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Construction of country houses from aerated concrete blocks: technology features and prices. How to build a house from aerated concrete with your own hands: design, site preparation, construction work Do-it-yourself houses made of aerated silicate blocks

Cellular concrete has been increasingly used in construction in recent years, and of all varieties, aerated concrete is the most popular. Its characteristics, cost and durability are optimal for the construction of private residential buildings and new high-rise buildings.

Aerated concrete blocks are an inexpensive building material; construction from them is much cheaper than from other materials. A reliable house made of aerated concrete has been in use for decades, and the planned period of use is at least one hundred years. Buildings are strong and reliable if they are erected in accordance with norms, standards and technology.

How to build a house from aerated concrete

You can build from aerated blocks without having any experience in construction work. The main thing is to work according to instructions developed taking into account real experience. We provide all the necessary materials and recommendations, including if you contact us to develop a project.

How quickly can you build a house from aerated concrete?

On average, the construction of an aerated concrete cottage takes six months. A team of experienced builders will build a house of average complexity in two months. The longest stage is usually the construction of the box and the installation of the roof.

The price of construction depends on the complexity of the project, the size of the house, the price of materials and the cost of renting equipment.

In general, construction using aerated concrete is economical, cost-effective and time-efficient. With proper preparation, you can handle it yourself.

You cannot build a building higher than 5 floors. However, for the needs of private construction this is usually quite sufficient. In this article, we will introduce you to projects for building a house made of aerated concrete, its prices, make calculations and estimates, and share useful photos and videos.

Aerated concrete is a subtype of lightweight concrete with all the ensuing advantages and disadvantages. When building a residential building, these qualities must be assessed from all points of view.

The video below will tell you more about the advantages and disadvantages of aerated concrete houses:

Advantages

Thermal insulation– indicators depending on the type of aerated concrete vary from 0.072 to 0.14 W/(m*S). Taking into account the standards for resistance to heat loss, which are pleasant in Russia in the middle zone, for example, the wall thickness should be 37.5 cm. However, much here depends on the density of the selected material: for example, when building from structural aerated concrete, the wall thickness increases to 50 cm, since its thermal insulation qualities are lower.
Strength– Autoclaved aerated concrete is the most durable. Due to the special features, the micropores are distributed here as evenly as possible, which also allows the load to be evenly distributed. This makes it possible to compare.
Aerated concrete is quite different high vapor permeability, which is a definite plus for a residential building. The walls “breathe” and, to some extent, remove moisture from the room.
Gas blocks have perfect geometric shape. This allows you to lay the “bricks” not on the mortar, but on the glue. In this way, the absence of “cold bridges” is ensured, and the surface of the walls is smooth.
Material easy to process using any mechanical methods: it can be sawed, cut, grooves, recesses can be made in it and unusual architectural forms can be realized.
Light weight even with large wall thicknesses, it creates a much smaller load on the foundation for a house made of aerated concrete than a brick one.
Construction time dwellings made of aerated concrete are minimal: the foundation takes the longest to build.
Price aerated concrete blocks are noticeably lower in cost than bricks.

Flaws

Unfortunately, the disadvantages of aerated concrete buildings are also quite significant.

Despite the relative ease of construction, the foundation will have to be tiled or monolithic strip: aerated concrete has low resistance to tensile loads. This means that when the foundation shrinks, the walls will become covered with cracks.
Aerated concrete absorbs moisture to an even greater extent: it is open porous. The material does not store moisture, but dries over time, but in order to get rid of dampness it must be protected.
High vapor permeability limits the choice of exterior finishing: a ventilated facade, siding with a ventilation gap, or special porous plaster are suitable. If these requirements are not followed, moisture will actually accumulate in the wall, leading to destruction.

How to build a house from aerated concrete with your own hands?

Construction from aerated concrete has its own characteristics. The masonry technology itself is simple - ordinary brick with ligation. However, due to insufficient strength, reinforcement is mandatory for the structure. So, let's look at the main stages of building a house made of aerated concrete.

This video will tell you about building houses from aerated concrete with your own hands:

Foundation

First of all, lay the foundation - slab or strip. If the building is supposed to be higher than three floors, the foundation must be slab. This is a very material-intensive and labor-intensive foundation, but, fortunately, the foundation here is shallow.

A trench or pit is dug under the foundation, the bottom is filled with sand to a depth of 20 cm, the sand is wetted and compacted.
Formwork is installed - usually from boards or. The height of the foundation above ground level is 30–40 cm.
The foundation is poured in layers - no more than 15 cm. Reinforcement is performed twice or three times: for this, the frame is tied from rods with a diameter of 12 mm. If a blind area is planned, then one of these frames also covers the blind area.
Concrete is compacted using bayonets or vibrating attachments.

Further construction is possible only after the concrete has set and reached its design strength. Then the formwork is removed.

Laying

Cut-off waterproofing is installed - usually 2 layers are laid on the foundation.
The first row is laid in a ratio of 1:3. Particular attention is paid to leveling: the masonry mortar allows you to achieve precise horizontality. The first row must be reinforced: for this, two rows of rods with a diameter of at least 8 cm are placed in the masonry layer.

The thickness of the wall is 35–40 cm, the distance of the reinforcement rod from the edge of the block is 6 cm. If the thickness of the masonry is 20 cm, then reinforcement with one rod is allowed.

It is recommended to lay the next rows with special glue. The ideal geometric dimensions of the gas blocks allow for very precise, tight joining. The adhesive layer, unlike masonry mortar, is much thinner - 0.7 cm, which subsequently prevents the formation of “cold bridges”. The glue is applied to a clean surface with a trowel and leveled with a spatula-comb.
Every 3 or 4 rows, reinforcement is carried out. Since the glue layer is too thin, grooves are made for this - 12 mm wide. Reinforcement is placed in them and glue is applied.
In addition, it is necessary to reinforce the row under the window opening - the width of the opening plus 90 cm, and the places where the lintels rest above the windows and doors.
In places where the thickness or height of the walls changes, expansion joints are installed at the intersections of long walls and the like. Aerated concrete does not bend, and such gaps make it possible to partially compensate for the load. The seams are sealed with mineral wool, polyethylene, and treated with sealant.
Lintels over openings are made from U-shaped blocks. They are laid at a width equal to the width of the opening plus 90 cm, reinforcement is placed inside - 2-3 layers and filled with concrete. The same structure can be made from ordinary boards and blocks, but in this case the blocks will have to be cut to width.
An armored belt must be installed between floors or under the roof. In the simplest case, formwork is constructed for it, reinforcement is laid in at least two rows and filled with concrete of the same strength as the foundation.

If we are talking about a roof, then studs are embedded in the armored belt for attaching the Mauerlat.

Flooring and interior finishing

The interfloor ceiling is constructed from concrete monolithic slabs, monolithic cellular concrete slabs or light reinforced concrete beams filled with T-shaped blocks of aerated concrete. It depends on the specifics of the project.
or aerated concrete chips. However, this is rarely done, since in practice, insulating a floor with foam plastic turns out to be much faster and more profitable, since foam plastic is a much better heat insulator than any cellular concrete.
Finishing a building made of aerated concrete is mandatory, and finishing must be done first from the inside and then from the outside. The material equally absorbs moisture and if you start finishing from the inside, this will not allow moisture to accumulate.

By finishing:

Almost any material is suitable for interior decoration, since its vapor permeability should be lower than that of aerated concrete, and this is easy to do.
For exterior finishing, special porous plaster is optimal. A good option is a ventilated facade, although it is more difficult to arrange.

Read on to find out how much it costs to build a house from aerated concrete, and what the price is for services of this type.

The following video will also help novice builders when building a house from aerated concrete:

Projects and cost estimates

If the future owner of the building is not a professional builder, the design stage must be entrusted to specialists. The cost of mistakes here is too high, but in a residential area it is necessary to provide not only the box itself and partitions, but also the installation of water supply, sewerage, electrical networks, gas pipelines, and so on. Here you can only calculate the approximate volume of materials yourself.

Often, construction companies develop projects for free, provided that they are the ones entrusted with implementation. This does not apply to complex projects. Many of them offer a large number of turnkey projects of various configurations, sizes and prices.

The cost of publication depends on many factors.

A modest one-story building with an area of 50 square meters. m. costs 1,250,000–1,450,000 rubles.
A one-story building with an area of 200 sq. m. m. with a terrace – 3,800,000 rub.
A two-story building will cost no less than 2 million rubles. with an area of up to 130 sq. m.
A two-storey cottage in the constructivist style with an area of 500 sq. m. will cost 5 million rubles. and higher.

Projects of houses made of aerated concrete

Aerated concrete house project - 1 Project of a house made of aerated concrete - 2
Aerated concrete house project - 3
Aerated concrete house project - 4
Project of a house made of aerated concrete - 5

Before you learn how to build a house from aerated concrete with your own hands, let's talk about aerated concrete itself, its properties and characteristics.

Aerated concrete– a building material, which is one of the types of cellular concrete. This material is an artificial stone, throughout the entire volume of which spherical pores are evenly distributed, having a size of 1-3 mm and not communicating with each other. In appearance, aerated concrete resembles stone foam.

In the production of aerated concrete, quartz sand, cement and various special gas generators are used. Also, when producing aerated concrete, lime, gypsum or industrial waste, including slag and ash, can be added to the mixture.

In a mixture mixed with water, gas formation occurs due to the interaction of a gas-forming agent, which can be finely dispersed metallic aluminum, and lime or alkaline cement mortar. The result of this chemical reaction is hydrogen gas, which foams calcium aluminates and cement mortar.

When mixing the solution, it is not very convenient to use dust-like aluminum, since it produces a lot of dust. For this reason, aluminum suspensions and pastes often act as specialized gas generators.

The production of aerated concrete occurs according to the following cycle. All dry ingredients are mixed, then mixed with water and after that the solution is poured into a mold, where the blowing agent and calcium hydroxide react, which releases hydrogen, swelling the mixture. By swelling like dough, the mixture increases in volume. After the cement mortar has set a little, the monolith is removed from the mold and cut into blanks of panels, slabs and blocks. Next, all workpieces are treated in an autoclave with water steam in order to give them final strength, or dried in drying chambers. Aerated concrete can be divided according to final processing technology into non-autoclave and autoclave.

To begin with, it is necessary to note the unique properties of cellular concrete, which combines the best properties of wood and stone.

Aerated concrete products have a number of advantages, including:

Houses built from aerated concrete cost about a third less than houses made of stone or brick. This becomes possible due to the fact that gas blocks have a lower price, and such characteristics of gas blocks as size, shape and weight allow significant savings on consumables. For example, the load on the foundation is reduced due to the low weight of aerated concrete walls, which allows savings already at the stage of laying the foundation of the house. Also, when erecting the walls of a house, you can significantly save on the small consumption of mortar, and in the process of cladding the house you will not need to perform plastering, which is a costly and rather labor-intensive process.
Aerated concrete products have high thermal insulation properties. Aerated concrete is approximately 85-90% air, making it an excellent thermal insulation material. The use of gas blocks in the construction will allow significant savings on heating the house and completely eliminate the use of auxiliary thermal insulation.
Fire safety and sound insulation. are one of the leaders in soundproofing performance and fire resistance. This building material itself is non-flammable and can prevent the spread of fire. Thanks to their excellent soundproofing characteristics, aerated concrete blocks can be successfully used in construction in urbanized cities. Aerated blocks have long become one of the main structural composite materials in the construction of residential buildings.
Environmental friendliness and vapor permeability. Products made from aerated concrete can, like wood, breathe, so moisture will not accumulate in the house. But at the same time, gas blocks, unlike wood, have a longer service life, do not burn or rot, and also provide the premises with fresh air. It should be noted that in terms of environmental properties, aerated concrete products can be placed on a par with wooden structures.
Geometric accuracy. Thanks to the high precision of aerated concrete products, it is possible to build very even walls, which in turn greatly facilitates the work of builders.

Like any other building material, aerated blocks also have disadvantages:

Low compressive strength. Based on the practice of using aerated blocks, over time, some blocks may become covered with cracks, which will run along the blocks themselves, and not along the seams of the masonry. In principle, this fact does not affect the strength of the house in any way, but no one can say what will happen to the blocks in a few years. In addition, when installing partitions from aerated blocks with masonry reinforcement, vertical cracks may appear on some partitions, crossing several blocks, which will at least affect the aesthetics of the walls.
High water absorption. This feature of aerated blocks can significantly complicate finishing work, since the absorption of water from the putty applied to the wall can result in it not sticking to the wall surface. To reduce the water absorption of the walls, it is necessary to cover them with any penetrating primer, preferably in two layers.
Fragility of aerated concrete blocks. Aerated blocks are a rather fragile material. Situations often arise when cracks appear on them.
Aerated concrete blocks hold various types of fasteners very poorly, since aerated concrete products do not have high strength. Therefore, when installing window and door units, they are supported not by mounting anchors, but by mounting foam. But the self-tapping screws hold very well in the aerated concrete wall, but over time they may oxidize and require replacement.

Which blocks are used for which structures?

1. Fences and partitions. Aerated blocks designed for these needs weigh less than the blocks used for load-bearing walls. The width of the block can vary from 5 to 24 cm, and the side edges are often made in a tongue-and-groove form. Blocks wider than 24 cm are not equipped with grippers, which makes them more difficult to carry.

2. Single-layer external walls. For such walls, solid blocks with a density of D350, D400 or D500 and a width of 30 to 48 cm are best suited. The height of such blocks can be 20 or 25 cm, and the length - 59.9, 60 or 62.5 cm. Very often on such blocks you can find a tongue-and-groove structure on the end sides, which are narrower. Thanks to this, during the masonry process using adhesive mortar, they can be easily joined without vertical seams. From such blocks it is possible to build walls with a heat transfer resistance of 2.67-3.31, which is fully consistent with existing standards.

3. Internal load-bearing walls, as well as three-layer and two-layer external walls can be erected from blocks whose thickness is 20 - 36.5 cm. When using blocks without a tongue-and-groove structure for the construction of walls, the masonry will be done with vertical joints, and using blocks with tongue-and-groove ends, masonry can be carried out without vertical joints. Such walls must be insulated with mineral wool or expanded polystyrene.

4. For jumpers, you can use tray blocks having a U-shaped cross-section. Such blocks have a density class of D400-D500, a length of 49.9-59.9 cm, a width of 17.5-40 cm and a height of 19.9-24.9 cm. These blocks are already ready for filling with concrete and reinforcement, they are used for covering lintels and as formwork. Thanks to these blocks, the walls will become uniform, which will reduce the risk of cracks and make plastering easier.

Using these blocks in single-layer walls, it is necessary to lay a layer of thermal insulation about 4 cm thick in the places where the reinforcement is installed. Before filling the blocks with concrete, be sure to install them on a support made of boards, so that the depth of support on the wall is approximately 20-25 cm. In addition, these blocks can be used as formwork for pillars that strengthen attic attic walls.

Foundation for an aerated concrete house

To build a house from aerated concrete with your own hands, you need to start from the foundation. You can often hear that due to the light weight of aerated concrete blocks, you can save on the foundation. But there is also a theory that it is possible to build a house from aerated concrete blocks only if there is a base made of ordinary dense concrete, which significantly increases costs. But in fact, both of these statements are not true. Only one thing is certain - the foundation can be considered reliable if it can guarantee the integrity of the entire structure. Yes, the load on the ground that a small aerated concrete building creates is not so great, but the role of the foundation cannot be underestimated because of this. It is impossible to build a foundation from ordinary aerated concrete, since a more durable material must be used for the foundation.

Experts believe that the best foundation for an aerated concrete house is a reinforced concrete slab, which can ensure uniform load distribution, which in turn minimizes shrinkage deformations. But in practice, most often for the construction of houses made of aerated concrete, monolithic foundations of the strip type or combined - columnar foundations with a monolithic reinforced concrete belt are used. These types of foundations fully satisfy all requirements.

This type of foundation is located under the entire area of the building, including even the blind area. A double layer of reinforcing mesh gives it sufficient strength. In this case, the load on the ground will be minimal, due to the fact that the reinforced concrete slab has a large area. In addition, the freezing and subsequent thawing of the soil is not affected, since the slab moves synchronously with the soil, thereby ensuring the integrity of the entire structure.

According to calculations, the optimal thickness of a monolithic foundation slab should be about 40 cm, with 10 cm of the slab falling on the underground part, and 30 cm on the above-ground part. This type of foundation does not need to be buried to the freezing depth, but do not forget about drainage in the adjacent area. Also, waterproofing should be laid in two layers on a thin concrete layer (footing). Then you need to lay the reinforcement and fill it all with concrete so that you end up with a foundation slab. When the concrete hardens, it will be necessary to prepare a solid reinforcement frame for future formwork, which should cover the blind area. The distance between the rods should be no more than 30 cm. The formwork should be firmly secured using leveling beams, jacks and tie bolts. The inside of the formwork walls must be lined in advance with roofing felt or thick plastic film. This is necessary to ensure that the concrete does not leak out.

The concrete mass must be laid in layers of 15 cm. Each layer must be compacted by bayoneting, using a bayonet shovel, and leveled with a shovel. Bayoneting helps to evenly distribute the concrete mixture and expel all air bubbles from it. Also, for the same purpose, you will need to tap the formwork from the outside. It is not recommended to make long time intervals between layers, since a reinforced foundation, unlike a simple one not reinforced with reinforcement, should be concreted in one step. Once the concrete is strong enough, the formwork can be removed and then backfilled with soil. Now your foundation is ready.

A monolithic reinforced concrete structure, which forms a closed loop, must ensure the stability of the structure. To construct it, you need to dig a trench about half a meter deep around the perimeter of the entire future building. At the bottom of the trench it is necessary to place a sand cushion, whose thickness should be approximately 0.4-0.5 m, and compact it thoroughly. This pillow is needed to prevent freezing and drain groundwater. After this, it is necessary to build a formwork in which the reinforcement must be laid and connected to each other. Next, you can begin pouring the concrete mixture.

A shallow foundation can only be poured in the warm season, when the soil has completely thawed. If there is a need to carry out this work in the cold season, then you need to fill continuously and use special additives. With another pouring method, it is necessary to insulate the formwork and warm up the concrete during the hardening process. Concrete can be heated using air heaters and heat guns.

Due to the fact that aerated concrete is a building material with low weight, when constructing buildings from this material, it is possible to use a shallow strip foundation with a depth of approximately 0.5 m. If the design of the house assumes the presence of a basement, basement or garage, then it is necessary to construct .

This type of foundation consists of pillars that are installed where there is a high load, at the intersection of walls and always at the corners of the building. You also need to remember that there should not be a distance of more than 2.5 m between the pillars. Such pillars are most often constructed from reinforced concrete, concrete, brick and stone (rubble). To construct any temporary structure, you can use poles made of metal pipes that are susceptible to corrosion. Such a foundation should be laid to a depth of 1.2-1.5 m, that is, slightly deeper than the freezing point of the soil. When installing, you need to ensure that the poles are installed strictly vertically.

The columnar foundation is considered the most economical, but it cannot be used for the construction of buildings on loose soils and soils prone to sliding. It is also not allowed to be used where there are significant differences in height. If a house made of aerated concrete has a basement, ground floor or garage, then this foundation will be inappropriate here too.

It doesn’t matter what type of foundation you use to build a house from aerated concrete with your own hands, in any case you must do waterproofing, since aerated concrete is a hygroscopic material that absorbs moisture very well, and this can cause a shortening of the life of the building. When building a basement or basement, it is necessary to waterproof and insulate the walls. In this case, you can use aerated concrete blocks with a density of at least 700 kg per cubic meter, while tying them with reinforcement to increase strength.

In order to properly lay walls made of aerated concrete blocks, you need to purchase the following tools:

a grater with coarse skin;
a coarse grater with metal teeth;
a square to cut at right angles;
mixer spatula;
manual wall chaser;
rubber hammer;
a saw with carbide teeth;
special ladles designed for applying the solution.

It is recommended to start laying gas blocks from the corners of the house, moving further along the entire perimeter in rows. First, you need to make waterproofing in the form of 1-2 layers of roofing material laid on the foundation, and only then lay the first row, all blocks of which should be laid on a cement-sand mortar in a ratio of 3: 1, whose thickness should not exceed 3 cm. Try to pay When laying the first row, give maximum attention, since if you make a flat horizontal surface during laying, this will make it as easy as possible for you to lay the remaining rows later. After the first row has been laid, you will need to remove all unevenness using a sanding board or plane. From the very beginning, carefully monitor the height of the rows using laser coordinators, vertical and horizontal levels or a stretched mooring cord.

If there is a gap in the first row that is less than the length of one block, then you will have to start making an additional block right on the spot. Before installing the additional block into the masonry, it is necessary to completely coat all its end surfaces with glue. The installation of each block must be controlled using a mooring cord and a level, and the position of the block can be adjusted using a rubber mallet.

After laying each subsequent row, it is necessary to level the surface of the masonry using a trowel. Make sure that there are no level differences between adjacent blocks, as in the future this may cause local vertical cracks to form in the masonry in places where there will be stress concentration. Dust generated during the work must be brushed off with a brush.

Before laying, all blocks should be thoroughly cleaned of dirt and dust, and in winter of ice and snow. Blocks that have broken corners or edges should be set aside. Then these blocks can be machined with some tool (a chamfering plane, a saw or a hand saw) and subsequently used in internal walls or when laying piers.

Preparation of glue

When producing aerated concrete blocks, geometric accuracy is maintained at +/-1.5-2 mm. Masonry should be done using an adhesive mortar, which is based on a dry mixture consisting of cement, sand, hydrophobic, plasticizing and water-retaining additives. The seam should have a thickness of no more than 2-5 mm. Also, masonry can be done using light mortar, with joint thickness of about 8-10 mm.

In addition, masonry can also be done using cement-sand mortar. In this case, the thickness of the horizontal seam should be on average 12 mm (from 10 to 15 mm), and the thickness of the vertical seams should be on average 10 mm (from 8 to 15 mm). Remember that the use of masonry mortars leads to a decrease in the heat transfer resistance of the walls. If masonry work will be carried out in dry weather, the blocks must be pre-moistened before laying.

The mortar that will be used for laying walls must be prepared directly on site from binder filler and various additives or from factory-produced dry mixtures. The adhesive solution must be prepared in accordance with the instructions printed on the bag, and the mortar must be prepared according to instructions CH290.

Take a small container (a plastic bucket is the best option) and fill it with the required amount of water. Then, stirring constantly, you need to add the dry mixture. Five minutes after mixing, the solution will need to be mixed again. During the work process, the solution must be stirred periodically so that its consistency remains homogeneous. In cold weather, it is necessary to use antifreeze additives for the adhesive mixture.

Laying subsequent rows with glue

The finished glue (solution) must be unloaded into a tub and, using a special container (scoop or trowel), distributed along the entire length of the wall, leveling the bed with the serrated edge of the trowel. Next, the block is lowered from above onto the glue (mortar), but more than 5 mm of horizontal movement should not be allowed. All glue that is squeezed out must be immediately collected with a scraper until it sets. The blocks should be straightened by tapping with a rubber hammer or shaking. Make sure that all seams are completely filled with glue.

Do not forget to follow the dressing rules when laying, that is, the vertical seams of the next row must be placed with a slight offset - about 8-12 cm.

In order to carry out masonry work efficiently, it is recommended to use various devices that can make the work easier. For example, wooden slats can be installed in the corners of the building. To do this, you need to install vertical slats so that they clearly mark the corners of the masonry. Then you will need to apply marks on them that will correspond to the height of the rows and pull a mooring cord between the slats.

When doing masonry, you need to decide in advance what you will do when laying with a tongue-and-groove end surface. If you plan to plaster the walls on both sides, then in this case the vertical seam should be made without filling with glue, that is, dry, as this will increase the thermal uniformity of the masonry. And if there is no wet finish on at least one side, it is necessary to at least partially fill the vertical seams so that the masonry is not blown through.

Each subsequent block must be installed with glue and then aligned with the mooring cord. The installed block must be leveled using a mallet. When the row of masonry comes to an end, you will need an additional block, the size of which can be easily determined by measuring right on the spot. After cutting, the additional block must be coated with glue on both sides and installed in place.

The key to building strength is laying with reinforcement

Reinforcement of masonry is a very important point. In order to carry it out, the master will need the following materials and tools:

a narrow brush with which dust will be removed from the groove;
corrugated rods (reinforcement) having a diameter of 8-10 mm;
wall chaser (electric or manual).

Reinforcement needs to be done in every third row. To do this, using a wall chaser, you need to make two channels in the stacked blocks, the width of which should be 4 cm, and remove all dust from them. The channels should be located no closer than 5-6 cm from the edge of the block. Then you need to place one or two rods into these channels and fill them with cement-sand mortar or adhesive mixture flush with the surface of the gas block.

In addition, reinforcement must be done under the windows. In this case, the reinforcement bars must be inserted from both sides into adjacent blocks by 20 cm or even more. The upper door and window lintels are most often made from the same aerated concrete, or, to be more precise, from U-shaped structures into which about five reinforcing bars are placed, fastened together, and filled with concrete. Before installing the lintels, it is worth making wooden supports so that they do not hang in the air, and then, after the concrete has dried, the supports can be dismantled. Remember that the roof truss system and floor slabs must have reliable support, so load-bearing walls must be installed on each floor along the entire perimeter.

The Mechtaevo company carries out turnkey construction of aerated concrete houses according to its own individual projects, developed based on the customer’s wishes. We use our practical experience and modern technologies to build reliable, warm and comfortable suburban housing.

For the construction of houses from aerated concrete blocks, material from the German manufacturer Xella is used. This product is characterized by the following indicators:

thermal conductivity does not exceed 0.12 W/m°C;

noise level is reduced to 50 dB;

frost resistance F100, at least 25 cycles;

the blocks can withstand the load during the construction of buildings up to 3 floors high, strength class B 2.5 and B 3.5;

belong to non-combustible materials;

chemically stable;

are not subject to rotting and aging.

The high quality of aerated blocks, reasonable price and strict adherence to construction technology allows the company to build houses in 90-180 days, depending on the complexity of the project and the scope of additional work.

A beautiful turnkey aerated concrete house from Mechtaevo

The construction of a house from an aerated block begins with engineering and geological surveys on the site. Using these indicators, you can determine what kind of foundation is needed for the future cottage. The main advantage of aerated concrete is its low weight, which means that suburban housing can be built in places with weak bearing properties of the soil.

In parallel with geosurveys, the project is agreed upon with the customer. Here we give complete freedom of choice: you can choose one of the proposed options for a turnkey aerated concrete house or come to us with your sketch, photograph, or simply express your idea orally. Our architects have the knowledge and experience to bring any buyer's vision to life. And the simplicity of processing aerated blocks allows you to solve even a complex design problem.

After approval, we begin building a house from aerated concrete. The work is carried out according to schedule, at any stage the customer can personally check the condition of the object. If you have any questions or additional requests, you can always contact your personal manager or foreman.

Qualified Mechtaevo teams perform all types of plumbing, electrical and finishing work. We are also ready to provide services for the purchase and delivery of materials for the interior decoration of a house made of aerated blocks. To create a unified style on the site, landscape designers - our partners - are at your service.

Easy to process, warm and inexpensive, aerated concrete is increasingly used both for construction and for the installation of internal partitions. In this article we will talk about the types of gas and foam concrete, the differences between them, the scope of application and the main technical characteristics.

Strengths and weaknesses of aerated concrete

Cellular or lightweight concrete (aerated concrete, foam concrete) is a dense, homogeneous material, the density of which is very low due to the large number of small (1-3 mm) pores formed during foaming and molding of blanks.

Initially, aerated concrete blocks are formed very large, but they can be cut at the discretion and size of the customer. No less common are ready-made products for masonry - similar to cinder blocks, but only 10 times lighter and sometimes with tongue-and-groove locks.

Lightweight concrete can withstand uniform static loads well and has high compressive strength. But under single-point dynamic influences, it easily crumbles, so critical elements and suspended structures cannot be attached to it.

The advantages of the cellular structure include low thermal conductivity and excellent noise absorption of both structural and airborne nature. You have to pay for this with fairly high water absorption. It would be a mistake to assume that lightweight concrete does not require protection and insulation. In a wall of uniform thickness, condensation forms in the thickness and destroys the structure, so walls made of aerated concrete are not a panacea at all. They are also demanding in terms of installation techniques and need protection like any other building material.

Varieties and varieties

Aerated concrete and foam concrete are often considered as completely different building materials. This is partly true, because different pore-forming substances are used in production. Foam concrete is positioned as a lower quality material due to the use of chemical foaming agents. In fact, the so-called “local” or monolithic foam concrete, which is prepared at a construction site, has deteriorated characteristics, but it is not considered within the scope of this article.

Foam concrete and factory-produced aerated concrete (despite the different technology) can be combined into one class simply because of similar characteristics; good foam concrete is rarely inferior in quality to its main competitor.

Foam concrete and aerated concrete can be autoclaved and naturally dried. The first type is preferable due to the smaller deviation of technical parameters, although in one-story buildings non-autoclaved concrete is used very often and without any special complaints.

All other indicators: density, frost resistance and others like them are specified by the construction project or standard examples of construction.

Foundation for a house

Many people are attracted to aerated concrete because of the opportunity to save on the foundation as one of the most expensive elements. Cellular concrete is indeed lighter (often an order of magnitude) than cinder block or shell rock, however, to impart the required strength, the wall pillar must be wide enough: 35-40 cm for single-story buildings and 45-60 cm for multi-story buildings. The ratio of width to depth, even for shallow foundations, is at least 1:2-1:2.5, so that the structure absorbs the load with an edge, otherwise, when heaving, the foundation will deform even under its own weight.

Among the alternative options, you can consider strengthening the foundation with screw piles or casting a crown - an expander in the upper part of the basement floor. In any case, the foundation should not be made thinner than the wall by more than 30-50 mm, despite the fact that manufacturers of cellular concrete allow an overhang of a third of the wall thickness. Also, an aerated concrete wall must be insulated from the foundation with roofing felt or other rolled waterproofing.

Load-bearing capacity of aerated concrete walls

The ability of lightweight concrete to withstand compressive loads can confidently be called sufficient, but not excessive. In practice, this translates into the fact that the floor beams cannot rest point-to-point on the wall itself; an armored belt needs to be poured. It should be reinforced, but not necessarily massive. 15-20 cm is enough for roofing or attic and 25-30 cm for interfloor slabs. Beams, if used, can be poured and protected with concrete, although due to the excessive width of the wall, they are often simply covered with blocks.

Floors made of monolithic and stacked slabs do not need to be filled with a preparatory belt. Sometimes, when pouring an interfloor ceiling, a side of thin (8-12 cm) blocks is laid out on the outside of the walls and used as formwork. This solution allows you to support the ceiling quite firmly on the walls and eliminate a very large cold bridge.

Thermal and sound insulation properties

Although foam and aerated concrete have high thermal and sound insulation, it is still necessary to make the wall structure uneven in order to somewhat optimize these properties. For example, enclosing walls are often laid out in two rows, leaving an air gap, due to which the wall will dry naturally.

Aerated concrete walls provide almost no insulation from the inside. To stop excess heat transfer, one layer of rolled insulation up to 10 mm thick is enough. In houses made of aerated concrete, the main thermal insulation is taken outside to bring the dew point into a layer of non-hygroscopic material and protect the wall from blowing. For this purpose, 30-50 mm polyurethane slabs with locks on the edges are used.

Masonry walls made of foam concrete

As for the masonry technique, even amateurs can easily master it. Due to the light weight and large size of the blocks, they can be installed alone and quickly.

The first row is laid out with grade 300 cement mortar on top of rolled waterproofing on the foundation. First, the blocks are installed at the corners, adjusted in a common horizontal plane with a water level, and aligned exactly to the design dimensions using a laser axle builder. After a few hours, the lacing is pulled over the corner stones and the first row is filled. It is carefully leveled with a slatted level and left to dry for a day.

All subsequent rows are laid with vertical joints offset by a third of the length of the block or at least 150 mm. The laying of blocks can be done with reinforcement of every second or third row. When all the walls are driven to a common level, using a special scraper, grooves are cut at the end, one for every 200 mm of wall thickness. The profile reinforcement is bent according to the shape of the grooves, then the grooves are filled with cement mortar grade 300 of liquid consistency and the reinforcing bars are embedded in it. It is optimal if the rods do not break at the corners of the building, but bend with a small radius.

When building with lightweight blocks, it is very important to lay the masonry sequentially and start a new row only if the previous one is completely finished. Before applying the adhesive, the surface of the masonry must be thoroughly cleaned with a trowel and swept away from dust, especially if the previous row is reinforced.