Types and descriptions of building materials for the walls of the house. The latest materials for building houses What materials are needed for construction

In addition, this material is treated with a special resin that ensures long-term operation even in harsh winter conditions.

What new building materials and technologies are used in our regions

Previously, the purchase and installation of stained-glass windows required large financial costs, but innovative technologies have made it possible to create a material that is cheaper and looks even more presentable. The use of new technologies in the production of stained-glass windows made them durable and able to withstand severe loads during the operational period.

With the help of such stained-glass windows, tiles are decorated in the bathroom, and suspended ceilings are made. So new building materials and technologies are becoming a normal phenomenon in modern design and construction, and this is not the limit. Every year there are new developments aimed at reducing the cost of construction and improving the performance properties of materials.

Actively used in decoration and in different areas construction of various polymer elements that differ in surface quality and durability. If you use new building materials and technologies, then there is an opportunity for serious savings and improving the quality of the building. Improved performance and thermal insulation properties when using new building materials and technologies, as well as significantly reducing the load on the foundation.

Majority modern materials they are light in weight, but have high strength, and such data are favorable for building structures.

With an active search for options for using modern materials and innovative technologies, you can build a beautiful and durable home.

Anyone who wants to build a house for himself is concerned about the question of what material to choose for building walls. After all, the strength, durability and comfort of the home depend on it.

The choice of wall material directly affects the cost of building a house.

To choose a wall material that is "up to you", we will turn to FORUMHOUSE specialists for clarification.

Where does the choice of wall material begin?

Aerated concrete or warm ceramics, timber, wood concrete or frame technology ... Any novice developer, when choosing a material for building a house for permanent residence, is faced with an abundance of conflicting information. It seems that there are so many materials that choosing the right one seems an impossible task. We have to narrow the scope of the search and select exactly what is needed!

According to a forum user with a nickname abysmo, it is enough to understand just ten things to decide whether to build a house. Namely:

1. What kind of housing do you plan to build - for permanent residence or for short-term visits;
2. What requirements do you impose on the strength and environmental safety of the wall material;
3. How quickly do you want to move in;
4. What fuel is planned to be heated;
5. What will the operation cost?
6. How much are you willing to spend on construction?
7. What building materials are available in your area;
8. Is it possible to carry out independent work, or workers will be involved;
9. What kind building technology and means of mechanization are available in your region of residence;
10. Are you considering the possibility of selling the building on the secondary market.

There are no universal wall materials suitable for any project. A large or small area, the characteristics of the region of residence, climate, personal preferences require the use of their materials.

Construction consultant's opinion Romana Nikonova:

– When choosing wall materials, it is necessary to take into account a number of technological features and protective properties of the material: fire resistance, durability, thermal conductivity. In addition, you should be guided by your feelings - whether you like the material or not.

In conditions middle lane Russian walls should provide good thermal protection. They must also be strong enough to withstand the weight of floors, roofs, snow and wind loads.

Snow in the conditions of the Moscow suburbs is capable of giving a load of up to 180 kg per 1 sq.m. roof surfaces. Do not forget about the fire resistance of structures.

The point of view of the expert of our forum Alexey Melnikov(nickname on the forum Lyokhin ):

- In case of violation building codes and technology, even modern and expensive wall material can be ruined.

And vice versa - a competent approach and careful planning allow, with a very limited budget, to build a reliable, practical and not so small comfortable house for permanent residence.

For your information: the cost of building a box (relative to the total construction budget) usually does not exceed 20-30%.

The following example is illustrative:

If the house is planned to be operated in the "cottage" mode, then it is not cost-effective to build stone walls for the following reasons:

1. Economic component. If the stone housing has cooled down, then upon arrival it needs a long heating. It is unprofitable to do for the sake of one or two trips a week.
2. operational component. Irregular heating of a stone structure in winter negatively affects its durability.

What house to build. O features of wall materials

Among the most famous materials used in the construction of walls, the following can be distinguished:

• brick and warm ceramics;
• foam concrete and aerated concrete;
• wood;
• frame technologies;
• arbolit.

Consider their main features.

1. Brick and warm ceramics

The advantages of this material:

1. Strength - denoted by the letter "M". The number after the letter indicates how much load the brick can withstand. This value is expressed in kg per 1 sq.cm.

2. Durability. Brick buildings are among the most durable.

3. Environmental friendliness. Bricks are based on clay, sand and water. Due to its structure, the brick passes air well. Therefore, a favorable microclimate is established in the room, and excess moisture is removed outside. In addition, the walls accumulate heat well and then give it to the inside of the room.

4. High frost resistance. The higher the frost resistance, the more durable the building. Frost resistance is the ability of a building material to withstand freezing and thawing in a water-saturated state. The frost resistance of the material is indicated by the letter F. The numbers after the letter indicate the number of freeze and thaw cycles that the material can withstand without losing its qualities.

5. Aesthetics. A cottage built of brick can be made in any architectural style, and the masonry technology itself has been worked out for decades.

6. High degree of sound insulation. Brick walls dampen both street and interior noise well.

Despite a number of undoubted advantages, a simple brick also has significant drawbacks.

Alexey Melnikov:

- Traditional ceramic bricks with a size of 250x120x65 mm do not meet modern thermal standards.

Calculations show that required thickness homogeneous brick walls (even for the southern latitudes of our country) is at least 1 meter.

It is possible to build a house for permanent residence with such a wall thickness, but it is not economically feasible. Therefore, the brick received its further development - in the form of such a modern solution as warm ceramics.

Roman Nikonov:

– Ceramic block, or porous ceramics, is a high-tech clay-based material.

Thanks to the smallest pores filled with air, ceramic stone is very warm and has high mechanical strength. The dimensions of a block of warm ceramics exceed the dimensions of a standard brick by several times, which increases the laying speed. But warm ceramics is a rather fragile material. Therefore, for fixing any structures in a wall made of a ceramic block, it is necessary to use special anchors.

Alexander Toporov(nickname on the forum 44alex) :

- Warm ceramics have a thin-walled structure, so it is not easy to fix any heavy objects on it, and an expensive special tool is required for its sawing. After laying warm ceramics, it should either be plastered from the outside, or additionally fill the vertical seams. Before the purchase ceramic stone I recommend paying attention to the geometry of the blocks and make sure there are no cracks.

When chasing and drilling walls made of warm ceramics, you need to be very careful, otherwise you can split the block.

The main disadvantages of brick:

• 1. High construction cost. Brick is an expensive building material, which leads to an increase in construction costs;
• 2. The large mass of a building built of brick requires the laying of a carefully calculated, powerful and expensive foundation;
• 3. Seasonality of construction works.

Wet processes (preparation of building mixtures and mortars based on water) impose restrictions or make it impossible to lay bricks in winter.

2. Foam and aerated concrete

Today, gas and foam concrete blocks are the most common materials for building walls. This is due to a good balance in the price-quality ratio.

Alexey Melnikov:

– The advantages of such blocks are their relatively low thermal conductivity (as a result, high thermal resistance), high fire and bioresistance, ease of processing with hand and portable power tools, as well as their lightness.

It was these qualities that allowed the user of our forum with the nickname Dimastik25 independently, in one hand from aerated concrete.

- I chose aerated concrete, because it makes it possible to carry out laying independently, without the involvement of auxiliary forces.

The size of the block allows it to be laid by one person, but due to the large format of the block, the work is done quite simply, quickly and without unnecessary labor.

Even an unprepared person will be able to lay blocks on their own. No need to knead a large number of cement-sand mortar, masonry is carried out on a rather thin layer of glue. Also a significant plus is the uniformity of the wall, big choice blocks and their good geometry.

Alexander Toporov:

- Gas silicate is easy to process, it is easy to saw. Various armored belts, lintels, arches, etc. are also easily organized.

One of the main advantages of gas and foam concrete as a wall material is their good heat and noise insulation, which leads to lower heating and insulating costs.

Aerated concrete blocks are produced by large enterprises. Therefore, the quality of such materials corresponds to the declared characteristics, and geometric deviations are minimal.

But this material is not without drawbacks.

Alexey Melnikov:

- Gas and foam concrete blocks are a very fragile material. Low bending strength requires the use of a relatively expensive and powerful foundation (usually a monolithic reinforced concrete slab), as well as additional reinforcement elements - armored belts.

Foam concrete, although it costs less than aerated concrete, can be produced by the so-called "garage" methods. Therefore, when buying it, you must carefully consider the issue of choosing a supplier and not chase the lowest price.

You can familiarize yourself with all and.

3. Wooden houses

Wood is a classic building material, but despite its ubiquity, it also has a number of advantages and disadvantages.

Roman Nikonov:

– Wooden house breathe, beautiful. This is a very flexible, “homemade”, versatile material, easy to transport and install. But it is less durable than stone.

Because when building a log house, there are no wet processes, then such a house can be built at any time of the year.

Starting a construction site, we think about which log is better to build a house for permanent residence. Experts believe that it is better not to build a wooden house from a log!

Alexey Melnikov:

- Timber is more practical in terms of cost-energy efficiency ratio, but for connoisseurs of log facades, the aesthetics of a log house usually comes first.

Rounded logs and profiled timber (including chamber drying) - all this modern types logs aimed at improving the aesthetic properties and simplifying the construction of a house.

Qualitatively made wooden houses can serve 200-300 years.

Among the disadvantages of wooden houses are:

1. The arrangement of "wet" rooms in a wooden one is associated with certain difficulties.

2. Based on standard sizes logs (6 m), the overlap of premises over 5 meters wide is difficult to implement. Interfloor ceilings in wooden houses are usually wooden beams. This reduces the degree of sound insulation in the house (wood conducts sound well) under shock loads.

3. The tree is subject to shrinkage and cracking.

4. A wooden house must be regularly caulked and painted. Thermal protection sufficient for a comfortable life in the house is provided by a wall made of wood with a thickness of 200 mm or more.

5. Wood can rot and requires antiseptic treatment to protect against mold and woodworms.

Therefore, the next stage in the development of wooden housing construction was the development of glued laminated timber - a wall material devoid of the disadvantages of conventional timber.

Let's name the advantages of glued beams:

• The material is durable and, thanks to a special profile (the serration protects the wall from blowing), it better retains heat in the house;
• Glued laminated timber has a clear geometry, which facilitates and speeds up the process of building a house;
• The material practically does not shrink, which allows immediately after the construction of the house to start laying communications and interior decoration;
• Thanks to factory fire-bioprotection, glued laminated timber is highly resistant to fire, mold and fungi;
• The walls of a house built of glued beams do not need interior and exterior decoration.

The main disadvantage of this material is its high price, as well as the need to attract highly qualified specialists for the construction of a house.

4. Frame technology

Frame houses are considered one of the fastest and warmest houses. Therefore, if you urgently need housing, and you are wondering what time resources and what material to build a house from, feel free to choose this option. Main advantages frame housing construction profitability and high - a few months - the speed of construction.

Because Since the frame house is light, it does not require a powerful foundation to be built under it, which also perfectly reduces construction costs. The absence of wet processes allows the frame house to be built all year round.

Denis Reznichenko(nickname on the forum silent):

– If you are going to permanently live in a frame house, keep in mind that heating costs will be noticeably lower compared to wooden or stone houses, because. the ability to retain heat in modern heaters is higher than that of traditional materials.

Advantages frame houses:

• high construction speed;
• frame technology does not require the use of heavy construction equipment;
• the construction of such a house can be carried out independently;
• due to the lack of shrinkage, the interior and exterior decoration of the frame house can be done immediately after construction is completed;
• wall thickness in frame houses usually does not exceed 30 cm, which increases the usable area of ​​the house;
• in the cold season, frame houses quickly warm up to a comfortable temperature.

The disadvantages of frame houses include:

• High quality requirements for the materials used. For the construction of a frame house, first of all, it is necessary to have well-dried and planed wood treated with fire and bioprotective compounds that protect it from damage and decay. When erecting a frame, it is unacceptable to use raw wood, because. during the drying process, it warps. This changes the geometry wooden structures;
• Construction performed by low-skilled workers with a deviation from technology entails a significant decrease in the performance of the house;
• Compared to stone houses, frame houses lower degree of sound insulation.

Alexey Melnikov:

- Also among the disadvantages is the low heat capacity (heat storage capacity) of frame walls.

A frame house with the heating turned off quickly cools down. However, there is a way out - you can use an insulated Swedish plate as a foundation.

5. Arbolit

Arbolite is a material made from cement binder (concrete) and organic aggregates obtained from woodworking waste.

Sometimes wood concrete is called wood concrete, because this wall material has incorporated the advantages of both concrete and wood.

Arbolit has high thermal insulation performance.

This is an environmentally friendly material that does not need additional insulation. It does not dry out like a tree, does not rot and does not burn.

Arbolite walls "breathe" (the vapor permeability of the arbolite wall is more than 35%). This regulates the level of humidity in the room. This ensures good air exchange in the room.

Alexey Melnikov:

- Arbolite is an old and, at the same time, undeservedly forgotten material. Attempts to implement it were made back in Soviet times.

However, the segment of individual low-rise housing construction at that time was not developed, mainly panels of high-rise buildings were built, and over time, wood concrete gave way to other wall materials.

However, now arbolite is experiencing a rebirth.

After all, it is devoid of a number of shortcomings inherent in gas and foam concrete blocks, the material is relatively light, and building a house does not require the construction of a powerful foundation.

Also, wood concrete has high bending strength and will not crack when the foundation moves or settles.

Wood concrete, like wood, is well sawn, drilled, nails are easily hammered into the wood concrete wall, and the material itself holds heavy objects well without the use of special fasteners.

Among the disadvantages of wood concrete, two can be distinguished: its high cost and an insufficient amount projects of houses designed specifically for these blocks. Therefore, when choosing an arbolite block (in order to avoid buying low-quality material with broken geometry or strength characteristics), it is necessary to carefully consider the issue of choosing a supplier.

On our portal, they will help you find out everything a novice frame builder needs to know, which house, to understand which is better,. We will help you choose best material for walls and how to build

Watch the video on building a house from wood concrete blocks. And after reading our next video, you will learn how to build your own

Despite the fact that everything seems to be in order with oil and gas production in Russia, the price of energy resources in our country is steadily growing. And now, following the countries of Europe, the Russian Federation adopted in 2003 new norms for the thermal resistance of enclosing and load-bearing structures(SNiP 23-02-2003 "Thermal protection of buildings"). But even before the adoption of new SNiPs, new effective building materials and technologies came to us (and continue to come).

What should be the walls (enclosing structures) of the house in order to comply with the norms of building heat engineering? The answer to this question is not entirely clear. If we carry out calculations, it turns out that, for example, a brick wall should be 2.3 m thick, and a concrete wall should be 6 m thick. Therefore, the wall structure should be combined, that is, multi-layered. Moreover, one "layer" in this case will perform a bearing function, and the other - to ensure heat conservation. A certain difficulty lies in the fact that the parts of this "layer cake" are too different in their physical and chemical properties. Therefore, in order to combine them, one has to come up with ingenious construction technologies.

A bit of physics

What parameters seem to be the most important when choosing a material for the construction of an energy-efficient warm home? This is, first of all, the bearing capacity of the material, as well as its heat capacity and thermal conductivity. Let's dwell on the latter.

The heat capacity unit - kJ / (kg ° C) - indicates how much thermal energy is contained in 1 kg of material with a temperature of 1 degree Celsius. For example, consider two well-known building materials - wood and concrete. The heat capacity of the first is 2.3, and the second is 0.84 kJ / (kg ° C) (according to SNiPam II-3-79). It turns out that wood is a much more heat-intensive material, and it will require more thermal energy to heat it, and when it cools, it will release more joules into the environment. Concrete heats up faster and cools down faster. However, these figures can only be obtained in theory if we compare 1 kg of absolutely dry wood and 1 kg of concrete. For building practice, these conditional values ​​are practically useless, because if you make a conversion per square meter of a real wooden or concrete wall, for example, 20 cm, then the picture changes. Here is a small table in which, for comparison, 1 m² of a wall 20 cm thick is taken from different materials (at a temperature of 20 ° C).

From the above figures it can be seen that for heating 1 m² of a concrete wall by 1 degree, it will be necessary to generate almost 20 times more thermal energy than for heating a wooden one. That is, a wooden or frame house can be heated to the desired temperature much faster than a concrete or brick house, because the weight (mass) of brick and concrete is greater. Let us also recall that in addition to specific heat capacity, there is also thermal conductivity of building materials. This property characterizes the intensity of heat transfer in the material. With an increase in temperature, humidity and density of the substance, the thermal conductivity coefficient increases. The thermal resistance of a homogeneous building envelope, defined as the ratio of the thermal conductivity coefficient of the wall material to the wall thickness in meters, should not be less than the required heat transfer resistance (depends on the temperature of the coldest five-day period in the region and other climatic parameters).

For the Moscow region, the resistance to heat transfer is in the range of 3.1–3.2 m·°С/W. And in Novosibirsk, where winter frosts reach an average of 42 ° C, this figure is much higher. It should also be borne in mind that not only walls take part in the heating processes, but in general everything that is inside the house - ceiling structures, floors, windows, furniture, as well as air. An important role is played architectural features enclosing structures and the presence of "cold bridges".

Wood as a building material

For comfort in the house, a combination of sufficient heat capacity and low thermal conductivity of the wall material is important. In this regard, the tree has no equal. it's the same good stuff for seasonal residences, in which the owners come only occasionally in winter. A wooden house that has not been heated for a long time perceives a sharp change in temperature better. The condensate formed when the heating is turned on is partially absorbed by the wood. Then the walls gradually release the accumulated moisture to the heated air, thereby helping to maintain a favorable microclimate in the living quarters. Coniferous species are used in construction: spruce, pine, larch, fir, and cedar. In terms of price / quality ratio, pine is the most in demand. Its heat capacity is 2.3–2.7 kJ/(kg K). Along with old technology manual felling houses built from rounded logs, profiled and ordinary timber, gun carriage, and glued timber have also gained popularity.

Whatever you choose, keep in mind the general rule for wooden walls - the thicker the better. And here you will have to proceed from the capabilities of your wallet, since with an increase in the thickness of the log, the cost of the material and the price of work increase. In order to meet the required heat engineering standard, a log (rounded or hand-cut) must be at least 28 cm in diameter, and a profiled beam must be at least 24 cm thick. Then the house can not be insulated from the outside. Meanwhile, the most common size of profiled timber is 20 × 20 cm, length up to 6 m.

So the developer will have to immediately calculate and decide how thick the walls to build: 20 × 20 cm, followed by insulation with mineral wool and sheathing (siding, clapboard, facade panels) or thicker without insulation and sheathing. Separately, let's say about the usual (not profiled) timber measuring 15 × 15 cm. It is very popular in summer cottage construction, but nevertheless it is better not to build a house for year-round use from such material. It is only suitable for a small summer garden house. However, the appearance of such a house is unlikely to please you. No matter how hard you try to caulk the gaps between the crowns, they still appear due to warping and uneven shrinkage of the wood. Birds take away caulking for nesting. Under the slanting summer rain, the wall gets wet through, and there is no need to talk about freezing in winter.

If you nevertheless chose this type of construction, then first wait for the new log house to settle (six months or a year) and proceed to its external insulation and cladding. The hinged insulation system (ventilated facade) will be optimal. Note that it is undesirable and even harmful to insulate wooden walls from the inside. Glued laminated timber is somewhat superior to massive timber and round logs in terms of strength and hardness. Due to its layered structure, the product is not subject to cracking and warping, and is resistant to decay. However, the thermal performance of laminated veneer lumber is only slightly better than that of a conventional pine log. In a house made of timber, where the walls are 20 cm thick, you can live in winter. However, heating will be expensive.

Such housing also does not meet the requirements of SNiP 23.02–2003 "Thermal protection of buildings" (for the middle band Ro = 3.49 m² °C / W). Meanwhile, the cost of houses made of glued laminated timber varies between 40-80 thousand rubles. per m². The question arises, is it worth spending first on walls 20 cm thick, and then on insulation and cladding? Yes, and it's a pity to close the very decorative surface of the glued beam hinged facade. So this is where you need to think hard. For comparison, a house made of hand-cut logs will cost 40–70 thousand rubles. per m², the average cost of a house made of logs and profiled timber will be about 20-25 thousand rubles. for 1 m².

Competent insulation of wooden walls

With the help of special dowels, heat-insulating basalt wool slabs are attached to the walls. To prevent atmospheric moisture from penetrating into the insulation, the plates are tightened with a superdiffusion hydro-windproof membrane (film). Such membranes protect the facade from rain, snow, condensation and wind. At the same time, they pass well the steam coming from inside the house. Further, guide rails are nailed to the walls with a certain step for attaching the finishing material. Finishing can serve vinyl siding, wooden lining different widths and thicknesses, block house (planed board, made in the form of a segment of rounded logs) and other materials. It is important to leave air at the top and bottom to ensure air circulation in ventilation ducts formed by wooden guide rails.

Frame construction technologies

Maybe not everyone knows, but frame structure- one of the oldest. An example of this is half-timbered houses having hard load-bearing frame from racks, beams and braces. Our ancestors filled the space between the frame elements with a kind of insulation - reeds or straw mixed with clay, or more reliable material - raw bricks. The frame was covered with tar so that it would not rot, and the clay filling was plastered and whitewashed. Part of the frame was usually left in plain sight, so half-timbered houses have a distinctive black and white appearance. The thermal performance of such a house is excellent, it is cool in summer and warm in winter.

To date, options frame technology there is a lot. Many countries, primarily northern ones, have contributed to their creation and development: these are Canada, the USA, Germany, Scandinavian countries. However, the principle is the same: wooden or metal racks, united by a horizontal strapping, sheathed on the outside sheet materials(oriented strand board, cement chipboard, waterproof plywood, etc.). The internal space is filled with an effective insulation - mineral basalt wool. FROM inside a vapor barrier film is mounted, a hydro-windproof membrane is stretched from the outside. This is followed by decorative wall decoration.

A frame or frame-panel house built in accordance with all the rules will serve you faithfully for decades. Frame and frame-panel houses can be partially or completely made from prefabricated elements, brought to the construction site and quickly assembled on site. They do not need powerful foundations; pile and bored structures are suitable.

A frame house can take on any appearance and look like wood, brick, stone, plastered. The same can be said about the interior decoration. The choice is huge: fiberboard, plaster, drywall, wallpaper, painting, wooden lining, panels and other materials. It is convenient to place communications, electrical wires, heating pipes in the depths of frame walls, which has a positive effect on interior design.

After the installation of the equipment and the completion of the finishing, the frame house is completely ready for living. If you visit your country house on short visits, on weekends and holidays, there is practically no alternative to a frame structure. It can be quickly, literally in the evening, warmed up. But if the heating is turned off, the "ice age" will come just as quickly. This is because, unlike concrete and brick, there is practically nowhere for a frame wall to retain heat. Even wood paneling cannot cope with this function due to its small mass. And mineral wool has a different vocation: it plays the role of a reliable boundary between two temperature environments - cold external and warm internal. So it will not work to heat the frame house for the future.

As for the price, general rule"Cheap is not good" works here too. Excessive savings on the construction site is inappropriate. The price per square meter is highly dependent on the manufacturer building elements, from the distance distance to the construction site, the wages of workers. On average, a turnkey house will cost about 19-24 thousand rubles. per 1 m² of total area.

Clay brick has always been a symbol of something stable and indestructible. Indeed, the brick is durable, frost-resistant, immune to atmospheric influences. But the thermal performance of the material leaves much to be desired. Brick products can be divided into three groups:

1. Full-bodied products: ordinary brick (density 1700–1800 kg / m³, thermal conductivity coefficient 0.6–0.7 W / m ° C); conditionally effective brick (density 1400–1600 kg / m³, thermal conductivity coefficient 0, 35–0.5 W / m ° C); efficient brick (density less than 1100 kg / m³, thermal conductivity coefficient 0.18–0.25 W / m ° C).

2. Hollow bricks with a share of voids from 5 to 40%. This can also include facing products.

3. Porous bricks, including large-format stone bricks. The low coefficient of thermal conductivity of the latter is achieved due to closed air pores, as well as the special structure of the material with voids in the form of honeycombs.

If we take into account walls with a thickness of 510 mm or 640 mm, covered with the necessary layer of "warm" plaster, then only effective ceramic products reach the norm. Walls made of solid and conditionally efficient bricks need additional insulation. To solve this problem, three options are proposed: the installation of a plaster heat-insulating system, the installation of a hinged facade insulation system (ventilated facade) and the construction of three-layer walls with a heat-insulating layer.

A brick house is good for permanent living. Brick structures "breathe", that is, they are able to provide air exchange in the thickness of the walls, and have a solid thermal inertia. Having warmed up, such a wall retains heat for a long time even with minimal heating, gradually releasing it into the surrounding space. That is, if the heating unit suddenly breaks down, then it will be possible to hold out for a long time until the arrival of repairmen in a more or less comfortable atmosphere.

Cellular concrete

Aerated concrete is a collective term that combines finely porous building materials based on a mineral binder (lime, cement). This includes large-format blocks made of aerated concrete, gas silicate, foam concrete and foam silicate. Expanded polystyrene concrete is distinguished into an independent category. The structure of the listed materials is formed by small air pores (cells). It is they that give products made of cellular concrete a high thermal insulation capacity and a relatively small volumetric mass.

Walls built using the technology of single-row block masonry do not require additional insulation. They also do not need a strong foundation. In terms of its environmental and other characteristics, this material is close to wood, but compares favorably with it in that it does not burn and does not deform when humidity changes. At the same time, in terms of its thermal performance, a wall made of cellular concrete is superior to a brick one.

In order for the walls of aerated concrete to be of the desired quality, the masonry is carried out on a special mineral glue. This ensures the thickness of the joints is only 1–3 mm (for comparison, masonry on a cement-sand mortar gives joints of 12–15 mm). At the same time, heat losses are significantly reduced, because thick seams are real "cold bridges" through which heat leaves the house. Foam concrete is more affordable than aerated concrete (for comparison, the first one will cost 1300 rubles / m³, and the second - 2800 rubles / m³), ​​so many developers are turning their eyes to it. But the fact is that foam concrete blocks can be produced on special mobile plants in a rather artisanal way. Therefore, small businesses are often engaged in their manufacture.

To obtain a finely porous structure, special substances are used - foaming agents. For the most part, these are tanning extracts from the leather industry, various lyes, etc., that is, organic compounds that have a limited shelf life and different foaming abilities. To reduce the cost of production, instead of quartz sand, manufacturers use substitutes in the form of industrial waste: fly ash, slag, etc. The hardening of the blocks occurs in natural conditions. The process proceeds unevenly, causing shrinkage deformations. All this leads to, to put it mildly, vague technical characteristics of the final product. The material has sufficient strength and retains heat well, but subject to manufacturing in accordance with all the rules.

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 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 today's rigid energy efficiency framework, the thickness brick wall should 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

oversized building blocks seriously pushed 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 light cellular blocks emphasize the low cost of construction and minimum costs for heating.

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 (you can 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 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 can withstand the load from floor slabs. The breathability of wood concrete blocks is high and quite comparable with wood.

O good warmth and soundproofing qualities of wood concrete eloquently speaks of its low density. 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 builder's dream of a masonry material, which simultaneously contains a load-bearing part, insulation and exterior finish 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 new house of this material, the owner can only paint the walls in 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 pass water vapor, so without forced ventilation the house will be damp. Manufacturers solve this problem by releasing special blocks in which there is air vent with lattice.

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, wooden frame needs additional insulation.

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.

ending short review materials for the construction of wooden houses, a few words should be said about 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 evaluates the frame in cubes, then we will have to compare the cost of 1m2 frame wall with the cost of log and timber.

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 turns out to be 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).

Assembling buildings from steel profile 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 metal main disadvantage LSTC technologies. 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 rightly be called the fastest and 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.
• Attend construction exhibitions in your region, production shops and buildings under construction. Here you will receive valuable and objective first-hand information.

Your own home is what each of us would like. In order to have our own home, we are ready to save money for many years, keep savings in the bank and work hard. A home is not only a place where we will live for a while, but also something that we will leave to our generation. After all, we do not build such a structure with the calculation of temporary residence, because we hope that the house will be built with high quality, and several of our generations, children or even grandchildren will live in it. What memory of ourselves we leave depends only on us.

Many factors influence the construction of a house, such as: the amount of funds for construction, the location of the house, the climatic conditions of the region, and much more. And when choosing a building material, your head is spinning, because more and more new materials appear on the market, those that are more expensive and those that are cheaper, those that we know something about, and those that we can see for the first time. However, you must agree that when choosing a building material, you need to take into account not only its advantages, but also all its inherent disadvantages. Let's look at modern building materials for the walls of the house.

Basic materials for building a house

Although no houses are exactly the same, however, almost all of them are built from the same materials, such as stone or wood. However, all these materials are pre-treated, which gives them the necessary properties.

Let's take, for example, a tree: glued or simple beam, log, gun carriage. At first glance, everything seems simple. However, it should be noted that such materials have very different characteristics. For example, a rounded log and a bar are two completely different materials in terms of their characteristics. But this is not even all wooden materials.

If we talk about a stone, then we are not talking about a wild stone, but about an artificially created one. Such a stone was created with all the necessary properties that are needed when building a house. Although there are really a lot of varieties of such a stone, they can still be classified into three types:

1. Brick.
2. Blocks where cement acts as a binding component.
3. Blocks made from clay or lime.

The largest variety of materials exists in the group of building blocks, the binding component of which is cement. Often, lightweight concrete is used in construction, the difference of which is the brand of cement, heat-insulating components and the composition of the filler.

Brick

Brick is one of the most common materials in residential construction. With this material, you can build not only a house from scratch, but also complete additional structures. Why is brick so popular? Because such material is strong enough, not afraid of fungus, frost-resistant. Compared to wood building materials, brick does not rot. Also, it is not afraid of fire, ultraviolet rays and does not give a strong precipitation. Brick is a durable material that meets all environmental standards. The strength of a house built of bricks is explained not only by the quality of the material, but also by the method of laying, since the upper row is knitted onto the lower row of bricks. Thus, you will not see any continuous vertical seams on the wall.

Of course, learning how to do masonry with your own hands is not difficult at all. This is possible even for those who do not have much experience in construction work. However, such work will be easier to perform for a qualified specialist, since he knows many of the subtleties in performing such work. Another disadvantage in building a brick house is that the brick has a high heat dissipation, which leads to a rapid cooling of the room, and it will take several days to warm up the house. In addition, you will not be able to complete all the construction work quickly enough, since the brick is heavy material, because of which you will have to wait for the complete shrinkage of the house, that is, several months (although the tree shrinks for about a year). Well, perhaps one of the main drawbacks is that the price of a brick is quite high.

I would also like to talk about silicate and ceramic bricks. It is these two types of bricks that are often used in construction work. Therefore, this information will be useful to you.

ceramic brick

Has a red tint. It is made from fired clay, which makes the material quite durable. Since clay is a natural material, the brick does not have harmful toxic substances. It can be hollow and full-bodied, it all depends on the percentage of emptiness inside the material. Such a brick has good thermal insulation properties.

silicate brick

It has White color. It consists of sand, lime and a small part of the necessary additives. Like the previous version, this brick is also made both solid and with holes inside. The advantage of solid silicate brick is the variety of colors. A brick with cavities inside has better thermal insulation properties. Both options are quite durable.

Cellular foam concrete and aerated concrete blocks

What makes these two materials different? Inside the foam concrete there are cells with air, and inside the aerated concrete there are cells with hydrogen. Both the first and second types of materials have their pros and cons. Let's consider each of them separately.

foam concrete

Laying with such material is not a very laborious process, since the blocks are quite light and slightly larger than bricks. The foam block has good heat-insulating properties. An important advantage of the foam block is that it will not be difficult to give it the necessary shape and size. The thing is that it can be cut with a simple hacksaw or chopped off with an ax. Thanks to this, you can give the block different shapes, make it oval, create bay windows, etc. In addition, the foam block does not burn, and it is quite convenient to transport it.

Among the shortcomings, it can be distinguished that the foam block is a material that has moisture-absorbing properties. Full shrinkage of the walls will be completed in about a year. Only after complete shrinkage, you will be able to proceed with the facade and interior work of your home. As for the foundation, it must be of stable foundation slabs or monolithic concrete, thanks to this, the walls will not let cracks.

aerated concrete

A fairly cheap material for building a house, which is why it is very popular in the construction industry. The gas block has a small weight, it is even lighter than the foam block, which reduces your labor costs. You can give the material the required size and shape using the same hacksaw. Such material boasts high-quality thermal protection and high strength. According to some experts, aerated concrete combines the strength of stone and the lightness of wood.

A big disadvantage of aerated concrete is that the wall will constantly accumulate moisture. To avoid this unpleasant phenomenon, the surface of the wall must be sealed with a high-quality waterproofing finish. The second disadvantage is that the material is quite brittle, so when the wall is displaced, large cracks can form. To avoid this, you need to build a high-quality strip foundation.

Expanded clay concrete

The composition of such a material includes fairly light components, such as foamed and defatted clay. Although the material has a small weight, it is used both for creating partitions and for bearing walls. It has such advantages:

• more moisture resistant in comparison with concrete;
• resistant to aggressive environments;
• has excellent soundproofing properties.

The downside of expanded clay concrete is that when moisture enters the pores, it reduces its frost-resistant properties. The porosity of the material also affects its strength, since you have to constantly calculate whether the lower blocks can withstand the weight of the next row.

Building walls with wood

Log cabin handmade

Our grandfathers used this method of building walls in the house. How did everything happen? First, the size of the tree trunk was determined, after which grooves and locks were cut out on the tree. After that, the logs were connected, while laying out the outlines of the house. Further, it was necessary to wait for the complete shrinkage of the house, which would occur during the year. Only after that they began to seal the cracks and trim the doors and windows. However, this method is no longer used, since it is a rather complicated and time-consuming work. A new method has come to replace it, we will talk about it further.