Expensive materials for construction. What material to choose for building a house and what construction technology is better. What material is better for building your own home?
The most important and first question before starting work on the construction of a home: what is the best material to build a house from? permanent residence. The choice depends on many factors and making it is quite problematic without proper preparation. The material of the walls affects not only the microclimate in the room, but also design features other elements of the house. To build a house for permanent residence you will need the highest quality modern materials, A country house gives some relief when constructing with your own hands.
Review of materials
Before building new walls, we will need to compare materials according to the following indicators:
- strength;
- thermal conductivity;
- moisture resistance;
- frost resistance;
- sound insulation;
- durability;
- price;
- density (mass);
- accessibility and transportation distance.
The choice is made based on all these characteristics together, but the most important is strength, since the load-bearing capacity of the walls depends on it. For external enclosing structures, compliance with thermal technical requirements and frost resistance must be checked.
If the material is not warm enough, the temperature and humidity conditions of the room will be disrupted, which will lead to inconvenience for residents. If frost resistance is insufficient, destruction may occur when the outside air temperature changes from negative to positive, and vice versa.
You can make a country or city house with your own hands from the following materials:
- ceramic brick;
- sand-lime brick;
- ceramic blocks;
- wood (profiled timber, rounded logs, laminated wood);
- on a frame with insulation and cladding (the frame can be metal or wood);
- lightweight concrete.
The cheapest option would be to use frame technology or some types of lightweight concrete. These materials allow you to save not only on the construction of external and internal walls with your own hands, but also on foundation elements.
To make a choice for a private home, all materials can be divided into several groups:
- brick and stone;
- lightweight concrete;
- tree;
- frame houses.
If the material is not warm enough, the temperature and humidity conditions will be disrupted. Living in such a house will be uncomfortable The most impressive buildings will be those whose walls are made of massive materials such as brick or concrete. These new homes can withstand the elements environment
and look quite attractive. But when using them, you need to prepare for serious costs.
The most profitable option to build with your own hands is a wooden (not laminated wood) or frame object. Next, it is worth considering in detail the main modern materials that are suitable for the walls of a building intended for permanent residence.
This material was widely used in the past for multi-family buildings. It is important to note that it has more disadvantages than advantages, but choosing sand-lime brick allows you to make the walls of a private house cheaper.
- The advantages include:
- low cost of production and finished products;
- high accuracy of geometric dimensions; attractive appearance
- masonry;
- the ability to use any types of masonry mortars;
- high strength (the choice is relevant for both low-rise and high-rise construction);
high frost resistance (more than 50 cycles) allows you to safely use the material for making external walls with your own hands. Sand-lime brick is not resistant to moisture, has low thermal conductivity, but it has a low cost
- There are disadvantages and they are significant, so if possible, it is better to choose another material: Mass greater than ceramic bricks
- , which creates additional load on the foundation and increases its cost.
- Instability to moisture. In rainy weather, you can see how the silicate walls darken. This means that they have absorbed water. This is an undesirable quality for external fences; the humidity regime in the premises is disturbed. Also because of this, it is not allowed to be used for laying plinths and basements.
- Thermal insulation characteristics are very low (high thermal conductivity). Greater wall thickness or additional thermal insulation is required.
Instability to high temperatures. This material for building a house is not suitable for stoves, fireplaces and chimneys.
Ceramics
- The selection here is represented by the following products:
- solid brick;
- hollow brick;
The price range for this category is very large. Depending on the manufacturer, you can find the material cheaper or more expensive. It is important to consider transportation costs, as they can be significant.
Ceramics is the most the best option to build a house “for centuries”. In the presence of quality materials and adherence to technology allow us to ensure a long service life without problems.
When using facing brick as an outer layer, you can leave the walls without additional finishing. They will endure negative impacts
and maintain an attractive appearance. A new type of material is ceramic stone. His thermal insulation characteristics
twice as good as that of hollow bricks, which makes it possible to reduce the thickness of enclosing structures and reduce the load on the foundation. At the same time, the strength of the material is comparable to its closest relatives. Another advantage is that the enlarged dimensions allow faster laying and reduce the labor intensity of the process. Ceramic brick is very reliable. They are resistant to negative natural influences and keep the appearance of the house attractive for many years. If you answer the question of what to use to build a strong and reliable house with your own hands, then the answer will be porous ceramic stone. Other materials may be cheaper, but here you can save money during operation, on masonry mortar
- and insulation. New walls made from such products have an attractive appearance. The following options can be used as finishing:
- plaster;
- siding;
- lining;
block house.
Lightweight concrete This group includes a large number different types
- . The following are the most popular ones when you need to build a country house or residential house with your own hands: Foam concrete.
- It is easy to process, has good thermal insulation and low weight. The disadvantages are high water absorption and low strength. Choosing such products allows you to save on foundations and walls. Aerated concrete.
- Similar to the previous wall material. Resistance to moisture is even less than that of foam concrete. Characterized by greater accuracy of geometric dimensions. Expanded clay concrete.
- It is cheaper than all other types of lightweight concrete. It is easier to install fastening devices into it (the material does not crumble or crumble). Disadvantages: large mass, low thermal protection. The most desirable of this group is the material for DIY walls. It protects well from the cold and is light in weight. Disadvantages: low fire resistance, destruction of wood under the influence of moisture and rodents.
To understand which of the listed materials is best to choose for walls, it is necessary to take into account the climatic features of the area (wall thickness), the number of storeys of the house and the characteristics of the soil.
There are several options for the material from which you can build a wooden house with your own hands:
- beam;
- log;
- laminated wood.
In terms of technology, it is easier to work with timber. There is no need to cut out recesses to maintain the stability of the elements, as is the case with a log.
Wooden house allows you to minimize the load on foundations and save on them. This occurs due to the following characteristics:
- Low wood density. One cubic meter weighs on average for coniferous species 520 kg, while brick has a density of 1800 kg/m3. This allows the use of lighter foundations, for example, it is especially advantageous in terms of cost and labor intensity to use screw piles.
- Good thermal conductivity. You can again compare a wooden house with ceramic bricks. To ensure normal thermal protection, the thickness of a brick wall should be on average 770 mm (for a midland climate). Wood walls can be 300 mm thick, which further reduces the load on the foundation, increases the speed of work and reduces their cost.
A wooden house reduces the load on the foundation due to the low density and good thermal conductivity of wood If you answer the question of what is the best (and more profitable) to build a house from, then the answer will be wood, but it is important to provide reliable protection from various negative factors. The wall material must be treated with antiseptic compounds and, if possible, fire retardant.
Clapboard, block house or siding are used as the finishing layer of the wall. The latter reduces costs, but the house loses its ability to “breathe” due to the unnatural finish. You can leave the building without cladding, but in this case, in addition to antiseptic treatment, you need to cover it with varnish or protective paints.
The answer to the question of what type of wood is best to use when working with your own hands will be this: you need first or second grade softwood material.
Glued beams are not sustainable for most private buildings. They are designed for increased loads and large spans, and therefore have a very high cost. It is impractical and unprofitable to use them without special need for walls.
Frame houses
Walls using this technology have the following advantages:
- ease of making with your own hands;
- high thermal conductivity;
- low cost;
- light weight;
- the possibility of using inexpensive lightweight foundations as a base;
- fast construction speed.
The house can be made of a wooden or metal frame. The first option is more common. A profile is used as parts for the metal frame. Main elements: upper and lower trim, racks, insulation. Thermal insulation is laid between the racks, the thickness is calculated depending on the climatic region. External cladding can be made from siding or various panels, internal - from plasterboard.
It is impossible to unequivocally answer the question of what material to use to build a wall. It all depends on the financial capabilities and requirements of the customer. We can only give recommendations from the point of view of thermal engineering, cost and strength.
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 greatly depends on both the amount of our money and the climate of the area where it will be located. And the variety of building materials today dazzles the eyes. Therefore, in order for the house to be strong, cozy and last a long time, it is necessary to take into account not only the advantages of this or that material, but also its disadvantages, so that our beauty does not decay and crumble in a few years.
Basic materials for building a house
Despite all the diversity and dissimilarity of houses, we build them from practically only two materials: wood and stone. To be fair, it is worth noting that they are specially processed and given the properties required in each specific case.
Let's look at the wood: rounded logs, plain and laminated timber, carriage. Everything seems to be made of the same material, but the characteristics of, for example, laminated veneer lumber and rounded logs differ like heaven and earth. But there are also frame houses, also consisting of wood and insulation.
By stone we do not mean wild stone(mostly it is used for backfilling under the 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 stone may be, it easily fits into the following classification:
Brick;
Blocks where the binding component is cement;
Building blocks made without the use of cement, based on lime or clay.
The greatest variety of manufacturing technologies (and therefore types) exists in the second group, that is, the group of cement-based building blocks.In house construction, lightweight concrete is most often used, which differ in the brand of cement, the composition of the filler, and the composition of the heat-insulating component. And depending on these characteristics, we can distinguish cellular concrete, where air or gas bubbles serve as thermal insulation, and blocks, where expanded clay plays this role, wood chips or foam balls. However, first things first...
Brick: pros and cons
Yes, 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 radiation does not have any effect on the brick. The brick is durable and also complies with all environmental and aesthetic standards. The strength of the house is explained both by the quality of the material and the method of masonry - each subsequent 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 brick, the house cools down quickly, and it takes several days to warm it up so that it doesn’t seem damp in the house. This can be explained quite simply: when laying, the thickness of the mortar is somewhere around 1 cm , and with small brick sizes, such a thickness of mortar is no longer a “bridge”, but a real “bridge” of cold. The delivery time for brick houses is 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 disadvantages, brick can deteriorate if it absorbs moisture before winter. And this can be possible even if all brick production technologies are followed, if you come across clay with salts dissolved in it: the water will wash the salt out of the brick and will itself occupy the voids. This is the beginning of a destructive process.And one moment. The cost of producing bricks is no less than one and a half times more expensive than the production of other materials from which walls are built. Considering that brick is several times smaller than any other building block, the labor intensity of construction increases significantly. Together, price and labor intensity make brick house quite expensive.
Properties of cellular concrete
TO cellular concrete include 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 are formed 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, releases gas (hydrogen). The solution “grows” and is sent to an autoclave, where it hardens 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 we started building with it recently, when people started talking about heat conservation everywhere. Of course, air is an excellent heat insulator. At the same time, almost no sounds pass through foam concrete. Since foam blocks are light and larger in size than bricks, the masonry does not become labor-intensive process. Yes, and it’s easy to ditch walls for communication systems. How easy it is to give the block different 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 fairly high moisture absorption (albeit to a shallow depth). The walls require annual settlement, and they must stand on stable slab foundations, otherwise significant cracks will 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.). Thermal insulation and noise protection functions are also excellent. Lightness requires less labor, and good heat-shielding properties reduce the number of required material. With all this, do 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 to finish the wall with good waterproofing. The second disadvantage 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, changing the properties 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 float on the surface of the water. However, these components are not crushed stone, gravel, but wood, expanded clay, that is, in comparison with heavy concrete this material has a significantly lower specific gravity.
Expanded clay concrete
contains a relatively light component(foamed and baked clay). Despite the low weight of the blocks, this material is durable and versatile (it is used not only for load-bearing walls, but also partitions, and also fill frames in monolithic housing construction). The material is an excellent sound insulator, it is more moisture resistant than concrete, better able to withstand aggressive environments, and in other respects its best qualities are not inferior to cellular concrete.
The porosity of expanded clay concrete, while improving its thermal and noise-proof qualities, reduces frost resistance due to moisture entering 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 heat and sound insulator is played by polystyrene beads evenly distributed in the concrete. It seems that everyone likes the material: it is warm and durable, it blocks noise well, it is light and not expensive, but it all cancels out one drawback. But what...When there is a fire, polystyrene begins to melt, releasing toxins.
Cinder concrete
the name is more collective than specific. The point is that inThe filler in this building material can be either slag, coal, ash, an admixture of expanded clay with something, screenings, etc. Specifically, slag is used from waste from metallurgical production. To comply with environmental standards, it is kept under conditions for a year. open air. Blocks with a coarse filler fraction are ideal for external walls, and fine ones for internal walls. Voids to improve thermal qualities are created using special molds for the production of this type of concrete. The material is strong, cheap, very durable. The high speed of construction of cinder block walls is important.
The disadvantages include low sound insulation. It is clear, denser material means higher sound conductivity. Also, the material is afraid of water, so it is advisable to cover it. But if you line a house made of cinder blocks with bricks, this will significantly increase the cost of construction. In addition, it is difficult to lay communications in cinder concrete, and if some kind of groove or hole is needed, it is better to provide them in advance and place a block in the cinder block blank in the right place.
Arbolite blocks
― this is a building material, the main components of which are concrete and organic filler: wood chips, flax fiber or seed cake from which the oil has already been squeezed out. Of course, most often it is wood chips. A characteristic feature of wood concrete is that, unlike other lightweight concretes, it contains only 10 - 20% concrete, the rest is wood chips.
A house made of such blocks is more reminiscent of a wooden house in properties, but unlike it, it is practically not susceptible to microorganisms and fungi. One of his interesting properties material - the wood concrete block is able to restore its shape when the maximum loads are removed. It retains heat and keeps out noise. It does not burn, but when exposed to open fire it begins to smolder. Once the source of the flame is removed, the smoldering stops. Eco-friendly, breathable material.The disadvantage of wood concrete is increased moisture permeability, and therefore indoors relative humidity cannot exceed 75%, but there must be cladding on the outside. The foundation must rise above the blind area by at least half a meter so that splashes do not fly onto the wood concrete blocks. The roof overhangs should extend beyond the walls by the same half a meter so that water is less likely to hit the wall.
Blocks without cement
When choosing a material for building walls, you may come acrossgas silicate
. Attention! It should not be confused with aerated concrete. We already know that cement is needed to produce aerated concrete. In the production of gas silicate, lime acts as a binding element. The porous structure is acquired due to the gases released during the interaction of quicklime with aluminum particles. What is the difference between the qualities of gas silicate and aerated concrete? Aerated concrete, thanks to cement, is more durable, gas silicate, thanks to lime, reduces heat loss and better protects against noise. Despite all the high qualities of gas silicate blocks (lightness, insulating properties, low cost, etc.), in them, as in foam concrete, the formation of fungus is possible due to the porous structure.
Ceramic blocks
also do not contain cement. In addition to clay, their composition may include sand and sawdust. The voids inside the blocks resemble honeycombs. The blocks have grooves and protrusions on the outside of their side faces. This allows masonry to be done without vertical seams. As a building material, ceramic blocks are durable and can be used to construct multi-story buildings. They are very light andgood noise protection and thermal insulation. A significant disadvantage of walls made of this material is the impossibility of perforating (and often simply drilling) and fixing anything on the walls, since the abundance of voids and the fragility of thin partitions do not allow even the installation of cork.
Modern construction technologies make it possible to build the walls of a house from various materials– there are solutions for any, even the most modest, budget. When approaching the issue of constructing a building, you should understand one simple truth - all materials for the walls of a house have different strength, thermal conductivity and their own unique technology construction. Whatever one may say, this is very important features, which simply cannot be discounted when starting to build your own home or. Let's, together with the site, choose the best building material for the construction of the building.
How to choose wall material: brick house
Perhaps brick is the most common material for building walls of a house - its strength allows you to make not only load-bearing walls of the building, but also interior partitions, dividing the living area into separate rooms.
Humanity invented bricks a long time ago, and during its existence it has developed quite a few types. There is a strong brick for the construction of load-bearing walls, a looser one for laying partitions and backfilling empty space, and is used equally with them. facing brick and even heat-resistant, able to withstand high temperatures.
All these varieties of this building material allow you to build brick walls any strength using various technologies and customize this construction to suit any budget.
The most expensive option is walls made of several continuous layers of sand-lime brick - this approach allows you to build fairly strong walls that can withstand heavy loads. Even high-rise buildings up to 9, or even higher, floors are built in this way - it all comes down to the thickness of the walls and the method of laying the bricks. This turns out to be quite comfortable, it is cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
How to choose the wall material of a residential building
A cheaper option for building walls is to combine various bricks and modern synthetic insulation. These Construction Materials for the walls of the house they are laid using a special technology, which makes it possible to reduce the cost of construction and at the same time leave the characteristics of the walls at the same level.
Such combined walls They are a kind of layer cake. Outside stacked face brick, the inside is rubble (cheaper), and the space between them is filled with either foam plastic or mineral insulation. The house turns out warm, but the strength suffers a little - high building You can’t build it this way (maximum 2-3 floors).
Brick house walls photo
Foam block walls: pros and cons
When deciding on the material for the walls of a residential building, you should not lose sight of aerated concrete and foam concrete - according to their characteristics, they are not much different from each other - light, warm and convenient for construction. Their only drawback is their low strength. They are mainly used for the construction of interior partitions.
Foam concrete can also be used to create load-bearing walls only in combination with reinforced concrete - support columns and floor beams are poured, and the space between them is filled with foam blocks. This approach to construction reduces the initial cost of the house by ten percent.
House walls made of foam blocks
Are expanded clay concrete walls used in private construction?
Blocks or even slabs of expanded clay concrete are made from cement with the addition of expanded clay granules and a reinforcing frame - this approach to their creation allows you to make the walls of the house strong and warm. Expanded clay concrete was quite often used in the construction of high-rise buildings in the last century; they were used as insulation, and the load-bearing walls of the house were located inside the building.
In private construction expanded clay concrete walls They are rare - they are not cheap, and working with them requires special lifting equipment.
House walls made of expanded clay concrete blocks
Wooden walls and a cheaper alternative
Wood is an environmentally friendly material, precisely for this reason modern construction cottages it is becoming increasingly popular. The walls of a wooden house are durable, warm, and most importantly, safe for humans. Such a house is very expensive - walls built from processed logs are the most expensive, and not everyone can afford this approach to construction.
To reduce the cost of construction wooden walls, modern industry has learned to produce so-called laminated veneer lumber - it is made from waste from the woodworking industry by gluing individual wooden parts. In this way, it is possible to produce timber of any length and cross-section - in terms of strength, this material is not much inferior to a massive log, and its thermal conductivity and environmental friendliness practically do not change.
Walls of a house made of timber photo
Foam walls: advantages and disadvantages
The cheapest option for building walls is to construct them from foam plastic. This technology is quite interesting, and it is simply impossible to ignore it. A foam block, identical, is laid as ordinary brick with only one difference - the cavities in the blocks are filled with concrete and reinforced.
As a result, inside the foam blocks you get a kind of small reinforced concrete columns, which bear the main load from the building. In this way, you can build a structure up to three floors high.
The disadvantages of foam walls include problems with their cladding. To obtain a high-quality facade, it must additionally be plastered using a special technology using metal mesh or use ventilated facade systems. The same can be said about internal walls– mixtures for foam plastic plaster cost a lot, this nuance negates the low cost of the material and working with it.
House wall material – polystyrene foam
Frame wall construction
IN Lately The so-called frame construction of houses is becoming increasingly popular. This technology is based on the principle metal frame from special profiles, which are subsequently sheathed sheet material like , but internal cavity such walls are insulated. Frame walls are a kind of building kit that allows you to cheaply build a house in almost a month.
The disadvantage of this method of construction is its low strength and durability - as they say, you cannot build such a house to last forever. On the other hand, there will be enough for you and your children (although the question about the latter remains open).
Options for house walls - frame construction
In general, there are quite a lot of options for constructing the walls of a house; in addition to those listed above, there are other materials that you will have to choose. The choice of material for the walls of your home can be influenced by anything: your financial condition, the climate zone in which you live, and other factors. The main thing to remember is that you need to build in such a way that the house is a refuge not only for you, but also for the next generations of your family.
Every good owner sooner or later faces some type of construction. Some are building a garage, some are building a bathhouse, and some are planning to build a large mansion on their own. This is where the question arises about what is the best material to choose for building a house.
The main stages of construction include pouring the foundation and erecting walls. It is important for any owner that the aesthetic appearance of the structure be high level, the walls were warm, strong, and in general the costs of building materials were not very high.
The most popular materials for building a house
Modern construction market rich and varied. Let's take a closer look at the top five most popular building materials for building a house.
- Solid profiled timber.
- Rounded log.
- Brick.
- Foam blocks.
- Thermal panels.
What to give preference to? Each owner makes this decision independently, but for this it is worth studying all the pros and cons of each of the materials.
Tree
Wooden building materials for building a house have become very popular these days. Wood walls have low thermal conductivity, but stable heat capacity. Even if the house has not been heated for some time, with the furnace running, the resulting condensation will be absorbed into the wood. After this, the already heated air draws out moisture, and a special, favorable microclimate. Coniferous species (pine, spruce, fir, larch, cedar) are often used in construction. In addition to the popular solid profiled timber, rounded logs, laminated veneer lumber, regular timber, and carriages are used.
Solid profiled timber
Material that has undergone special processing. The content of wood resin in profiled timber is very high, thanks to which buildings made from it are durable and are not exposed to aggressive environmental influences.
Even in the last century, when choosing finishing and building materials, rarely did anyone choose profiled timber. When erecting the walls, manual adjustment was required. Now, thanks modern technologies, the beams are processed on machines in such a way that they simply fit together perfectly, the gaps between them are minimal.
This environmentally friendly material is not too expensive. The walls retain heat inside for a long time; they can be erected in a matter of days. Smooth, machine-processed beams allow you to assemble a house like a puzzle.
Rounded log
When studying building materials for building a house, pay attention to rounded logs. Like timber, this building material is made from coniferous trees. Unlike the first, rounded logs allow the construction of more durable structures, all thanks to the shape of the material. Construction from rounded logs is also carried out in a short time.
Brick
The most popular building material for building walls is brick. Brick buildings are quite acceptable in appearance, very strong in strength, durable, and also environmentally friendly.
Sand-lime brick. This building material is very common. Buildings made from such bricks can last for decades.
Clay brick. It has always been considered a symbol of something stable, indestructible. This brick has increased strength, frost resistance, and immunity to aggressive atmospheric influences. However thermal characteristics Such building materials do not always live up to expectations.
To build reliable buildings, high-quality building materials are required. Brick factories offer a wide range of their products, which can be divided into three categories:
- Solid bricks, these include the following types: conditionally effective, ordinary, effective.
- Hollow bricks, the proportion of voids in them reaches 40%. Cladding products also fall into this category.
- as well as large-format stone-bricks. The high thermal conductivity of this category is ensured thanks to the honeycomb-shaped structural material.
Disadvantages and advantages of brick
During transportation, especially over long distances, a small percentage of products lose marketable condition, brick materials To build walls, houses are crumbled. Their cost is quite high.
The ability of brick to retain heat is much less than that of wood. Walls built from conditionally efficient or solid brick always require additional insulation. This problem is solved by three options: ventilated facade - installation of a suspended insulation system, thermal insulation plastering system, as well as three-layer walls with a thermal layer.
The brick house is comfortable to live in. This design “breathes”, provides air exchange, and at the same time has active thermal inertia. Once heated, brick walls retain heat for a long time and gradually release it into the room.
Foam blocks
If you need high-quality and at the same time inexpensive building materials to build a house, then pay attention to foam blocks.
Foam blocks have such qualities as heat resistance, high strength, and low weight. Sudden temperature changes do not affect walls built from foam blocks in any way. They do not crack or expand. There are many air bubbles inside the block, which increase the thermal insulation effect. For comparison: foam concrete walls have a thermal conductivity eight times higher than conventional concrete walls. The material is good not only for the construction of main walls, but also for internal floors. Thanks to this, the entire structure retains heat perfectly. Foam concrete structures do not require additional insulation. Heating costs are significantly reduced, by approximately 30%.
Advantages of foam concrete structures
- Due to the low weight, the pressure on the foundation is reduced.
- Savings in finishing. Enough ordinary putty walls, plaster is not required.
- Reduced labor intensity. One 15 kg foam block replaces 20 bricks, total weight which is equal to 80 kg.
- Cellular foam concrete blocks have excellent sound insulation properties.
- Brick factories produce such building materials in sufficient quantities. The popularity of foam blocks is growing every day.
- In terms of environmental friendliness, this material resembles wood. The room maintains optimal humidity and the walls breathe. Unlike wood, blocks do not rot, do not burn, and do not rust like metal.
- Foam concrete is often used as a heat insulator; it can withstand high temperatures (up to +400 degrees).
- The blocks are very easy to process using ordinary hand tools.
Disadvantages of foam concrete
When we choose materials for the walls of a house, we try to study not only the advantages, but also their inherent disadvantages; foam concrete also has some. These include:
- Fragility of the material.
- Every three rows of walls must be reinforced.
- Foam concrete quickly absorbs moisture, which somewhat reduces thermal conductivity.
- To avoid dampness, you need to create waterproofing, moisture-resistant protection between the foundation and the walls.
- Vapor permeability of foam concrete. Vapor barrier is required.
Frame thermal panels
If you need inexpensive building materials to build a house, then you should pay attention to frame thermal panels. The advantages of this material include low thermal conductivity, relative strength and quick assembly. The downside is the lack of naturalness.
Thermal panels today are very often used for finishing frame-panel houses. Their design consists of extruded polystyrene foam (as a thermal insulation substrate) and high performance properties allow the use of thermal panels in the construction of houses using Canadian technologies. TO the most important characteristics this facade material, which have ensured wide demand, of course, include the lack of moisture absorption, low thermal conductivity, high compressive and impact strength, resistance to fire and any biological effects. The material is easy to install and further use.
Finishing and for the construction of walls of the house must comply with all modern requirements, then the design will delight the owners for many years. Frame thermal panels provide an attractive, aesthetic, solid appearance to the building. It is for this reason that this material is very often used for the construction of cottages. lined up according to Canadian technology, finished has the appearance of smooth, flawless brickwork.
If a building is lined with thermal panels, heat loss is immediately reduced by 30%, all thanks to the substrate, which consists of extruded polystyrene foam. Clinker tiles are connected to insulation under high pressure super strong glue. The finest cutting of expanded polystyrene sheets allows for high-quality tight joints. In order for the facade to acquire a finished look, in addition to the main panels, you can purchase various additional elements to neatly decorate the corners.
We presented the most common building materials on modern market. How and what material to choose for building a house, whether to give preference to price, naturalness, aesthetic qualities or technical characteristics, is up to you to decide.
The purpose of this article is to help potential developers understand which modern building materials are attractive not only in terms of their price, but also in terms of the feasibility of their use in the construction of private houses.
The growth of individual construction has led to the appearance of various materials on the market, including some that no one had ever heard of before. The range of building materials is so large that even specialists are often lost, not knowing what is best to choose.
As a rule, individual developers focus on the following indicators: the price of materials (including facing materials); the ability to perform all operations with your own hands to the maximum; the total weight of the structure, since the type of foundation and the costs of its installation largely depend on this; cost of finishing work; durability; frequency of current (overhaul) repairs and operating costs (mainly for heating).
Firstly, comprehensive information on each sample is a topic for a separate review. Secondly, ideal materials does not exist. Each material has its own pros and cons, which will be discussed. Thirdly, many of the shortcomings of materials are very relative, since the manifestation of their defects is caused mainly not by the quality of the product, but by the excessive self-confidence of the developer, elementary violations of construction production technology installation work and technical illiteracy of builders on issues of heat and waterproofing, thermal expansion of building materials, their compatibility, etc., etc.
What kind of house exactly do you need? Need to decide
There are three main types of houses built by private developers.
To the first type refers to a residential building for permanent residence those who live in suburban areas, but work activity connected with the city and for those who want to run their own farm on their own plot of land.
These are, as a rule, permanent buildings with a full set of additional premises such as a boiler room, workshop, sauna, garage. Such houses are designed for year-round living, so their walls must have thermal insulation properties in accordance with the climate of the region.
The engineering equipment of houses for permanent residence should provide maximum communal amenities, surpassing the comfort of a city apartment.
To the second type considered a "second home" or a so-called cottage serving for temporary residence V suburban area. Buildings of this type usually take into account the possibility of year-round living, so their walls are treated with the same attention as in houses for permanent residence.
To the third type houses include dachas and garden houses- Houses for seasonal stay or short-term visits, where you can come to spend weekends during the warm season. Most often, such houses are operated at temperatures not lower than -5 degrees, so the thickness of the walls rarely exceeds 25 cm (one brick), and engineering support is reduced to the installation of a stove, outdoor toilet and a well, usually for several houses.
All of these well-known wall designs have their pros and cons. Therefore, the developer needs to have at least a little idea not only about total cost building a house from this material, but also about what advantages of the material he makes his choice in favor of this wall design, and what disadvantages he will therefore have to put up with in the future during the operation of the house.
Before starting to build a cottage, you should remember that the box of the house - the foundation, walls and roof - sometimes takes up more than 60% of the cost of the house. And of these costs, about 50% are enclosing structures or walls.
If you decide to build your own house, the first thing you will have to figure out is the amount of materials you will need to build it. The process of counting all the necessary things is quite capacious, tedious and time-consuming, but it is extremely necessary for a stable and successful construction. So let's start with the calculations.
- Decide on the size and volume of the house. Determine the exact footage you need for housing, distribute all the premises and rooms within this footage and choose their arrangement.
- Use the services of a specialist. You can study specialized forums or websites that provide statistics on how much of each type of building material is needed for a certain size of building or room.
- If you couldn't find necessary information online, go to the store and consult with the seller. Ask him which of the available materials is most suitable for you, which materials have the highest quality indicators, and how much of a particular product you need to fill the entire footage.
- Make the final choice between traditional and modern building materials. You evaluate not only the means, but also the manufacturability of construction and the duration of operation. Modern technologies make it possible to obtain material with higher “survivability” indicators, and at the same time at a very reasonable price. The assembly process can be much easier and the end result looks neater and cleaner.
- Before going to the store, review your notes again. Make the adjustment, calculate the quantity and price of all goods. Be sure to order building materials with at least a five percent surplus for emergencies.
The strategic issue is the type of walls. To begin with, we will look at three options for wall structures that are widely used in private housing construction.
Old and good tree
The traditional material for Russian house construction is wood. About 33% of our houses are built from it.
People wondering what is best to build from a private house, this is the material that often comes to mind. After all, a wooden house means health and comfort. Its walls not only “breathe”, but also make the air healing, trapping harmful substances. Walls made of wood are created indoors optimal humidity and they smell nice.
The walls of a wooden house have good thermal insulation and keep the house warm in winter and cool in summer. The cost of heating a wooden house can be significantly lower compared to brick walls.
A wooden house can be built from logs (rounded or profiled) and/or from timber (plain or laminated veneer lumber).
Hand-cut log house
This method is the oldest, it was used by our grandfathers and great-grandfathers. We are talking about a log house made by hand. The tree trunk is cut to the required length, and then locks and grooves are made on it. Next, the logs are connected, laying out the outline of the house. You definitely have to wait for the shrinkage - this is about a year, no less. Then they caulk the cracks and line the frames of the windows and doors.
Today this method of constructing a wooden house is not used. Anyone can build a house from rounded logs. This structure is assembled like a construction set, we’ll talk about this later.
Building a house from timber is easier and faster
Neat, smooth logs are processed in production conditions and labeled. On construction site They supply ready-made parts from which the walls are assembled. The timber may have various sizes and cross-section (rectangular, square, D-shaped). If it is profiled, then it has protrusions and grooves for connection. An oblique cut helps drainage excess water. You can build a house from this material with your own hands.
There are several types of timber for building a house
Sawn timber made from logs with a moisture content of 50 to 70%. As soon as he is cut down, he immediately goes to the construction site. Because of this, the house is subject to shrinkage (up to 10 cm). And sometimes cracks appear on the walls.
Planed timber dried under production conditions. The humidity of the finished product is from 20 to 25%. After drying for special machine the products are planed. As a result, shrinkage of the house, although it exists, is very small.
Glued beam made of several layers of lamellas (special boards dried to 6 or 10% humidity). They are glued together under pressure, with the fibers of adjacent layers positioned perpendicular to each other. Finished products have a length of up to 12 m, and a thickness of 7.5 to 30 cm. They do not shrink, do not deform or crack. Therefore, many believe that laminated veneer lumber is best material for the walls of a wooden house.
The positive aspects of wooden houses are obvious - they are environmentally friendly, frost resistance, speed of construction, seismic and wind resistance. In addition, the wood does not require additional cladding, which promises good budget savings.
There are also disadvantages, but they are relatively few. Firstly, wood is a capricious material. For example, wooden houses often shrink. House shrinkage is a natural process of changing the volume of walls due to the drying of the material from which they are made. The maximum shrinkage is about 10% and is observed in houses made of freshly cut logs. Such a building must stand without finishing for at least 8 months, and usually a year.
During the shrinkage process, the house may develop cracks, which are coated with special compounds. Minimal shrinkage is observed in houses made of laminated veneer lumber and ordinary dried timber. Such materials are almost immediately ready for finishing. However, insulating a house made of timber will require a lot of money.
Another disadvantage of wood is its flammability; a fire can destroy such a structure in a matter of minutes. Therefore, wooden houses are impregnated with special compounds that increase their fire resistance.
Special compounds are needed to protect against rotting and insects. Impregnation is a necessary measure, and the special means themselves are not always environmentally friendly. In addition, a house made of wood requires constant maintenance, especially if it is intended for seasonal living; it must be heated, as damp wood begins to rot.
In general, the durability of wooden houses built by specialists, in compliance with all technological nuances, ranges from 70 to 100 years.
Briefly - the advantages of wood materials
This is one of the most environmentally friendly materials. Building a wooden house is not as expensive as a brick one. In terms of thermal conductivity, wood is significantly superior to brick. A wooden house is usually very beautiful. Often it does not require finishing either inside or outside. The foundation required is light and inexpensive. For example, columnar. A house made of wood, especially one made by hand, lasts a very long time.
Briefly - the disadvantages of wood materials:
The tree burns, can rot and be “eaten up” by fungus. To prevent this, all parts must be treated with special preparations. Shrinkage of a log house can take from 3 to 5 years. Planed timber and log houses can crack.
Brick - it is a brick
Brick is considered one of the most popular materials on the market. More than 50% of houses in Russia are built of brick
Ceramic brick and silicate brick. What is the difference?
Two types of bricks are used in construction: silicate (white) and ceramic (red) bricks.
Ceramic brick has a red color. This material is not afraid of frost and does not allow water to pass through. It can be solid (no more than 13% voids) and hollow (up to 49% voids). The shape of the holes in the brick can be round, square, oval, horizontal or vertical. With an increase in their number, the thermal insulation properties improve.
For the construction of external fences construction crews prefer ceramic bricks. Seven grades of ceramic bricks are produced: from M75 to M300. The higher the numbers, the stronger the brick. You should also pay attention to frost resistance, designated by the letter F. The lowest quality is F15, the highest is F75.
Sand-lime brick consists of a mixture quartz sand, water and air lime. It is quite durable, frost-resistant, and has good sound insulation. Sand-lime brick has White color. Its main components are lime, sand and a small proportion of additives.
This type of brick is also produced both solid and with cavities inside. The latter is lighter, and the walls made of it are much warmer (air is an excellent heat insulator). But solid sand-lime brick can interest the developer in its variety of colors. For the strength of a brick, it does not matter whether it is solid or has cavities inside.
Ordinary and facing bricks and their purpose.
Both types of bricks have different purposes. Ordinary brick is also called construction brick - it is used for internal masonry of walls. For him, small cracks are not considered defective. It doesn’t matter if the corners or edges are slightly broken and there are notches in the corners.
The facing (facing) brick must have an impeccable appearance and be free from nicks and flaws.
About the strength of brick and resistance to frost
Strength determines the brand of brick. There is a special marking for this indicator: the letter M and a number next to it (from 75 to 300). This number is the load that a given brand can withstand per one square centimeter. The higher this number, the heavier the brick. For the walls of a two-story or three-story house, brands M100 and M125 are suitable. The base or foundation is laid with M150 or M175 bricks.
When choosing which brick to build a house from, you should also take into account frost resistance (the ability to freeze and thaw without being damaged). To denote this indicator, the letter F was chosen, next to which there is a number from 15 to 100. It means the number of freezing and defrosting cycles without damaging the material. In warmer areas for external walls F15 brand is enough, where it is colder - F25. The cladding is usually made with F50 brick.
The main advantages of brick are strength, fire resistance, wide variety and choice on the market, as well as reasonable price. A small brick house can sometimes cost less than a wooden cottage. Brick holds temperature well and in this sense is ideal for houses where it is planned year-round accommodation. But at the same time, brick is seriously inferior to wood in terms of heat transfer.
Brick also has a lot of disadvantages. To build a brick house, you sometimes need to spend one and a half times more time than to build a wooden house. Brick is a heavy material, which complicates its logistics and storage. A brick building requires a strong and powerful foundation, and these are additional costs.
A brick house can last 100 - 150 years. It will perfectly survive rains with hurricanes and hail, and severe frosts, and withering heat. Brick walls have been laid since ancient times, so the technology for their construction has been worked out to the smallest detail. But a good master is not easy to find.
Briefly – the advantages of brick: Attractive view. Durability. Ability to implement any complex project. Resistant to corrosion, mold and mildew. Non-flammability. Noise protection. Good heat retention.
Briefly - the disadvantages of brick: Heavy weight. High demands on professionalism in installation. The need for a solid foundation. The need to use a heat insulator
Inexpensive frame house
And from what cheaper build a house? For some, the answer to this question is most important. In this case, take a closer look at frame technology. In addition to the low cost of such a home, the speed of assembly is also impressive. Just a few weeks - and you can move into a house that will be warm and comfortable.
The basis of such buildings is a frame made of wood or metal. It includes rafters, racks, trusses and other elements. Then insulation is laid, and the whole thing is sheathed on top with dense sheets of chipboard or OSB. The wall of such a house weighs 15 times less than a brick one.
Not much expensive wood is used for the frame - 5 or 10 times less than for a log house. Insulation is the main expense item. However, even the best one, the cost of a wall is 1.5 times cheaper than one made from timber, and compared to brick – 2.7 times cheaper.
Frame houses can be of two types:
Frame and panel house- assembled from ready-made shields. First they connect them, then they make partitions between the rooms. The final stage is building the roof.
Frame house- made on the basis of a “frame” - a frame made of beams and logs resting on a foundation. Next, they install the rafters and make the sheathing. After making the roof, the frame is sheathed with insulation (mineral wool or PPS). Finally, the outer cladding is done.
Since the main material for construction frame house is insulation, then if you carry out the correct calculations of the required quantity, the structure turns out to be warm enough, which will allow you to significantly save on heating.
Briefly – the advantages of a frame house: Extremely low price and quick installation. Good heat saving (if the heating is turned off in frosty temperatures of minus 10 °C, the temperature will decrease by 2 °C per day). No interior finishing is required, which reduces costs. Communications can be hidden inside the walls, which saves space. No special skills are required to build a frame house cheaply and quickly. With a wooden frame, the most incredible designs become possible. A real flight of fancy is possible. A small, shallow foundation is sufficient for a frame house.
Briefly, the disadvantages of a frame house: a frame house is considered not very environmentally friendly due to the large amount of insulation. Another problem with these houses is various insects and rodents. Like all wooden houses, they are flammable and not resistant to natural disasters. One more problem frame houses– they are stuffy, so they require supply and exhaust ventilation. A house on a frame will last less than a brick or wooden one
Instead of a conclusion
What do you need to know when choosing material for the walls of your home?
Wall materials and work on the construction of enclosing structures are a third of all costs of building a house. And if you, like the piglets Nif-Nif and Nuf-Nuf, are careless about this serious choice, you will inevitably incur serious expenses in the future.
Therefore, we will consider the most important criteria and factors that must be taken into account when choosing a material for constructing the walls of a house.
A) A question of price. Costs can be reduced if you use lightweight material for the walls. Then you won’t have to build a powerful and expensive foundation.
B) Thermal insulation. Cold walls will cost too much in winter. Therefore, before choosing a material, you need to make all calculations, focusing on local climatic conditions. You can achieve the desired degree of thermal insulation by using insulation materials. If you take a material with good heat-insulating properties, then you don’t have to insulate the walls, but it all depends on the region of construction.
B) Labor costs. The cost of time and effort can be reduced if you build the walls from large blocks, rather than from small-piece materials. Such walls are erected 3-4 times faster and easier. The highest speed is when constructing frame panel walls.
D) Subsequent finishing costs. Modern smooth and aesthetic materials do not require additional wall finishing - this allows you to save money.
To decide what is best to build the walls of a house from, it is necessary to consider the main types of suitable building materials, determine and compare their characteristics, advantages and disadvantages.
Comparison of different materials for building walls
| № | Materials | Advantages | Flaws | Cost of materials and work $/M2 | |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 | Brick (minimum thickness - 380 mm) | Reliability, durability, environmental friendliness. |
The need for insulation, labor intensity, heavy walls, a strong foundation is needed | 75 | |
| 2 | Ceramic block (thickness - 380 mm) | Reliability, durability, environmental friendliness, construction speed. |
The fragility of the material A highly qualified specialist is needed. |
82 | |
| 3 | Rounded timber (diameter - 200 mm) | Environmental friendliness, rapidity construction. |
Wall shrinkage, great dependence on the quality of the material and specialists, flammability, rotting. |
44 | |
| 4 | Glued laminated timber (200/230 mm) | Environmental friendliness, speed of construction, lightweight foundation. |
Flammability, rotting. | 111 | |
| 5 | Aerated concrete (thickness – 380) | Speed of construction durability, reliability, environmental friendliness, thermal insulation. |
A solid foundation is needed; low bending strength. |
60 | |
| 6 | Wooden frame+ sandwich panels with insulation. | Speed of construction good thermal insulation, lightweight foundation |
The durability of a house depends on technology and quality of construction. |
44 | |
And one more piece of advice. When choosing material for building a house, you should not approach the upcoming construction “in a big way.” In fact, a person does not need so much space to be completely happy, especially outside the city. All the savings you achieve by reducing the cost of materials and construction technologies can be negated by the extra floors, rooms and spaces.
We wish you success in finding and finding the only right solution!
Text: Valery Bordyuzhenko -
