other pests can start in the walls of a frame house.
Fire hazard. Stone houses also burn, but this rarely leads to the collapse of walls and ceilings. The frame house burns down instantly, despite various impregnations for wood (remember that the electrician in the frame house can only be carried out in an open way).
The durability of a frame house rests on the service life of a wooden frame (and without protection, the tree will begin to rot). While stone building materials (including cellular concrete) are eternal, cement-based materials only become stronger over the years.
If we compare completely finished houses of the same area, with engineering systems and finishes, we can make an amazing discovery. The cost of work and materials for a frame house is almost identical to the cost of work and materials for building a house from aerated concrete. Of course, an aerated concrete house will turn out to be a little more expensive, because. during its construction, mechanization will be required, but this will be less than 10% of the total cost of all work.
Thus, we can conclude that aerated concrete is an ideal building material, which has no alternatives in principle. A frame house should be considered only if, for one reason or another, you do not have the opportunity to build a house from cellular concrete.
In the next part, we will choose the perfect roof for a country house. Don't switch!
Depending on whether brick, blocks or wood is used for construction, a private house can differ not only in quality, but also in price. If a person with an average income makes a choice in favor of a brick house, then he should keep in mind that other modern materials used for construction have higher heat retention rates. In this case, there will be a clear cost overrun on.
Regardless of the material used for the walls, cement or cement blocks are used for the foundation. Only their number and amount of expenditure varies, depending on what material it is supposed to build a house from and how easy it will be to determine the thickness and depth of the foundation.
The same can be said about the roof. The composition of the roof is selected depending on the requirements of heat retention indicators.
The best material for building a house
The best building material for a private house can be considered a tree. But even such an advantage will not become a key argument for people who have insufficient funds. Unfortunately, materials with high environmental cleanliness cannot yet be called universally available to the inhabitants of Russia.
Wood as a material has many advantages, but the main one is its high cost. For a person with an average income, the construction of housing from such material is in most cases not available.
Describing modern materials, one cannot help but recall that the inhabitants of some settlements use exclusively environmentally friendly materials for building houses (straw, clay, hay). But these options can be attributed rather to exotic and not very common in Russia.
If you use the block construction option, then the insulation will be the same as for a brick wall - expensive, but the material itself will be cheaper, so a private block house is the most profitable in recalculating the final costs.
In addition, with block construction, a private developer will significantly save on time costs. After all, blocks are much easier and faster to lay than bricks.
Insulation for a frame house is mineral wool or monolithic foam concrete. This is a good budget option for a person with limited financial resources. A more expensive option for insulation can be Ecowool. In some cases, polyurethane foam or polystyrene foam is used. From the outside, the insulation is sewn up with cement-bonded particle board (DSP), particle-cement board (SCP), plywood or OSB.
Facade plaster or siding is needed for sheathing or cladding at the last stage of construction. Considering the light construction of the frame of the house, we can conclude that the economical use of cement for the construction of the foundation. Therefore, for the budget option for building a private house, it is most advantageous to still choose frame technology.
If the option of moving out of town is seriously considered, the question of which is better to build a house for permanent residence comes to the fore. The choice of materials for construction depends on the preferences of the owner of the future housing, his financial capabilities, in some ways - on the prevailing local traditions. Of course, the specifics of the climatic conditions of the region and the characteristics of the soils on the site acquired for the construction of housing are taken into account.
Today, both traditional and new technologies are used for the construction of private houses. In order to opt for one of them, you need to figure out what problems you will encounter during large-scale construction work and during the operation of the finished building.
Criteria for choosing material for construction
When choosing a material for building a house, you should start from a number of important criteria:
- In order for the house to be comfortable for living at any time of the year, when choosing a material for construction, it is necessary to take into account the average winter temperatures of the region where it is planned to build it, comparing them with the thermal insulation qualities of future walls and ceilings.
- In addition, most potential owners seek to make their housing energy efficient. That is, with minimal energy costs, to obtain a comfortable temperature in the premises both in winter and in summer.
- The ability of a building material to become an effective barrier against external noise is especially important if the building is being built near a busy highway or railway.
- The durability and reliability of a residential building will directly depend on the strength of the selected material.
- The appearance of the building also plays an important role. Therefore, it is immediately necessary to decide: which version of the material is preferable - requiring or not requiring additional finishing.
- Of course, an important criterion is always the affordability of the material. In many ways, it depends on the region of construction.
- If the owner plans to carry out the construction on his own (in whole or even in part), then the degree of complexity of working with the chosen building material may also be a priority of the criteria.
The main types of materials for building a private house
Today, for the construction of houses, both traditional materials are used, which have been used, without exaggeration, for centuries, and developed relatively recently, but have already shown themselves on the positive side.
So, when deciding on materials for building a house, you need to know that they are conventionally divided into four groups:
- Natural wood (log or timber).
- Brick, stone and shell rock.
- Porous blocks.
- Composite materials based on wood.
To determine which of the listed materials is better to choose for a particular case, it is necessary to consider their physical and technical characteristics and other features.
Brick
For the construction of houses, silicate and ceramic bricks are used. Both one and the second option are produced in two types, which differ in the internal structural structure - a brick can be hollow and solid.
Both types are widely used for building walls of houses. However, different bricks can also have very different characteristics.
Solid and hollow ceramic bricksSolid brick has a higher strength, so it can withstand high loads. However, it has a high thermal conductivity, and because of this, walls made of it usually require additional insulation and cladding.
Hollow products retain heat better in the house, so they are often lined with a wall built of solid bricks, leaving a space between the walls that is filled with heat-insulating materials - slag, expanded clay, foam concrete or expanded polystyrene.
Agree, it is very difficult to compete with neat brickwork in terms of the aesthetics of the facade.Brick houses have a respectable appearance and a long service life, which sometimes exceeds the deadlines laid down in the design of the building. Buildings made of this material favorably differ from other buildings in their strength and reliability. That is why, despite the emergence of innovative materials, the brick has not lost its popularity at all, as it has successfully passed the test of time. The proof of this is that the buildings, sometimes erected several centuries ago, are still in operation.
However, despite the large number of positive qualities of a brick, this material has not only advantages, but also obvious disadvantages.
To the main benefits brick, and hence the houses built from it, include:
- Ecological purity of the material.
Nowadays, future home owners always pay special attention to this quality of the material. Brick buildings in this regard are impeccable, since the composition of the solution from which the products are made does not include artificially produced or toxic components. Ceramic bricks are made from refined clay, and silicate bricks are made from sand and lime.
- The strength of the structure built from it, long service life.
For centuries, in different countries, both one-story and multi-story buildings were built of brick, some of which are still in operation today, without even requiring restoration of facades. The walls, built of bricks made without violating technology, and laid on a high-quality mortar, are resistant to ultraviolet rays, moisture, wind, and biological damage.
In addition, brick buildings are able to withstand various natural disasters, such as floods, earthquakes, etc.
- Frost resistance.
This quality indicates that the material is able to fully maintain its operational and decorative qualities during numerous cycles of deep freezing and thawing. Today, different brands of bricks are on sale, the frost resistance of which may vary. Therefore, when purchasing this material, you should pay attention to the F indicator, which just shows this number of cycles. The higher the value, the more durable the material.
- Natural regulation of humidity in the building.
- Fire safety.
Unlike wood, brick is resistant to open fire, as it is made of non-combustible material, moreover, it has been hardened at high temperatures during firing. The brick does not ignite and does not support the combustion of adjacent elements of the building. True, when exposed to open fire for a long time, it loses its safety margin. And this means that the operational life of the walls that survived the fire is significantly reduced.
To the list of essential shortcomings brick buildings include the following factors:
- Material cost.
Having chosen a brick for building a house, you need to be prepared for fairly large costs, since, given the “modest” size of the products, a lot of them will be required. In addition to the brick itself, you will need to complete the interior decoration of the walls - this is plastering, followed by puttying, painting, or else. All these processes are also quite costly and require a certain amount of time.
- High thermal conductivity of brick. If a house is being built in a region with cold winters, where the temperature drops to -35 ÷ 40 degrees, then the brick walls should be thick and be at least 640 ÷ 770 mm. Another option could be a "sandwich" wall, that is, made according to the principle of "well masonry". In this case, at a certain distance from each other, two relatively thin brick walls are simultaneously erected, the space between which is filled with heat-insulating materials. Sometimes another method is used for insulation - a crate is fixed on the front side of the wall, between the elements of which mineral wool or polystyrene foam is mounted, and then the walls are lined with one of the decorative materials.
- Massiveness.
Brick houses are a very heavy structure. And this means that under them it is necessary to equip a reliable and solid foundation. Otherwise, under high load, it will sag, and with it the brick walls, as a result of which deep cracks will go along them.
Therefore, to build a high-quality one that is guaranteed to cope with a high load, you will also have to seriously spend money.
- The design of a brick structure should only be carried out by a professional. Errors in the calculations of the foundation and the determination of the thickness of the bearing walls are unacceptable. The project and calculations will also be expensive.
- hygroscopicity of the material.
This quality is especially pronounced in bricks made in violation of technology, that is, in insufficiently hardened or too porous bricks. In houses made of such material, there is always increased humidity, and getting rid of it is quite difficult. Therefore, the walls have to be periodically etched, which takes a lot of time and causes discomfort in the operation of housing. It is good that today there are many tools that will help protect brick walls from moisture - they process surfaces at the very beginning of the building's operation. It will help protect brick walls and a high one that separates them from ground moisture, splashes in the rain or from contact with snow drifts.
Silicate brick is more hygroscopic than ceramic. Therefore, it is not recommended to use it for building a house in regions with a humid climate. And it is completely excluded when laying the basement.
In digital terms, the main characteristics of a brick are as follows:
| Feature name | solid brick | hollow brick | silicate brick |
|---|---|---|---|
| Density, kg/m³ | 1600÷1800 | 1400÷1700 | 1700÷1900 |
| Thermal conductivity, W/m˚С | 0.81÷0.87 | 0.44 | 0.95 |
| Strength, kgf/cm² | 125÷200 | 100÷200 | 150 |
| Moisture absorption, % | 7÷8 | 7÷8 | 8÷10 |
| Frost cycles | 50÷100 | 50÷70 | 35 |
| Recommended wall thickness, mm at air temperature -20/-30/-40 ˚С (mm) | 510/640/770 | 380/510/640 | 510/640/770 |
The cost of a brick in the table is deliberately not indicated. This parameter varies over a very wide range, depending on the type, brand, size, manufacturer, region of construction. Even for one seller, the spread of prices for seemingly identical products, but coming from different factories, can be very significant.
Cement based masonry blocks
In recent years, cement-based building blocks have been increasingly chosen for the construction of a private house. Such masonry materials have a number of advantages over traditional bricks, and the first of them can be called an affordable cost. In addition, the blocks have impressive linear dimensions - one can replace from 4 or even up to 14 standard bricks, so building a house will go much faster.
Manufacturers today supply cement-based blocks to the construction market, but manufactured using different technologies and with different physical, technical and operational indicators:
- Foam blocks and aerated concrete blocks.
- Cinder blocks and expanded clay concrete blocks.
To understand what each of these materials is, and how they differ from each other, let's take a closer look at their characteristics.
Aerated concrete and foam concrete blocks
These building materials, at first glance, are similar in their characteristics. However, their manufacturing techniques are somewhat different.
Aerated concrete is made from cement, lime, sand and water with the addition of aluminum powder. Thanks to these components, during the manufacturing process of the composition, a chemical reaction is activated, accompanied by gas evolution, which ensures the creation of a porous structure with an open cell. This determines the very high hygroscopicity of the material.
Foam concrete products are made from cement, sand and water. But the main thing for the formation of the structure of the material is a foaming agent, added at the stage of mixing the solution before pouring into molds. The cell is closed.
Both one and the other blocks can have different densities, and are divided into grades. The numerical indicator in the brand just indicates the density of the finished material (kg / m³):
- D 1000–D 1200 - structural products, that is, intended for the construction of load-bearing walls. Their insulating qualities are not the most outstanding.
- D 500-D 900 - structural and thermal insulation materials. It is they who are most often chosen for individual construction, combining, so to speak, “pleasant with useful”.
- D 300- D 500 - thermal insulation blocks. For load-bearing structures, the strength qualities of such a material are clearly not enough.
Foam concrete is also produced in another version, which is marked D1300 to D1600. These are structurally porous blocks having a high density, but also a very significant thermal conductivity. As a rule, the material of this brand is made to order, and is practically not used in the practice of residential construction.
Aerated concrete and foam concrete blocks have the following characteristic features:
- Ease of processing. Blocks are easily sawn with a regular wood saw. Thanks to this quality, anyone, even an inexperienced builder, can handle the adjustment of the material during the construction of walls. Moreover, the block can be given an arbitrarily intricate shape.
- Material strength. The indicators of this parameter may vary depending on the porosity and brand of the product.
- Low thermal conductivity. This indicator averages 0.08÷0.22 W/(m×˚С). The D300 and D500 grades have a particularly low coefficient, so they are great for additional insulation of houses for permanent residence. Walls made of this material perfectly retain heat in the house in the winter cold and cool on hot summer days.
- Soundproofing. Aerated concrete and foam concrete have significant noise absorption indicators, and the final parameters depend on other characteristics of the material, as well as on the thickness of the walls. According to the norms of SNiP II-12-77, in private houses the level of sound insulation should be 41 ÷ 60 dB, and the sound insulation qualities of aerated concrete usually exceed these figures:
| Brand of material most often used to build a private house | Sound insulation level, dB, with the thickness of the walls of the enclosing structure, mm | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 120 | 180 | 240 | 300 | 360 | |
| D500 | 36 | 41 | 44 | 46 | 48 |
| D600 | 38 | 43 | 46 | 48 | 50 |
- Ecological purity of the material. Industrial production of blocks is carried out under strict control (especially for aerated concrete). In laboratories, checks are carried out for the presence of radioactive materials and toxic components - they are completely excluded.
- Mass of blocks. This parameter depends on the density of the material:
As you can see, this parameter can vary somewhat in one direction or another. It must be remembered - the higher the density of the material, the higher its thermal conductivity and the worse the sound insulation.
Along with positive characteristics, these building materials also have their own flaws about which you also need to have information:
- Foam and gas blocks are fragile, therefore, during work, with careless handling of the material, it can crack or split. In addition, this can also happen when the foundation shrinks. Therefore, the base under the walls should be as reliable as possible. In order to avoid subsidence and cracking, every second ÷ third row of masonry must be reinforced with metal rods.
- The hygroscopicity of aerated concrete can be attributed to serious shortcomings. This feature predetermines an increase in the volume of work, which includes waterproofing measures.
- Mandatory interior and exterior finishing involves additional costs.
What to choose - foam concrete or aerated concrete?
With a lot of common features, these materials also have significant differences. By what criteria can you compare More detailed information can be found in a special publication of our portal.
Expanded clay blocks and cinder blocks
These blocks, like the materials described above, can be classified as very affordable and have decent characteristics.
Their frost resistance and strength are commensurate with similar parameters of brick walls. The blocks have very large linear parameters and relatively low weight, so they are laid in a short time.
Expanded clay blocks are made from cement mortar with the addition of expanded clay of a fine fraction of 5 ÷ 10 mm, or coarse expanded clay sand.
Now, having figured out what the frame structures of houses are, it is necessary to highlight their positive and negative sides.
TO virtues correctly built frame houses include the following:
- Ability to work independently.
- The low thermal conductivity of the walls helps keep the heat inside the house.
- Relatively fast and fairly simple installation of structural elements.
- There is no need for a massive foundation, as the construction is easy.
- The design does not shrink, so you can move into the house immediately after finishing work.
- You do not have to level the surfaces of the walls and ceiling, as they are already ready for decorative finishing both outside and inside.
- Relatively low cost.
However, the frame structure also has a fairly large number shortcomings , which can bring disappointment to future residents of the house during its operation:
- Low tightness of all frame structures, except fachwerk.
- Insufficiently long service life due to low strength and reliability of the structure.
- In frame houses, the correct one must necessarily be equipped, otherwise mold may appear on the walls and underground due to insufficient air exchange.
- Poor quality of sound insulation.
- High fire hazard.
- Insulating material in the floor and walls can be chosen for housing by rodents and various insects. And it will be very difficult to get rid of such a “neighborhood”.
So which is better, timber or frame construction?
If you have to decide which form of wood is better to choose for construction - a beam or a log, or give preference to a frame structure, then it will be useful to refer to a special comparative publication. The recommended link leads to it.
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Above, we figured out what materials can be used to build houses for year-round use. Given their characteristics, advantages and disadvantages, approximate prices in your region, you can decide which one is best for a particular case by combining all the evaluation criteria.
If desires and opportunities coincide, then you can stop at the best option and start developing a project at home.
Complement the information reflected in the article, an interesting video on the same topic:
Video: What material is better to choose for your own residential building?
The first and main issue to be resolved before the start of construction of a country house is the choice of material.
Not only the comfort of living, but also the level of energy saving depends on the correctness of his decision. Let us consider in more detail what materials are offered on the market today and how each of them fits into the universal formula "price-environmental-friendliness-energy saving".
Brick house (brick, ceramic blocks)
There are two advantages of such a building - durability and environmental friendliness. Indeed, in terms of its bearing capacity, a brick wall is not much inferior to a concrete one. At the same time, it does not contain crushed granite, which gives a radiation background in buildings with a monolithic reinforced concrete frame and floor panels. However, in terms of energy saving, walls built entirely of solid clay or silicate bricks are seriously inferior to other materials.
In order to meet the modern rigid framework of energy efficiency, the thickness of a brick wall must be at least 120 cm. It is clear that there is no point in building such a powerful "bunker". Therefore, nowadays brick is losing its primacy and is most often used as a decorative exterior cladding.
Attempts to improve the energy-saving qualities of bricks have been going on for a long time. To do this, voids of various shapes (point or slot) are made in it. Such a modification gives a small increase in the energy efficiency of the wall structure, but does not fundamentally solve the issue. If we add to this the laboriousness of building walls from small-sized standard clay bricks, it becomes clear that he needs to look for a replacement.
A good solution to the question of what is better to build a house from is to buy, produced under various brands (Porotherm, Kerakam, Poroton, etc.)
This large-sized material (250x250x140 mm, 380x250x219mm, 510x250x219mm) replaces 4 to 14 standard bricks (250x120x65mm). Thanks to this, the laying process becomes faster and easier.
The thermal conductivity coefficient of such walls is 0.21 W / m ° C, which is almost 3 times less than that of ordinary bricks. In terms of strength, the ceramic block is also not inferior to it (100 kg / cm2) and at the same time it has good frost resistance (up to 50 freeze-thaw cycles) and vapor permeability.
The only drawback of porous ceramic blocks in the recent past was their high cost (more than 4,000 rubles per 1 m3). In 2016, the average price for this material decreased and ranged from 3,500 rubles per cubic meter.
House from building blocks
Large-sized building blocks seriously pressed the standard clay brick. And the point here is not only that their installation requires less time and effort. Affordable price is an important factor determining the choice of a developer. Since the list of building blocks produced today is quite extensive, we will talk separately about each type.
Foam and gas blocks
These materials today enjoy deserved popularity in low-rise construction. The fundamental difference between foam and gas blocks lies in the manufacturing technology and internal structure.
Aerated concrete is obtained by introducing a powder blowing agent into a mixture of cement, sand, lime and water, which creates a network of small through channels inside the material. A foaming agent is added to the raw material for foam concrete, which creates closed pores filled with air inside the block. This also significantly reduces the weight of the unit and increases its energy-saving characteristics.
Open channels serve as good conductors of moisture, so gas blocks need to be protected from getting wet. The foam block is more profitable in this regard, since it absorbs less water. The thermal conductivity and frost resistance of these materials are almost the same.
Density is in the range from 300 to 1200 kg/m3, which allows the developer to accurately select the block for their needs. Manufacturers produce heat-insulating (density from 300 to 500 kg / m3), structural and heat-insulating (500-900 kg / m3) and structural (1000-1200 kg / m3) blocks in several thicknesses - 10, 15, 20 and 30 cm.
This allows you to make the wall warm without additional costs for laying insulation and its protection. To do this, it is necessary to lay a thinner heat-insulating block (15 cm) in the outer row of masonry, and make the inner layer of denser structural and heat-insulating blocks 30 cm thick.
Thanks to the ideal geometry, a do-it-yourself block house without the involvement of professional masons is built quickly and requires minimal finishing in the form of putty or decorative plaster.
The cost of these materials starts from 3000 rubles. for 1 m3. In their reviews, the owners of houses made of lightweight cellular blocks highlight the low cost of construction and minimal heating costs.
Expanded clay blocks
Without abandoning the use of solid bricks, builders invented in the last century. This composite material consists of expanded clay gravel (pellets of burnt and porous clay) and a cement mortar that holds them together.
The material turned out to be quite warm (density from 500 kg / m3) and very durable (it is possible to build houses up to 3 floors high).
For the price, the expanded clay concrete block looks attractive (from 2900 rubles / m3). The environmental friendliness of this building material also deserves attention. The absence of synthetic and polymer additives, good vapor transmission allow it to be fully used in housing construction.
Shell rock blocks
In the era of cheap cargo transportation, the shell rock was a serious competitor to the expanded clay block. This "free" material, which had only to be cut out of the marine sedimentary massif and loaded into wagons, has become "biting" today.
Judge for yourself, the price per cube with delivery to the central regions of Russia reaches 5,000 rubles. Coupled with the fragility and poor geometry of the stone, the developer can only rely on its excellent environmental friendliness.
Arbolite blocks
The main components of this material are wood chips and sawdust (4:1 ratio). They not only make the block warm and light, but also reinforce it, increasing its strength and crack resistance.
The binder, as in the case of expanded clay blocks, here is the cement mortar. The density is in the range from 500 to 850 kg/m3. From it you can build low-rise buildings without using a reinforced belt. This material is sufficiently elastic, therefore, without the formation of cracks, it withstands the load from floor slabs. The breathability of wood concrete blocks is high and quite comparable with wood.
Its low density speaks eloquently about the good heat and sound insulating qualities of wood concrete. Impregnation with cement makes wood chips durable and resistant to decay. Finishing the walls of wood concrete does not require the use of a reinforced mesh, since the rough surface of the material perfectly holds the plaster. The price of wood concrete blocks starts at an average of 4,000 rubles per 1 m3.
Teplosten blocks
The developer's dream of a masonry material, which simultaneously contains a load-bearing part, insulation and exterior finish, has found its embodiment in Teplosten blocks.
By design, it is a three-layer "sandwich". Its outer and inner layers are made of expanded clay concrete, and inside there is foam. Dissimilar materials in the contact zone protect the fiberglass rods installed inside the block from delamination.
On the outer face of the three-layer block, we see a textured pattern. Having built a new house from this material, the owner can only paint the walls in the desired color, without resorting to expensive decorative plaster.
Appearance of the Teplosten block
The main disadvantage of Teplosten blocks is obvious. This is a foam plastic enclosed between layers of expanded clay concrete. It does not allow water vapor to pass through, so without forced ventilation the house will be damp. Manufacturers solve this problem by releasing special blocks in which there is a vent with a grate.
If the owner of the future house from Teplosten blocks does not take care of the ventilation problem in time, then the foam plastic can give him another unpleasant surprise. Consider the physics of the process of diffusion of water vapor through a wall. Having met an insurmountable obstacle in the form of foam plastic on its way, water vapor will condense in the inner layer of expanded clay. This will lead to wetting of the walls with all the ensuing uncomfortable consequences for living.
The cost of Teplosten blocks starts from 7,000 rubles/m3. Despite the rather solid price, let's not forget that such a wall does not require insulation and rough finishing.
cinder blocks
They were produced in the 80s of the last century as an inexpensive alternative to scarce bricks. Today, cinder blocks are rarely used in residential construction. The large weight and high thermal conductivity of cinder block walls require insulation with mineral or ecowool slabs (10-15 cm) and high-quality finishes.
The cost of cinder blocks offered today to private developers is low and ranges from 2300 to 3000 rubles per 1 m3.
Houses made of logs, timber, wooden frame
At the same time, you should know that a warm enough house for permanent residence can only be built from a log with a diameter of at least 40 centimeters. Today, the standard thickness of the walls of a log house is from 24 to 32 cm, which does not meet the requirements of thermal engineering standards. Therefore, in order not to spend significant amounts on heating, a wooden frame must be additionally insulated.
The cost of 1 m3 of rounded logs prepared for laying in 2016 is from 7,000 to 10,000 rubles. The cost of dry profiled timber is even higher and starts from 10,000 rubles per cubic meter.
For glued profiled timber, which gives minimal shrinkage and is practically not subject to warping, sellers ask from 22 to 26 thousand rubles. Forecasts of market specialists indicate that in 2017 a price jump for this material is not expected.
Finishing a brief review of materials for the construction of wooden houses, a few words should be said about the frame technology.
It is difficult to call it high-speed, since the degree of factory readiness here is practically “zero”. At the facility, builders assemble a frame from individual beams and boards, spending no less time on this than masons laying blocks. But in terms of reliability and durability, a house built using frame technology is not much inferior to capital structures made of wood.
There are no problems with energy saving in such housing either. The customer can choose any thickness of insulation, without spending money on external insulation and finishing, as in the case of block or log construction.
Since no one regards the frame in cubes, then we will have to compare the cost of 1m2 of a frame wall with the cost of a log and timber wall.
The main elements of the frame - racks, board, mineral wool, vapor barrier, wooden blockhouse or DSP slab (outside), drywall or lining (inside) are considered quickly and simply, amounting to a total of 1,200 rubles / m2.
At the same time, the cheapest wall made of logs with a thickness of 32 cm will cost you 2,500 rubles per 1 m2. Do not forget that it will still have to be insulated, spending from 250 to 300 rubles. Thus, at the price of materials, the “framework” noticeably outperforms the log house.
With the same heat-insulating ability, the wooden wall of a frame house is cheaper than a block one (a frame with 150 mm mineral wool versus 40 cm thick aerated concrete blocks + 5 cm mineral wool).
SIP panel house
This material cannot be called optimal from the point of view of environmental friendliness, although the manufacturers of such buildings are trying to prove the opposite.
The main advantage is the high speed of construction. It is difficult to categorize these designs as cheap.
The cost of 1 m2 of a sandwich plate, depending on the thickness of the insulation (10,15,20 cm), ranges from 900 to 1500 rubles. For comparison, the cost of 1 m2 of a gas block wall 40 cm thick is about 1200 rubles.
LSTK (light steel structures)
The undivided dominance of drywall technology has prompted engineers to create a more durable analogue for assembling the frame of low-rise buildings. So a new technology was born. It was based on light steel structures (LSTS).
The assembly of buildings from a steel profile is similar to the installation of wooden "frames". At the same time, LSTC houses surpass them in terms of durability, biostability and fire safety. The speed of construction of such housing is lower than when using SIP panels, but higher than that of block and log construction.
The high cost of the metal is the main drawback of the LSTK technology. The average cost of materials for the construction of 1 m2 of a metal profile wall is about 2,400 rubles.
concrete panels
Large-sized expanded clay panels are rarely used these days. The main reason for the low demand is the minimum choice of sizes and layout solutions.
Expanded clay concrete wall panel
However, one can quickly build a new house from them compared to using bricks, timber or cellular blocks (the price of 1m2 of a 34 cm thick panel does not exceed 1,300 rubles). To this price you need to add the cost of insulation (150-200 rubles per 1m2). Without it, the wall will not meet modern thermal standards.
Summing up our review, we will give brief practical recommendations.
1. Among the most popular budget options for low-rise construction are gas and foam blocks, expanded clay concrete blocks and a wooden frame.
Ceramic blocks, which were included in the category of expensive materials, have fallen in price in most regions of Russia today. Therefore, we will also rank them in the category of budget solutions for private construction. Excellent heat-insulating qualities, impeccable environmental friendliness, a large selection of standard sizes - all these positive qualities of ceramic blocks deserve your attention.
2. Arbolite blocks occupy a higher price step. The house from them turns out warm and durable. It creates a comfortable microclimate and comfortable acoustics. The disadvantages of wood concrete should include the dependence of quality on the production capabilities of a particular manufacturer. Not all companies producing this material use high-quality wood chips, adding a large amount of sawdust and substandard woodworking waste to the feedstock.
3. Blocks Teplosten and LSTK at first glance cause sympathy. Houses from them are built quickly and not expensively. At the same time, many developers have reasonable doubts about their reliability and environmental friendliness, which does not have the best effect on the popularity of these materials.
4. Installation of a house from SIP panels can rightfully be called the fastest and most budget option. It is difficult to attribute these designs to the category of popular solutions, since there are serious doubts about their environmental friendliness and reliability.
5. A log and profiled timber, as a first approximation, look quite budgetary. However, here you need to take into account the additional costs of insulation and regular antiseptic treatment of walls. In addition, the quality of log cabins strongly depends on the quality of the material used and the qualifications of the installers. The main advantages of round logs and profiled timber are environmental friendliness and aesthetics.
6. Glued laminated timber is an elite building material. Beautiful and environmentally friendly houses are being built from it, which cannot be classified as budget houses. The lack of shrinkage and high assembly speed please developers who have chosen this option.
Concluding our review, we note that when looking for the best option for building a new house, you need to:
- Find out the availability and price of the material you like in your region.
- Study the reviews of the owners of houses built from it.
- Get as much information as possible about suppliers, manufacturers and contractors offering construction services from the material you are about to buy.
- Visit construction exhibitions in your region, production workshops and facilities under construction. Here you will receive valuable and objective first-hand information.
