When planning to build a house, it is extremely important to choose the right material for this work, since all the most important characteristics of your future home will depend on it. In particular, it must be completely safe from an environmental point of view, have excellent thermal insulation qualities, and also be quite cheap. That is why we will try to answer a very common question: “What to choose - foam concrete or aerated concrete”?
What is it?
If you haven't understood yet, then we are talking about perhaps the most popular materials in modern construction. First, let's talk about foam concrete. It is made from sand and cement, to the mixture of which water and a special foaming agent are added. After thorough mixing, the solution is poured into molds. The mixture hardens quite quickly and without any catalysts, soblocks can be made directly on the construction site. But what is the difference between aerated concrete and foam concrete yet?
The difference is in the production process: just aerated concrete needs special conditions. Simply put, the technology involves the action of moist air and high temperature. The composition includes lime, cement, water, sand and aluminum powder. After mixing, chemical reactions and aging in an autoclave, a strong and lightweight building material is obtained. But all this will not allow us to decide what is still better: foam concrete or aerated concrete? Therefore, we continue our research.
Positive and negative qualities
As we have already said, foam concrete is much easier to manufacture. It can be made directly on the construction site, without even buying any specialized equipment. But this property also has a downside: due to the simplicity of the technical process, foam blocks are made by those who cannot even be trusted with chopping firewood. As a result, a huge number of fakes appear on the market, it is simply dangerous to build something more serious from them than a barn.
Judging from this point of view, in the dispute “foam concrete or aerated concrete”, the latter clearly has an advantage. Due to the production technology, there are many differences in the technical characteristics of the materials. In particular, gas blocks are extremely hygroscopic. And therefore, the buildings of them must be carefully finished, protecting the material from contact with the external environment.
But inin both cases, a heavy foundation can be dispensed with. It does not matter whether you use foam concrete or aerated concrete, but these materials are light, so there will be no serious pressure on the ground from such a house. In addition, in all these cases it will be possible to save a lot on thermal insulation. Approximately the same dimensions of these blocks (they are all quite large) make it possible to quickly build a wall without spending a lot of effort on it.
Such houses do not rot, are not afraid of fungus and mold. Their walls are not sharpened by beetles, and rodents cannot make holes in them. Given the lightness and porosity of both types of materials, walls made of them are easy to process and finish. So, what have we come to: foam concrete or aerated concrete? Which is better is up to you, based on your own financial capabilities and preferences. These materials are similar in many ways, but aerated concrete houses require good waterproofing.
