Modern material for building a house. What material is best for building a house. What to build a house on a small plot

Until now, there is no unequivocal answer to the question of what material is better to make the walls of a residential building. Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages. Builders and designers cannot agree on the choice of the most optimal product for making walls. The thing is that in each case, the best material must be selected based on the purpose of the building, its configuration, the climatic conditions of the area and the financial capabilities of the owner. In our article, we will consider the most common wall materials, describe their properties, pros and cons, and you yourself will be able to choose the best one based on the construction conditions.

Factors affecting the choice

A quarter of all construction costs go to building walls. Since the wrong material for building walls in the future can lead to even more expenses, the following factors should be taken into account when choosing it:

If you want to save on arranging the foundation by making a shallow lightweight option, then choose a light material for the walls. Additional savings in the case of using light elements for the walls of the house will be during transportation and installation, because it can be done by hand without the use of expensive lifting equipment.
Choose building materialsthat have good thermal insulation characteristics. Otherwise, cold walls in winter will cost you dearly due to heating costs.

Tip: it is best to perform a heat engineering calculation taking into account the climatic conditions of the construction region. This is the only way to be sure that you have chosen the right material and wall design. So, in the northern regions of our country, even walls made of materials with high thermal insulation properties need to be insulated.

If piece materials, for example, bricks, are used to build the walls of the house, then a significant proportion of the costs will be the cost of paying masons. Even if you do all the work yourself, then consider the time and physical costs. It is much more profitable and faster to build from large-sized elements. The highest speed of wall construction is for houses built using frame-panel and frame-panel technology.
When choosing building materials for walls, it is worth considering how easy they are to finish and whether they need it at all. For example, the walls of an OSB frame house can not be finished at all, but simply painted, and a log house needs a thorough finish outside and inside.

To understand what to build your house from, you need to understand the characteristics of building materials, so further we will describe the properties of each of them, list the advantages and disadvantages.

Brick

A house built of brick can stand for a century, or even a century and a half. There are many varieties of bricks that differ in important operational and technical characteristics.

So, for the construction of walls, silicate and ceramic types of bricks are used. Consider their features:

ceramic brick made from fired red clay. It is durable, moisture resistant, environmentally friendly material. On sale there is a corpulent and hollow brick. The more voids in a brick, the higher its thermal insulation performance.
silicate brick is made on the basis of lime, sand and some additives. It also happens to be full-bodied and hollow. The latter option is characterized by lightness and improved thermal insulation qualities. Silicate full-bodied products are distinguished by good sound-proofing properties, but high thermal conductivity.

Also, this wall material is divided into front and ordinary:

It is better to build the walls of the house from ordinary brick. Products may have small defects in the form of cracks and chips, but due to this, their price is more acceptable. In addition, for the internal masonry of walls, the appearance of the product is not as important as for the front masonry.
Facing brick (front)- this is the wall material with which the facade is made out. All products must have the correct geometric shape, smooth or embossed surface, be free of flaws and defects. The price of a front brick is higher than that of its ordinary counterpart.

The strength of this wall material is directly related to its brand, which can be from M 75 to M 300. The number indicates the load that one square centimeter of the product can withstand. The higher the brand, the greater the specific gravity of the product. To build a 2 or 3-storey house, brick grade 100-125 is enough. To perform the foundation and base, products with the brand 150-175 are used.

Also, when choosing a brick, it is important to take into account its frost resistance, that is, the number of freeze and thaw cycles that the product can withstand without damage and a decrease in strength by no more than 20%. This indicator is marked with the letter F and a number from 15 and above. For warm regions, you can use products with a frost resistance grade of 15; in colder latitudes, bricks of the F25 grade are used. For facing work, a brick with a frost resistance of at least 50 is suitable.

Advantages and disadvantages of brick

Among the advantages of this wall material, it is worth listing the following:

Impressive service life.
aesthetic appeal.
Unlimited possibilities in terms of design and implementation of the most complex projects.
The material is not susceptible to corrosion, damage by fungi and microorganisms.
The product does not burn.
High sound and heat insulation characteristics.

The disadvantages include the following:

Due to the small size and large specific gravity, laying brick walls takes a long time and costs a lot.
Under brick walls, it is necessary to equip a solid buried foundation, and this entails increased costs for materials and earthworks.
In most cases, brick walls need to be additionally insulated.

ceramic blocks

A ceramic block is a material made from a mixture of clay and sawdust, after which the element is fired in a kiln. This is a fairly durable product that allows you to quickly build the walls of the house. The strength of the ceramic block is so high that a multi-storey building can be made from it. Inside the material has a porous structure, and the outer surface is corrugated. For a tight connection, the ends of the material have grooves and ridges.

The height of the ceramic block is a multiple of the rows of brickwork, and the other dimensions may be different. Thus, it is possible to build from a ceramic block according to projects that are designed for bricks. But the speed of construction is much higher, since one ceramic block measuring 238x248x500 mm, which weighs 25 kg, is equal to 15 bricks, each of which weighs 3.3 kg. In addition to increasing the speed of construction, the cost of mortar is reduced, because it will be needed less.

Important: the width of the ceramic block can be 230, 240 and 250 mm, and the length is in the range of 250-510 mm. On the long side of the product there is a comb-groove lock.

Walls with a thickness of 380 mm or more made of this material do not need to be insulated, since the thermal conductivity of the product is only 0.14-0.29 W / m² x ° C. Marking wide blocks M 100. If you need to make thin but strong walls, then you can take elements marked 150. Frost resistance of ceramic blocks is at least 50 cycles.

Pros and cons of ceramic blocks

The advantages include:

The low specific weight and high strength significantly expand the scope of this material.
Installation of large-sized products is carried out quickly and without unnecessary labor.
Saving mortar due to the size of the elements and the absence of the need to make vertical seams.
The frost resistance of an ordinary ceramic block is higher than that of an ordinary brick.
Good fire resistance. The product is able to resist burning for 4 hours.
An optimal microclimate is created in the room from ceramic blocks, since the walls can "breathe" and regulate the humidity of the air.
The house can last a century and a half and at the same time will not lose its thermal insulation characteristics.

This material also has disadvantages, among which it is worth mentioning the following:

The price of ceramic blocks is quite high.
Since these products are relatively new in our market, it is difficult to find a good mason to perform masonry.
This fragile material needs to be stored and transported very carefully.

gas blocks

This material has excellent thermal insulation properties. In terms of thermal conductivity, a gas-block wall with a width of 300-400 mm is not inferior to a multi-layer brick structure. Walls of gas blocks maintain optimal temperature and humidity conditions indoors. The material is not subject to rot and has an impressive service life. The thermal insulation qualities of a gas block are 3 times greater than those of a brick wall.

Aerated concrete is quite light, so it is easy to transport and stack. It is easily cut with a regular hacksaw to the desired size. The laying of elements is carried out on a mortar or special glue, which requires little. The smooth, even surface of the gas blocks is easy to finish. Aerated concrete is considered environmentally friendly and non-combustible. It has a fairly high frost resistance.

Attention: for aerated concrete, the density characteristic is important. This indicator can be in the range of 350-1200 kg / m³. For an ordinary residential building, it is enough to take elements marked 500-900.

Advantages and disadvantages of gas blocks

The advantages of this wall product are many:

The laying of walls from gas blocks is carried out 9 times faster than the laying of bricks.
The low thermal conductivity of the product is a big plus in its favor.
Aerated concrete has a high fire resistance, it does not emit harmful substances even during combustion.
The porous structure of the material contributes to high frost resistance.
In terms of vapor permeability, aerated concrete is comparable only to wood.

Cons of aerated concrete:

Low bending strength.
The material is prone to cracking.
Hygroscopicity. After absorbing moisture, the thermal insulation performance of aerated concrete decreases, so the facade needs a protective finish.
It is impossible to lay floor slabs and beams directly on gas blocks, therefore, before laying them, you will have to make a monolithic armored belt. This entails additional costs and time.

Wood

Many people who decide to build a house make a choice in favor of wood. This natural material is environmentally friendly. It creates a favorable microclimate in the house, maintains optimal humidity and saturates the air with healing phytoncides. In a wooden house it is warm in winter and not hot in summer, because wood has good thermal insulation characteristics.

A wooden house can be built from the following products:

The log can be of natural shape or rounded. In the latter case, the material has a regular shape and a smooth surface, but needs additional protective treatment, since the natural protective resin layer, which is under the bark, is removed during the cylindering process.
You can use glued (profiled) and sawn or planed timber. Higher-quality houses are obtained from glued laminated timber, which has special grooves and ridges for a snug fit of the elements. Sawn timber is more often used to make frame houses.
Frame-panel houses are made of OSB, chipboard, moisture-resistant plywood, which are attached to the frame. Insulation is laid inside the wall.

The main advantages of wooden houses are their environmental friendliness, comfort and reasonable price. Under such a house, you can make a lightweight foundation. Disadvantages - fire hazard, shrinkage.

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

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

Basic materials for building a house

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

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

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

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

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

Brick

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

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

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

ceramic brick

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

silicate brick

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

Cellular foam concrete and aerated concrete blocks

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

foam concrete

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

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

aerated concrete

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

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

Expanded clay concrete

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

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

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

Building walls with wood

Log cabin handmade

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

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 strongly depends on the amount of our money, and on the climate of the area where it is located. And now it is dazzling from the variety of building materials in the eyes. Therefore, in order for the house to be strong, cozy and stand for a long time, it is necessary to take into account not only the merits of this or that material, but also its shortcomings, so that our beauty does not decay and crumble in a few years.

Basic materials for building a house

With all the diversity and dissimilarity of houses, we build them practically from only two materials: wood and stone. In fairness, it should be noted that they are specially processed, they are given the properties necessary in each specific case.

Let's look at a tree: a rounded log, a simple and glued beam, a gun carriage. Everything seems to be from the same material, but the characteristics, for example, of glued laminated timber and rounded logs differ like heaven and earth. But there are still frame houses, also consisting of wood and insulation.

Under the stone, in general, it is not meant a wild stone (it mainly goes for backfilling for a 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 a stone, it easily fits into the following classification:

Brick;

Blocks where the binder is cement;

Building blocks made without the use of cement, based on lime or clay.

The greatest variety of manufacturing technologies (hence, types) exists in the second group, that is, the group of building blocks made on the basis of cement.In housing construction, lightweight concretes are most often used, which differ in the brand of cement, the composition of the filler, and the composition of the heat-insulating component. And already, depending on these characteristics, it is possible to distinguish cellular concretes, where air or gas bubbles serve as thermal insulation, and blocks, where this role is played by expanded clay, wood chips or foam balls. However, in order...

Brick: pros and cons

Yes, the 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 does not have any effect on the brick. The brick is durable, and also meets all environmental and aesthetic standards. The strength of the house is explained both by the quality of the material and the method of laying - each next laid row of bricks knits the previous one, that is, there are no vertical seams passing through at least two rows.

This masonry requires a certain skill, especially when tying corners and laying a wall more than one brick thick. Thus, the complexity of building a brick house requires highly skilled labor. Another significant drawback is the weight of the brick: you need a reinforced, solid foundation.

Due to the high thermal conductivity of the brick, the house cools down quickly, and it takes several days to warm it up so that it does not seem that the house is damp. This is quite simply explained: when laying, the thickness of the solution is somewhere 1 cm , and with small brick sizes, such a thickness of mortar is no longer a "bridge", but a real "bridge" of cold. The deadlines for the delivery of brick houses are 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 shortcomings, a brick can collapse if it absorbs moisture before winter. And this can be possible even if all brick production technologies are followed, if clay with salts dissolved in it is caught: water will wash the salt out of the brick, and itself will occupy the voids. This is the beginning of a destructive process.

And one moment. The cost of brick production is at least one and a half times more expensive than the production of other materials from which walls are erected. Considering that a brick is several times smaller than any other building block, the labor intensity of construction increases significantly. Together, the price and laboriousness make a brick house quite expensive.

Properties of cellular concrete

Cellular concrete includes 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 form 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, release gas (hydrogen). The solution "grows", it is sent to an autoclave, where it solidifies 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 they started building from it recently, when they started talking about heat saving everywhere. After all, air is an excellent heat insulator. At the same time, almost no sounds pass through the foam concrete. Since foam blocks are light and larger than bricks, laying does not become a time-consuming process. And it’s easy to ditch walls for communication systems. How easy it is to give the block various 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 a rather high moisture absorption (though at a shallow depth). The walls require annual settlement, and they must stand on stable slab foundations, otherwise significant cracks 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.). Heat-insulating and noise-protective functions are also on top. Lightness requires less labor, and good heat-shielding properties reduce the amount of material needed. With all this, one should 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 a wall finish with good waterproofing. The second minus 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, which change the properties of the 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 be held on the surface of the water. Nevertheless, these components are not crushed stone, gravel, but wood, expanded clay, that is, compared to heavy concrete, this material has a much lower specific gravity.

Expanded clay concrete contains a relatively light component(foamed and baked clay). With a low weight of the blocks, this material is durable, versatile (not only load-bearing walls are laid from it, but also partitions, and they also fill frames in monolithic housing construction). The material is an excellent sound insulator, it is more moisture resistant than concrete, better resists aggressive environments, and is not inferior to cellular concrete in other best qualities.

The porosity of expanded clay concrete, improving its thermal and noise-protective qualities, reduces frost resistance, due to the ingress of moisture into 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?).

AT polystyrene concrete the role of a heat and sound insulator is played by polystyrene balls evenly distributed in concrete. It seems that the material is good for everyone: it is both warm and durable, it retains noise well, it is light and not expensive, but everything crosses out one drawback. But what...In a fire, polystyrene begins to melt, releasing toxins.

slag concrete The name is more collective than specific. The point is that inas a filler in this building material, there can be both slag and coal, ash, an admixture of expanded clay with something, screenings, etc. Specifically, slag is used from the waste of metallurgical production. To comply with environmental standards, it is aged outdoors for a year. For external walls, blocks with a large fraction of the filler are ideal, for internal walls - with a fine one. Voids to improve thermal properties are created using special molds for the production of this type of concrete. The material is strong, cheap, very durable. The high speed of the construction of cinder block walls is also important.

The disadvantages include low sound insulation. It is understandable, a denser material - higher sound conductivity. Also, the material is afraid of water ingress, so it is desirable to veneer it. But if you overlay a house of cinder blocks with bricks, then this significantly increases the cost of construction. In addition, it is bad to lay communications in cinder concrete, and if some kind of groove or hole is needed, it is better to foresee them in advance and put a bar in the right place in the cinder block blank.

Arbolite blocks is a building material, the main components of which are concrete and organic filler: wood chips, flax fiber or seed cake, from which oil has already been squeezed. Of course, most often it is wood chips. A characteristic feature of wood concrete is that, unlike other lightweight concretes, there is only 10-20% concrete in it, everything else is wood chips.

A house made of such blocks in terms of properties is more like a wooden house, but unlike it, it is practically not susceptible to microorganisms and fungi. One of its interesting material properties is that a block of arbolite is able to restore its shape when ultimate loads are stopped. It keeps heat in and keeps noise out. It does not burn, but when exposed to an open flame, it begins to smolder. It is necessary to remove the source of the flame - smoldering stops. Eco-friendly, breathable material.

The disadvantage of arbolite is increased moisture permeability, and therefore inside the room the relative humidity cannot exceed 75%, but outside there must be a cladding. The foundation must rise above the blind area by at least half a meter so that the spray does not fly onto the wood concrete blocks. For the same half a meter, the roof overhangs should extend beyond the walls so that water rarely hits the wall.

Blocks without cement

When choosing a material for building walls, you can come acrossgas silicate . Attention! Do not confuse it with aerated concrete. We already know that cement is needed for the production of aerated concrete. In the production of gas silicate, lime acts as a binding element. The porous structure is acquired due to gases released during the interaction of quicklime with aluminum particles. And what is the difference between the qualities of gas silicate and aerated concrete? Aerated concrete due to cement is more durable, gas silicate due to lime reduces heat loss and better protects against noise. With all the high qualities of gas silicate blocks (lightness, insulating properties, low cost, etc.), in them, as in foam concrete, the formation of a fungus is possible due to the porous structure.

ceramic blocks also does not contain cement. In addition to clay, their composition may include sand and sawdust. The voids inside the blocks resemble honeycombs. Outside, on the side faces, the blocks have grooves and protrusions. This allows you to do without vertical seams when laying. As a building material, ceramic blocks are durable, they can be used to build multi-storey buildings. They are very light,good soundproofing and thermal insulation. A significant drawback of walls made of this material is the impossibility of perforating (and often just drilling) and fixing something on the walls, since the abundance of voids and the fragility of thin partitions do not allow even a cork to be installed.

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

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

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

Where does the choice of wall material begin?

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

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

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

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

Construction consultant's opinion Romana Nikonova:

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

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

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

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

- If building codes and technologies are violated, even modern and expensive wall material can be damaged.

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

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

The following example is illustrative:

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

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

What house to build. O features of wall materials

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

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

Consider their main features.

1. Brick and warm ceramics

The advantages of this material:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Alexey Melnikov:

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

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

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

Roman Nikonov:

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

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

Alexander Toporov(nickname on the forum 44alex) :

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

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

The main disadvantages of brick:

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

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

2. Foam and aerated concrete

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

Alexey Melnikov:

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

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

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

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

Even an unprepared person will be able to lay blocks on their own. There is no need to mix a large amount of cement-sand mortar, the laying is carried out on a fairly thin layer of glue. Also a significant plus is the uniformity of the wall, a large selection of blocks and their good geometry.

Alexander Toporov:

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

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

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

But this material is not without drawbacks.

Alexey Melnikov:

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

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

You can familiarize yourself with all and.

3. Wooden houses

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

Roman Nikonov:

- The wooden house breathes, is beautiful. This is a very flexible, “homemade”, versatile material, easy to transport and install. But it is less durable than stone.

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

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

Alexey Melnikov:

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

Round logs and profiled logs (including kiln-dried logs) are all modern types of logs aimed at improving the aesthetic properties and simplifying the construction of a house.

Qualitatively made wooden houses can serve 200-300 years.

Among the disadvantages of wooden houses are:

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

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

3. The tree is subject to shrinkage and cracking.

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

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

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

Let's name the advantages of glued beams:

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

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

4. Frame technology

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

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

Denis Reznichenko(nickname on the forum silent):

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

Advantages of frame houses:

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

The disadvantages of frame houses include:

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

Alexey Melnikov:

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

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

5. Arbolit

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

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

Arbolit has high thermal insulation performance.

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

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

Alexey Melnikov:

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

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

However, now arbolite is experiencing a rebirth.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The correct choice of material for building a house affects not only its strength and durability, but also the cost of the work. Today's construction market provides a huge range of various materials that are ideal not only for prefabricated buildings, but also for solid structures.

First you need to decide for what purposes the future building is intended. If the house is intended for permanent residence, then the main qualities when choosing a building material should be durability, strength, resistance to moisture, as well as high-quality heat and noise insulation.

All of the above advantages are possessed by houses made of foam concrete, brick, frame and wood.

Pros and cons of building a country house from a bar

The building, during the construction of which timber was used, will be reliable and beautiful. The material made from logs cut down in the winter is great for construction, as such a beam shrinks much faster. There are certain advantages and disadvantages that can affect the choice of this material.

Wooden house from glued laminated timber

For example, the pluses include the shallower depth of the foundation required when building a house. In addition, lumber walls have a lower thermal conductivity compared to brick walls, so you don’t have to think about external or internal wall decoration. An important point - the house can be built at any time, even in winter, even in summer.

Despite the large number of advantages, the beam has a number of disadvantages. This material is subject to decay, so it is short-lived, like any other wood material. Also, after the construction of housing, drying must be carried out for some time. In addition, the fire safety of the material is also not at the highest level.

For the manufacture of profiled timber, coniferous trees are used. The outer side may be flat, it may look like a log, and the inner side most often has a flat surface and is processed by planing. The remaining two sides are equipped with special spikes and grooves, which improves docking with each other. The grooves are stuffed with jute insulation.

Profiled timber is a high-tech material that allows you to build a house in the shortest possible time.

Profiled timber

Glued laminated timber does not have significant shortcomings and defects, because it undergoes special processing during production. The material is protected by a special impregnation of flame retardant and antiseptic, which gives the wood a high level of resistance to decay and fire resistance. , can serve you faithfully for several decades.

Glued laminated timber

In addition, they are built quite quickly, which provides comfortable conditions not only for construction, but also for further living. Currently, many different companies are able to help with the construction of timber houses, however, if desired, you can do the construction of a timber house yourself, since there are no particular difficulties in this matter.

A wooden house is always very cozy and does not require extra interior decoration.

Here you can watch a video discussing the issues of building a house, but keep in mind that it was recorded at the Forest Fair, and, of course, the author promotes the topic of building wooden houses. But at the same time, there are some very helpful tips in the video.

Foam concrete houses: pros and cons

The choice of building material, to a greater extent, is determined by such qualities as ease of installation, environmental friendliness, heat and sound insulation. Foam concrete has all of the above qualities, so it is gaining more and more popularity among builders. To date, mass housing developments are carried out using this material.

Private country house made of foam concrete

An important quality for many consumers is that this material has a high level of environmental safety. For the manufacture of foam concrete, only natural materials are used, such as cement, water, sand. Of course, the addition of dyes with plasticizers is also possible, but their amount is usually very small. Walls made of this material perfectly pass air, which provides a favorable microclimate in the room.

Foam concrete house wall

Foam concrete has a fairly low price in relation to other materials. In addition, it is very light, which undoubtedly affects the installation speed. You can build a house in two to three months. In addition, building a house from foam concrete does not require the construction of a powerful foundation.

One of the main qualities of foam concrete is the presence of good heat and noise insulation, which leads to a reduction in the cost of heat energy and insulating materials. This material is completely fireproof and easily resists high temperatures. In addition, the interior walls can be finished using almost any material.

But, like any building material, foam concrete has its drawbacks. One of them is insufficient strength, so blocks may be damaged during transportation and construction. There is a possibility that cracks may appear on the walls after the building box is installed, appearing during shrinkage or under the influence of temperature differences. In order to avoid adverse consequences, you need to invest in high-quality reinforcement of the structure.

Reinforced construction

After it has been erected, do not immediately strive to finish the interior walls, it is better to wait for a while. The reason is that there is a possibility of carbonization shrinkage, which can occur as a result of the formation of chalk inside the material. Such changes can occur due to a chemical reaction between cement and carbon dioxide penetrating into it.

Pros and cons of brick houses

Brick houses are among the most popular in the construction industry because they are durable, strong and comfortable. If such a house is built competently and thoroughly, then it can easily stand for more than 100 years, delighting residents with a cozy layout and warmth of its walls.

Beautiful brick country house

Brick is the most suitable material for outdoor finishing work. Brick cladding will require less funds than a full-fledged arrangement of a building made of the same material. Such cladding both decorates the structure and protects it from the harmful effects of the environment. The best option when building a reliable and warm house is a combination of foam concrete with brick.

Brick is ideal for building a house because it is completely natural.

Construction of a brick house

A brick house will not burn down. Of course, the fire will destroy everything that was inside, but the frame of the house will remain standing, which contributes to the beginning of a new life.

If necessary, you can build on, add additional rooms. A house that has only one floor can become a comfortable cottage or a house with several floors.

Brick walls can support roller shutters or an additional attic. You can also line the walls with wood, wild stone or decorative bricks.