Every year more and more new building materials appear on the market. So, in recent years, foam concrete has become increasingly popular. This material has good performance and low cost. The price of building a country house made of foam concrete is much lower than the same building made of classic brick. However, in order for the building to serve for a long time, you need to know all the nuances. In today's article, we will look at how the construction of a foam concrete house is carried out.
What is good about the material?
It is not for nothing that this material has become so widespread. According to reviews, foam concrete is better suited for building a house than brick. There are several reasons for this:
- The material is light.
- Has a larger volume, which has a positive effect on the speed of construction of the building.
- High thermal insulation.
- Haslower price than classic brick. At the same time, the material is as fire resistant as brick.
However, you need to understand that foam concrete panels for building houses need additional finishing. Since the foam block absorbs more moisture, it needs to be protected. But we will talk about finishing foam concrete panels for building houses a little later.
What should be prepared?
First we need to prepare the following materials:
- Aerated concrete blocks. Which foam concrete is better for building a house? If these are internal and load-bearing walls, it is better to use materials with a density of 700-100 kilograms per cubic meter. The outer walls are built from blocks with a density of 500 kilograms per cubic meter. But when constructing reinforced floors, a durable material is selected. Its density should be 1600 kilograms per cubic meter.
- Armature with a diameter of 6, 8 and 10 millimeters.
- Mortar for laying gas blocks.
- Material for foundation. These are crushed stone, concrete, poles, piles, sand and rebar.
- Floor slabs.
- Roofing material and lumber for the roof truss system.
From the tools you will need:
- Plummet.
- Level.
- Square.
- Kyanka.
- Sanding board or grater.
- Planer.
- Hand saw with victorious tips.
- Manual aerated concrete wall chaser.
- Feather and screw drills.
- removal brushdust.
- Trowel.
- Spatula for applying grout.
- Drill with mixer attachment and container for mixing mortar.
- Guiding corner.
The technology of building a foam concrete house implies careful preparation of the construction site. Garbage removal, soil removal and tree removal (if necessary) in progress.
Foundation
When building houses from foam concrete, the project can be anything, but any of them involves, first of all, the construction of a foundation. And not every option is suitable for this. Things to consider here:
- Region of residence.
- Groundwater level.
- Soil condition.
- Relief of the land.
Plinth and blind area
Since the material absorbs moisture, a plinth and a blind area are made from the side of the foundation. The height of the basement of the foundation according to SNiP is at least 50 centimeters with a rigid blind area. If this blind area is soft, the parameter is at least 30 centimeters. But as the reviews note, the optimal parameter is from 50 to 80 centimeters.
Masonry foam block walls
The feature of laying these blocks is that they are lighter than brick. Accordingly, the material will not squeeze out the solution. Therefore, attention is paid to the thickness of the seam. After laying out one row, you need to check the quality of the masonry with a building level. If necessary, level with a planer.
What to put blocks on? Here you canuse two compounds. This is:
- Glue.
- Classic cement-sand mixture.
Recently, another option has appeared - polyurethane glue in cylinders. But judging by the reviews, it is better to use masonry glue to build a foam concrete house. It has several advantages over mortar. Glue makes it possible to make a thinner layer. And the seam visually seems more accurate.
The glue mixture should be the consistency of thick sour cream. After preparation, the mixture is applied to the pre-wetted surface of the wall masonry with a spatula or trowel. Further, with a notched trowel, the composition is leveled over the entire width of the block. If the latter has a tongue-and-groove mounting system, then these steps will be sufficient. If a regular foam block is used, the adhesive must be applied additionally to a vertical surface. Then a new block is installed on the solution. It must be placed correctly. The accuracy of the installation is checked by the building level. If there are hand grips on the block, you need to fill the junction with water and then fill it with glue. If necessary, the position is adjusted with a rubber mallet (by tapping).
Pay attention
When building a foam concrete house with your own hands, you need to take into account the following factors:
- The first gas block is laid with a canopy 5 centimeters above the plinth.
- In the summer, the masonry must be protected by covering with foil. This reduces the rate of drying of the solution. In addition, hardening willuniform.
- Blocks are stacked at a temperature not lower than -5 degrees Celsius. In this case, a special, winter glue is used in winter.
- You can correct the block within 5 to 15 minutes after laying. After this period, the element will have to be knocked out and re-glued. It will be difficult to do so.
- If, when installing the blocks, excess mixture protrudes from the joints, first allow them to dry, and then remove them with a spatula.
Laying the first row
You need to start by preparing the foundation. The first row is always laid on a waterproofing layer. Next, it needs to be checked for horizontality. By the way, a cement-sand mortar is always used for the first row, even if further laying is on glue. Cement mortar allows you to compensate for all irregularities. But first, the surface is cleaned of all contaminants. But it is not necessary to moisten the surface of the first row.
Foam blocks are mounted from the corners, between which a beacon (rope) is pulled. But professionals use a level. This beacon serves as a guide for the correct laying of the material. To prevent the cord from sagging, intermediate beacons are placed. The difference in height between the corners should not be more than 3 centimeters.
When performing work, additional foam concrete blocks may be required. They can be cut with a hand saw or a grinder with a special circle. But since this operation is very dusty, do not forget about personal protective equipment. We also note that the length of such blocks according tocorners must be at least 11.5 centimeters.
After laying the first row, wait approximately three to four hours. This time is needed for the cement mixture to dry between the first row and the foundation.
Reinforcement
Since the foam block is a less durable material than brick, it needs additional reinforcement. This helps to increase the bearing capacity of the walls. Performed vertical and horizontal reinforcement. At the same time, a clear step of 1 meter is observed (if the block has a height of 25 centimeters). If the dimensions of foam concrete for building a house are from 30 to 35 centimeters in height, then reinforcement is performed every third row.
To lay reinforcement, a slot is made in aerated concrete. Strobs are carried out using a manual or electric wall chaser. Two 2.5 cm deepenings are made at a distance of 5 centimeters from the outer edge. Reinforcement is performed for each window sill and every fourth row of the foam block.
It is also possible to reinforce blocks with mesh. It can be plastic or metal. In this case, you do not have to make holes. Mesh is often chosen if glue is applied during construction.
Interfloor floors
When building a house of foam concrete with several floors, floors are made between the latter. When choosing, you can give preference to wooden or monolithic floors. But the former are practiced most often.
How are they installed? To do this, around the perimeterthe building is made an annular armored belt under the wooden beams. For such a belt, U-shaped blocks are required. We start them 20 centimeters into wooden beams. It is better that the length of the beam stop corresponds to its height. At the same time, the ends of the lumber remain open (the rest of the parts are insulated).
Reinforcing belt device:
- The width of the belt should match the width of the wall. Height - from 10 to 12 centimeters.
- The number of rows and the diameter of the reinforcement will depend on the gap between the load-bearing walls.
- Since additional reinforcement leads to the formation of cold bridges, they are eliminated through the use of thermal insulation materials.
- Hollow concrete slabs can be used instead of wooden beams.
Insulation
When building a foam concrete house, many people think about insulation. Experts note that this operation is not necessary. Due to its porosity, the foam block does not conduct as cold as a classic brick. It's about the walls. However, there are certain areas that must be insulated. These include:
- End parts of floor slabs.
- Roof.
- Foundation.
- Door and window openings.
These areas are a serious source of heat loss. At the same time, experts recommend using soft insulation, which will allow foam concrete to "breathe".
Exterior decoration
This is the final stage of building a foam concrete house. As we noted earlier, the foam block absorbs moisture more strongly,than a brick. Therefore, it is desirable to perform additional finishing in order to protect the coating from negative atmospheric phenomena. In addition, when freezing, such material may become covered with cracks. There are several options for exterior decoration of a foam block house:
- Siding (plastic panels).
- Ventilated façade.
- Application of facade plaster (the most popular option today).
- Using facing bricks. But at the same time, it is necessary to provide for an increase in the load on the foundation of the building even at the construction stage.
When choosing a material, it should be taken into account that it must provide the possibility of ventilation of the walls and have qualities such as water resistance and frost resistance.
Conclusion
So, we found out how the construction of a foam concrete house is carried out. The construction of such a building is a complex and responsible work. Therefore, when calculating, an estimate is always made. This includes:
- Cost of building materials.
- Purchase or rental of tools/equipment.
- Costs for the delivery of building material and garbage disposal in the future.
- Worker labor costs.
On average, the construction of a two-story foam concrete residential building will cost 680 thousand rubles. But this price does not include finishing work. As for the timing, the construction of the foundation will take from two weeks to several months. For the construction of the box (bearing walls andsepta) takes up to five more weeks. Roofing work takes about a month and a half. For the formation of a warm contour (installation of doors, windows and floor arrangement) - 4 weeks. Also here it is worth including exterior decoration, interior and wiring communications. In general, all work will take about 6-24 months.
