Any person who wants to build their own house faces a very difficult question: "What material to use for construction?" There are a lot of options, but each of them has its drawbacks. For example, the construction of a brick house is very expensive; frame-panel construction technology is still very young, so there is no particular confidence in it; a wooden house has a very long shrinkage period, and caring for such a building is quite problematic. So it turns out that the best option is to build a house from foam blocks.
What are foam concrete blocks?
This material has long taken its rightful place in the building materials market, and this is not strange, because it has much more advantages than disadvantages. So, foam concreteblocks are made from lightweight cellular concrete, for the manufacture of which sand, cement and water are used, as well as modifying fillers and a foaming agent. The industrial production of foam concrete began in the 30s, and only from the 90s in Russia did the construction of houses from foam blocks begin to gain popularity. Inexpensive, reliable, fast - the three main qualities of this unique material.
Advantages of foam concrete
One of the advantages of foam concrete is its weight: it is much smaller than that of ordinary concrete. The lightness of the material is achieved due to air bubbles formed as a result of foaming the solution. Due to the light weight, building a house from foam blocks is much easier, because there is no need for a massive foundation and the involvement of heavy equipment in the process of installing foam blocks. The next positive point is the cheapness of this material due to the technology of its manufacture. Therefore, for the construction of houses from foam blocks, prices will be lower by an average of 50% compared to the construction of houses made of brick or wood. A very important quality is the durability of foam blocks. Buildings made of the mentioned material can stand for more than a hundred years, but on condition that the construction work was carried out correctly, and the necessary conditions were observed during the operation of the building. Another advantage of foam concrete blocks is their large size. One standard block (40x30x25 cm) is equivalent to a laying of 15 bricks. Thus, building a house from foam blocks significantly reduceslabor costs and speeds up the construction process. For example, a small team of builders in a couple of weeks will be able to build a house with an area of 120 m22. To all these positive qualities of foam concrete, one should also add the simplicity of its laying, processing and cladding, fire safety, environmental friendliness, high heat and sound insulation properties.
Cons of foam blocks
With all the listed advantages of foam concrete blocks, they, unfortunately, are not without some drawbacks. Firstly, the construction of a house from foam blocks limits the number of storeys of the building. The maximum number of floors is 3, and the maximum height of the bearing wall is 12 m. it has high vapor permeability, and due to the formation of condensate, the blocks can shrink and deform. And, thirdly, due to the low mechanical strength and unaesthetic appearance, the foam blocks require additional finishing.
