What are the materials for building a house. What is better to build a house from: how to choose material for walls

Quite often, when designing a private house, the future owner thinks about the optimal choice of materials for its construction. What is cheap to build a house from, so that it does not affect the quality, thermal insulation, external attractiveness and durability of the building. The right selection of materials will help not only build the desired house with your own hands, but also save a lot of money.

Construction stages

From the very beginning, you should determine the order that must be followed when doing construction with your own hands:

The very first building of the foundation begins.
The construction of the walls begins to be engaged after checking the readiness of the base.
The next in order will be the conduct of communications (heating, water supply, sewerage, electrification, gas supply) and pouring the floor.
The next step will be laying the floor.
The last step is to build a roof. This type of construction work is carried out in spring or autumn.

The level of costs is affected by the design of the house, the foundation, materials for construction, materials for hydro- and thermal insulation, installation of doors and windows

The following factors influence the level of costs:

effective building layout;
the depth of the foundation, the materials for its construction and the technique used in its construction;
the use of inexpensive and high-quality materials for walls;
heat-saving and waterproofing materials;
type of heating system;
installation of door and window blocks;
the use of heat-saving and waterproofing agents.

Any construction must begin with a project. This approach makes it possible to avoid unnecessary expenses and optimize the project area already at the initial stage. You should also decide what material the house will be built from.

Create a project

To reduce the cost of construction and materials, you can calculate the area of \u200b\u200bthe house in such a way as to comfortably place all the necessary premises in the smallest possible area and decide which material will become the basis for the walls.

To save money, when building a house, make an extension - a veranda, it will protect the building and will serve as a great place for summer holidays.

To reduce heat loss, you can abandon pillars, bay windows, as well as all kinds of decorative partitions, as well as insulate basements, roofs and walls. The fewer walls in a building, the easier it is to heat it.

An excellent solution would be the construction of verandas and balconies that will protect the building and serve as a place of rest in the summer. It is also recommended to combine the hall with the dining room and kitchen, in this case the total area will reduce heat loss, and minimal zoning will help create a cozy and original interior of a small room.

You can resist the cooling of rooms from the side of the roof by arranging the attic.

As roofing materials, it is recommended to use reliable tile materials or tiles. You should not save on roofing material, since the life of the building and the possibility of rational use of the attic floor directly depend on it. In addition, these materials look very decorative, improve the overall appearance of the structure and are very durable, which more than pays for their high cost.

Wall materials

Since low-cost construction is designed not only to create beautiful and comfortable housing, but also to do it yourself in a short time with reasonable savings, modern materials for interior decoration should be used whenever possible.

The scheme of the insulated frame house

For the construction of a strong frame, concrete, metal, brick or wood are used. One of the options for economical construction is the installation of a wooden frame, which is then sheathed with soft insulation. This allows you to significantly lighten the design and save on the construction of the foundation, as well as significantly reduce energy consumption for heating.

Another profitable option for building walls is the construction of aerated concrete. A house made of such material is very quick and easiest to build, while reducing mortar and labor costs. The material is light and dimensional, and after finishing work it will take on any necessary form, and will not differ in any way from brick structures.

Wood is a favorite raw material for construction, but it can hardly be saved on it. The material itself is not so expensive, but since it is constantly subjected to deformation, shrinkage, the appearance of cracks and gaps from the effects of weather conditions, and also needs careful insulation, the cost of it increases significantly.

An economical material for a wooden house is only a type-setting system. It is assembled in production conditions by specialists from full-bodied structural elements.

In addition, such a house periodically requires sealing cracks as a result of building subsidence, as well as other expensive maintenance and control.

foundation type

You can reduce the cost of building a foundation by using highly efficient structures that can reduce the weight of the walls of the house and allow you to use a lightweight version of the foundation.

The ability to build a low-buried foundation is determined by the condition of the soil and the proximity of groundwater.

A low-depth foundation will save a lot of money

Under what conditions can a low-buried foundation be built:

Such a foundation is used only on non-rocky soils. Coarse-grained sand is an ideal base for a low-buried foundation.
Subject to the installation of a drainage system. This will prevent the rise of groundwater and protect the basement of the building from excessive moisture.
It is also advisable to use waterproofing.

If the architect decides in favor of building a low foundation and decides in favor of lightweight materials, then the amount saved will be quite significant.

In order to determine the appropriate type of foundation with your own hands, you should dig a hole about one meter deep. If there is no water in the pit, and the composition of the soil is represented by sand, clay and stones, then with all certainty it can be said that it is possible to build an unburied foundation (60-80 cm). If water appeared in the pit, then the occurrence of the base should be at a depth of more than one meter.

Roofing material is used to waterproof the foundation

The solution should be thick enough and consist of cement, sand and gravel. Before pouring, formwork is constructed from boards. The width of the base should be 20 cm more than the width of the walls. Be sure to use reinforcing mesh.

To ensure waterproofing, roofing material is laid in the foundation at ground level in two layers and then built to the required height.

After the completion of construction work, the foundation should be given several months to mature, and only after that the walls should be built.

Window systems

When choosing and installing window systems with your own hands, you should pay attention not only to the quality of the window block itself, but equally to the condition of seals and fittings. They must provide a snug fit, high-quality heat and sound insulation.

Poor-quality double-glazed windows will contribute to the cooling of the room and the formation of drafts.

The number of windows required for optimal lighting is calculated by the formula: floor area divided by 8. For example, for a room with an area of 40 meters, 5 windows are needed.

Heating system

The finished building needs the installation of a gas or electric heating system. Measures to insulate the walls, floors and basement of the building significantly reduce heat loss, but they are not able to provide a comfortable temperature at home during the cold season.

Underfloor heating is one of the most efficient ways to heat a room. There are two types of such a floor: electric and water. This system is quite cheap and provides pleasant warmth and comfort in the room. The acquisition and installation of such a system with your own hands will allow, without causing a significant increase in the cost of the project, to ensure savings and organically fit into the interior of the house.

Comfortable for this type of heating, the distribution of warm air from the bottom up, in comparison with other types, is the most correct. Whereas heating from radiators can be minimized by drafts walking inside the room.

Knowing what is cheaper to build a house from, you can save a good amount and bring your dream home project to life with your own hands. Tips for arranging an inexpensive home will help you build a comfortable, beautiful and ergonomic design with your own hands, in which you can pay maximum attention to the interior decoration of the room with the remaining funds.

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.

If the option of moving out of town is seriously considered, the question of which is better to build a house for permanent residence comes to the fore. The choice of materials for construction depends on the preferences of the owner of the future housing, his financial capabilities, in some ways - on the prevailing local traditions. Of course, the specifics of the climatic conditions of the region and the characteristics of the soils on the site acquired for the construction of housing are taken into account.

Today, both traditional and new technologies are used for the construction of private houses. In order to opt for one of them, you need to figure out what problems you will encounter during large-scale construction work and during the operation of the finished building.

Criteria for choosing material for construction

When choosing a material for building a house, you should start from a number of important criteria:

In order for the house to be comfortable for living at any time of the year, when choosing a material for construction, it is necessary to take into account the average winter temperatures of the region where it is planned to build it, comparing them with the thermal insulation qualities of future walls and ceilings.

In addition, most potential owners seek to make their housing energy efficient. That is, with minimal energy costs, to obtain a comfortable temperature in the premises both in winter and in summer.
The ability of a building material to become an effective barrier against external noise is especially important if the building is being built near a busy highway or railway.
The durability and reliability of a residential building will directly depend on the strength of the selected material.
The appearance of the building also plays an important role. Therefore, it is immediately necessary to decide: which version of the material is preferable - requiring or not requiring additional finishing.
Of course, an important criterion is always the affordability of the material. In many ways, it depends on the region of construction.
If the owner plans to carry out the construction on his own (in whole or even in part), then the degree of complexity of working with the chosen building material may also be a priority of the criteria.

The main types of materials for building a private house

Today, for the construction of houses, both traditional materials are used, which have been used, without exaggeration, for centuries, and developed relatively recently, but have already shown themselves on the positive side.

So, when deciding on materials for building a house, you need to know that they are conventionally divided into four groups:

Natural wood (log or timber).
Brick, stone and shell rock.
Porous blocks.
Composite materials based on wood.

To determine which of the listed materials is better to choose for a particular case, it is necessary to consider their physical and technical characteristics and other features.

Brick

For the construction of houses, silicate and ceramic bricks are used. Both one and the second option are produced in two types, which differ in the internal structural structure - a brick can be hollow and solid.

Both types are widely used for building walls of houses. However, different bricks can also have very different characteristics.

Solid and hollow ceramic bricks

Solid brick has a higher strength, so it can withstand high loads. However, it has a high thermal conductivity, and because of this, walls made of it usually require additional insulation and cladding.

Hollow products retain heat better in the house, so they are often lined with a wall built of solid bricks, leaving a space between the walls that is filled with heat-insulating materials - slag, expanded clay, foam concrete or expanded polystyrene.

Agree, it is very difficult to compete with neat brickwork in terms of the aesthetics of the facade.

Brick houses have a respectable appearance and a long service life, which sometimes exceeds the deadlines laid down in the design of the building. Buildings made of this material favorably differ from other buildings in their strength and reliability. That is why, despite the emergence of innovative materials, the brick has not lost its popularity at all, as it has successfully passed the test of time. The proof of this is that the buildings, sometimes erected several centuries ago, are still in operation.

However, despite the large number of positive qualities of a brick, this material has not only advantages, but also obvious disadvantages.

To the main benefits brick, and hence the houses built from it, include:

Ecological purity of the material.

Nowadays, future home owners always pay special attention to this quality of the material. Brick buildings in this regard are impeccable, since the composition of the solution from which the products are made does not include artificially produced or toxic components. Ceramic bricks are made from refined clay, and silicate bricks are made from sand and lime.

The strength of the structure built from it, long service life.

For centuries, in different countries, both one-story and multi-story buildings were built of brick, some of which are still in operation today, without even requiring restoration of facades. The walls, built of bricks made without violating technology, and laid on a high-quality mortar, are resistant to ultraviolet rays, moisture, wind, and biological damage.

In addition, brick buildings are able to withstand various natural disasters, such as floods, earthquakes, etc.

Frost resistance.

This quality indicates that the material is able to fully maintain its operational and decorative qualities during numerous cycles of deep freezing and thawing. Today, different brands of bricks are on sale, the frost resistance of which may vary. Therefore, when purchasing this material, you should pay attention to the F indicator, which just shows this number of cycles. The higher the value, the more durable the material.

Natural regulation of humidity in the building.
Fire safety.

Unlike wood, brick is resistant to open fire, as it is made of non-combustible material, moreover, it has been hardened at high temperatures during firing. The brick does not ignite and does not support the combustion of adjacent elements of the building. True, when exposed to open fire for a long time, it loses its safety margin. And this means that the operational life of the walls that survived the fire is significantly reduced.

To the list of essential shortcomings brick buildings include the following factors:

Material cost.

Having chosen a brick for building a house, you need to be prepared for fairly large costs, since, given the “modest” size of the products, a lot of them will be required. In addition to the brick itself, you will need to complete the interior decoration of the walls - this is plastering, followed by puttying, painting, or else. All these processes are also quite costly and require a certain amount of time.

High thermal conductivity of brick. If a house is being built in a region with cold winters, where the temperature drops to -35 ÷ 40 degrees, then the brick walls should be thick and be at least 640 ÷ 770 mm. Another option could be a "sandwich" wall, that is, made according to the principle of "well masonry". In this case, at a certain distance from each other, two relatively thin brick walls are simultaneously erected, the space between which is filled with heat-insulating materials. Sometimes another method is used for insulation - a crate is fixed on the front side of the wall, between the elements of which mineral wool or polystyrene foam is mounted, and then the walls are lined with one of the decorative materials.
Massiveness.

Brick houses are a very heavy structure. And this means that under them it is necessary to equip a reliable and solid foundation. Otherwise, under high load, it will sag, and with it the brick walls, as a result of which deep cracks will go along them.

Therefore, to build a high-quality one that is guaranteed to cope with a high load, you will also have to seriously spend money.

The design of a brick structure should only be carried out by a professional. Errors in the calculations of the foundation and the determination of the thickness of the bearing walls are unacceptable. The project and calculations will also be expensive.
hygroscopicity of the material.

This quality is especially pronounced in bricks made in violation of technology, that is, in insufficiently hardened or too porous bricks. In houses made of such material, there is always increased humidity, and getting rid of it is quite difficult. Therefore, the walls have to be periodically etched, which takes a lot of time and causes discomfort in the operation of housing. It is good that today there are many tools that will help protect brick walls from moisture - they process surfaces at the very beginning of the building's operation. It will help protect brick walls and a high one that separates them from ground moisture, splashes in the rain or from contact with snow drifts.

Silicate brick is more hygroscopic than ceramic. Therefore, it is not recommended to use it for building a house in regions with a humid climate. And it is completely excluded when laying the basement.

In digital terms, the main characteristics of a brick are as follows:

Feature name	solid brick	hollow brick	silicate brick
Density, kg/m³	1600÷1800	1400÷1700	1700÷1900
Thermal conductivity, W/m˚С	0.81÷0.87	0.44	0.95
Strength, kgf/cm²	125÷200	100÷200	150
Moisture absorption, %	7÷8	7÷8	8÷10
Frost cycles	50÷100	50÷70	35
Recommended wall thickness, mm at air temperature -20/-30/-40 ˚С (mm)	510/640/770	380/510/640	510/640/770

The cost of a brick in the table is deliberately not indicated. This parameter varies over a very wide range, depending on the type, brand, size, manufacturer, region of construction. Even for one seller, the spread of prices for seemingly identical products, but coming from different factories, can be very significant.

Cement based masonry blocks

In recent years, cement-based building blocks have been increasingly chosen for the construction of a private house. Such masonry materials have a number of advantages over traditional bricks, and the first of them can be called an affordable cost. In addition, the blocks have impressive linear dimensions - one can replace from 4 or even up to 14 standard bricks, so building a house will go much faster.

Manufacturers today supply cement-based blocks to the construction market, but manufactured using different technologies and with different physical, technical and operational indicators:

Foam blocks and aerated concrete blocks.
Cinder blocks and expanded clay concrete blocks.

To understand what each of these materials is, and how they differ from each other, let's take a closer look at their characteristics.

Aerated concrete and foam concrete blocks

These building materials, at first glance, are similar in their characteristics. However, their manufacturing techniques are somewhat different.

Aerated concrete is made from cement, lime, sand and water with the addition of aluminum powder. Thanks to these components, during the manufacturing process of the composition, a chemical reaction is activated, accompanied by gas evolution, which ensures the creation of a porous structure with an open cell. This determines the very high hygroscopicity of the material.

Foam concrete products are made from cement, sand and water. But the main thing for the formation of the structure of the material is a foaming agent, added at the stage of mixing the solution before pouring into molds. The cell is closed.

Both one and the other blocks can have different densities, and are divided into grades. The numerical indicator in the brand just indicates the density of the finished material (kg / m³):

- D 1000–D 1200 - structural products, that is, intended for the construction of load-bearing walls. Their insulating qualities are not the most outstanding.

- D 500-D 900 - structural and thermal insulation materials. It is they who are most often chosen for individual construction, combining, so to speak, “pleasant with useful”.

- D 300- D 500 - thermal insulation blocks. For load-bearing structures, the strength qualities of such a material are clearly not enough.

Foam concrete is also produced in another version, which is marked D1300 to D1600. These are structurally porous blocks having a high density, but also a very significant thermal conductivity. As a rule, the material of this brand is made to order, and is practically not used in the practice of residential construction.

Aerated concrete and foam concrete blocks have the following characteristic features:

Ease of processing. Blocks are easily sawn with a regular wood saw. Thanks to this quality, anyone, even an inexperienced builder, can handle the adjustment of the material during the construction of walls. Moreover, the block can be given an arbitrarily intricate shape.
Material strength. The indicators of this parameter may vary depending on the porosity and brand of the product.
Low thermal conductivity. This indicator averages 0.08÷0.22 W/(m×˚С). The D300 and D500 grades have a particularly low coefficient, so they are great for additional insulation of houses for permanent residence. Walls made of this material perfectly retain heat in the house in the winter cold and cool on hot summer days.
Soundproofing. Aerated concrete and foam concrete have significant noise absorption indicators, and the final parameters depend on other characteristics of the material, as well as on the thickness of the walls. According to the norms of SNiP II-12-77, in private houses the level of sound insulation should be 41 ÷ 60 dB, and the sound insulation qualities of aerated concrete usually exceed these figures:

Brand of material most often used to build a private house	Sound insulation level, dB, with the thickness of the walls of the enclosing structure, mm
	120	180	240	300	360
D500	36	41	44	46	48
D600	38	43	46	48	50

Ecological purity of the material. Industrial production of blocks is carried out under strict control (especially for aerated concrete). In laboratories, checks are carried out for the presence of radioactive materials and toxic components - they are completely excluded.
Mass of blocks. This parameter depends on the density of the material:

As you can see, this parameter can vary somewhat in one direction or another. It must be remembered - the higher the density of the material, the higher its thermal conductivity and the worse the sound insulation.

Along with positive characteristics, these building materials also have their own limitations about which you also need to have information:

Foam and gas blocks are fragile, therefore, during work, with careless handling of the material, it can crack or split. In addition, this can also happen when the foundation shrinks. Therefore, the base under the walls should be as reliable as possible. In order to avoid subsidence and cracking, every second ÷ third row of masonry must be reinforced with metal rods.
The hygroscopicity of aerated concrete can be attributed to serious shortcomings. This feature predetermines an increase in the volume of work, which includes waterproofing measures.
Mandatory interior and exterior finishing involves additional costs.

What to choose - foam concrete or aerated concrete?

With a lot of common features, these materials also have significant differences. By what criteria can you compare More detailed information can be found in a special publication of our portal.

Expanded clay blocks and cinder blocks

These blocks, like the materials described above, can be classified as very affordable and have decent characteristics.

Their frost resistance and strength are commensurate with similar parameters of brick walls. The blocks have very large linear parameters and relatively low weight, so they are laid in a short time.

Expanded clay blocks are made from cement mortar with the addition of expanded clay of a fine fraction of 5 ÷ 10 mm, or coarse expanded clay sand.

Now, having figured out what the frame structures of houses are, it is necessary to highlight their positive and negative sides.

To virtues correctly built frame houses include the following:

Ability to work independently.
The low thermal conductivity of the walls helps keep the heat inside the house.
Relatively fast and fairly simple installation of structural elements.
There is no need for a massive foundation, as the construction is easy.
The design does not shrink, so you can move into the house immediately after finishing work.
You do not have to level the surfaces of the walls and ceiling, as they are already ready for decorative finishing both outside and inside.
Relatively low cost.

However, the frame structure also has a fairly large number shortcomings , which can bring disappointment to future residents of the house during its operation:

Low tightness of all frame structures, except fachwerk.
Insufficiently long service life due to low strength and reliability of the structure.
In frame houses, the correct one must necessarily be equipped, otherwise mold may appear on the walls and underground due to insufficient air exchange.
Poor quality of sound insulation.
High fire hazard.

Insulating material in the floor and walls can be chosen for housing by rodents and various insects. And it will be very difficult to get rid of such a “neighborhood”.

So which is better, timber or frame construction?

If you have to decide which form of wood is better to choose for construction - a beam or a log, or give preference to a frame structure, then it will be useful to refer to a special comparative publication. The recommended link leads to it.

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Above, we figured out what materials can be used to build houses for year-round use. Given their characteristics, advantages and disadvantages, approximate prices in your region, you can decide which one is best for a particular case by combining all the evaluation criteria.

If desires and opportunities coincide, then you can stop at the best option and start developing a project at home.

Complement the information reflected in the article, an interesting video on the same topic:

Video: What material is better to choose for your own residential building?

Traditional brick or warm ceramics, aerated concrete or wood concrete, timber or frame technology - what material is better to build a house from? Any novice developer, choosing a building material, is faced with conflicting information. Making the best decision is not an easy task. We will try to narrow the scope of the search by selecting the most practical and cost-effective options.

What to consider when choosing a material

The importance of choosing building materials for external walls can hardly be overestimated. To understand what kind of house to build, experts recommend deciding on the following points:

type of housing - short-term visits or permanent residence;
requirements for the strength and environmental friendliness of the wall material;
estimated date of settlement;
heating method;
construction budget and labor intensity of the process;
availability of building materials in the region;
whether the possibility of further sale of the house is allowed.

There is no universal answer to the question of what material is best for building a private house. It all depends on the project, climate, characteristics of the region of residence and personal preferences of the owner of the site.

Basic requirements for technological properties of materials:

good thermal protection - heating a house with cold walls will be very expensive;
fire safety;
durability;
soundproofing qualities.

An important selection factor is the final strength of structural elements. The walls must withstand the weight of the roof, floors, wind and snow loads.

Comparison of materials for building a house: a qualitative assessment

To understand in what situation one or another solution would be preferable, we compare the technical and operational qualities of modern materials for the construction of a private house.

Brick - reliability and high cost

Despite the development of innovative technologies, brick houses hold the leading position. The main arguments in favor of traditional material:

excellent sound insulation performance;
fire and environmental safety;
prestige, aesthetics and wide architectural possibilities;
ensuring a healthy microclimate in the room.

Brick is the most durable material for building a house. The service life of the building reaches up to 100 years.

If everything is so good, then why experiment and develop new technologies? Brick also has disadvantages:

the need to equip a solid foundation due to the severity of the brick walls;
high cost and duration of construction;
high labor intensity and seasonality of construction works.

ceramic brick has a fairly high thermal conductivity. To achieve effective thermal insulation, it is necessary to resort to additional insulation.

The last flaw is deprived ceramic block- porous ceramics. Due to the smallest air pores, the material retains heat well. An additional plus is the increased dimensions and the accelerated masonry process. The disadvantage of warm ceramics is fragility. When chasing a wall, you can split the block.

Characteristics of foam and aerated concrete blocks

One of the options for how to build a warm and economical house is the use of gas and foam concrete. The thermal insulation characteristics of a wall in one layer correspond to the properties of multi-layer brickwork. The thermal efficiency of blocks is three times higher than that of bricks.

Both materials have similar characteristics, their main difference is in the internal structure. Gas blocks are made from a homogeneous sand-cement mixture. When a blowing agent is added, small through channels are formed inside the block.

In foam blocks, on the contrary, closed pores form inside the material. This technology gives foam blocks some advantages over gas blocks:

improved energy efficiency properties;
reduced weight;
resistance to moisture.

Weighty arguments in favor of both building materials: relative availability, fire and bioresistance, lightness, ease of processing.

Disadvantages of block technology:

the fragility of the walls;
the need for external decoration;
presence of chemical elements.

Pros and cons of a wooden house

Adherents of natural materials prefer wood, focusing on the following advantages:

environmental friendliness - the walls do not emit toxic substances hazardous to health and the environment;
attractiveness - wooden buildings have a special charm;
low thermal conductivity of wood;
creating an optimal microclimate inside the house - wooden walls "breathe" and take on excess moisture;
strength - breaking through a wall of logs or timber is not easy;
the possibility of arranging a simple base - suitable.

A relative plus is the cost of construction. In general, the construction of wooden housing will cost less than a brick house due to the lack of the need to finish the walls and strengthen the foundation.

However, wood cannot be called the cheapest material for building a house. The price largely depends on the region. It is more profitable for residents near forest plantations to use a tree, for the rest, the expediency of building is doubtful. Main arguments against tree:

wall shrinkage duration - about 3 years;
fire hazard - refractory liquids partially help reduce the flammability of the material, but do not completely solve the problem;
the likelihood of cracks;
the need for regular protective treatment of wooden walls from decay and insect attacks.

Many wood critics speak negatively about the thermal efficiency of houses. The presence of cracks negates the thermal conductivity of the tree. The building needs sealing and additional insulation.

Features of the use of wood concrete

The second name of arbolite - wood concrete. The material is made from cement binder and organic fillers - woodworking waste. Such a symbiosis awarded wood concrete blocks with a number of technical advantages:

low thermal conductivity (up to 0.18 W / m) and good sound suppression properties;
bending strength - wood concrete does not crack;
the material is difficult to ignite and slightly combustible, the formation of smoke is low;
ease of processing - plates can be sawn;
breathability, resistance to decay;
light weight - the ratio of the weight of wood concrete and brick is 1: 3, the requirements for the foundation are reduced.

When considering what to choose - wood concrete or other material, one must take into account the climate of the region. The key to the durability of wood concrete is to ensure dryness. The basement of the house needs additional waterproofing.

Under conditions of constant humidity, the arbolite block is able to absorb 40-80% of moisture from the outside, which reduces its thermal insulation properties.

Additional disadvantages of wood concrete: imperfect geometry of the block and the high cost of high-quality material. Due to the ease of manufacture, the market is flooded with privately made products, the quality of which does not always meet the standards.

Monolith and concrete blocks

Concrete is considered stronger and more durable than brick. There are two technologies for building a house:

one-piece construction made of monolithic concrete;
prefabricated structure from factory reinforced concrete panels.

cast concrete. A rather complicated technology: the frame of the house is erected from reinforcement and gradually poured with liquid concrete. As the mortar dries, the formwork is removed and moved to another area of the pour.

Advantages of monolithic technology:

reliability - the strength of the building is due to the absence of seams, a cast house is the best option for seismically active areas;
durability - service life of more than 150 years;
fire resistance - the walls of the house are not destroyed in a fire;
variability of forms - by building formwork, you can give the structure any configuration.

Disadvantages of monolithic buildings: high cost, the need to strengthen the foundation, the difficulty of creating high formwork, demanding on the quality of concrete.

Prefabricated panels. This is an option for those who are looking for a way to like a home. Finished reinforced concrete panels are brought to the site and a structure is formed from them.

The main advantages of the method: construction speed, ideal geometry, affordable cost, fire safety.

In private housing construction, the method is not particularly popular for a number of reasons: slabs are produced in standard sizes - the choice of projects is limited, concrete walls need to be insulated.

Frame technology - cost-effectiveness and speed of construction

For many Europeans and Americans, the question of what material is better to build a house from is not so relevant. Most prefer frame technology.

The base of the building wooden frame, which is subsequently sheathed with heat-insulating plates. The method has a number of significant advantages:

speed of construction and the ability to perform work all year round - there are no "wet" processes;
ease of construction - you can build a small house yourself without the involvement of special equipment;
ease of construction - the frame does not require a powerful foundation;
ease of laying communications - water pipes, ventilation ducts and electrical cables can be laid in the cavity of walls, ceilings;
good thermal insulation - subject to the construction norm and the use of high-quality energy-intensive components.

With a standard wall thickness of 30 cm, the frame retains heat, like a brick house with a wall thickness of 50 cm.

An important, and sometimes decisive factor in favor of frame technology is the low construction budget. Prefabricated houses are the most affordable and very economical to operate in winter due to effective thermal insulation of the walls.

Frame houses are demanding on the quality of wood for the construction of the supporting structure. Compared to brick buildings, they have a lower level of sound insulation.

When is the best time to build a frame house? The popularity of carcasses among compatriots is increasing. Previously, the prejudiced attitude has changed - many have seen from personal experience the practicality and heat capacity of housing. Such houses are versatile and cost-effective, their construction is justified in different climatic regions.

Alternative building materials for a private house

In some regions, in addition to the technologies described above, non-standard solutions are used:

Adobe. Building material is popular in Central Asia. Saman is made from a mixture of scrap and clay. The material keeps cool in summer and keeps warm in winter, but is not very durable and is afraid of water. Cob houses are suitable only for dry climates; in conditions of prolonged rainy autumn and harsh winters, the material cannot be used.
Natural stone. The choice of lovers of antique style and everything natural. Building a stone house is expensive. Such a structure will stand for more than a century.
cinder block. A compressed block of filler - slag and binder - cement. Cinder block is a cheap alternative to brick, building material is popular in the construction of outbuildings and country houses. The environmental safety of pressed blocks is doubtful, therefore they are not recommended for the construction of residential buildings.

What kind of house to build: profitability scale

If we compare the cost of building houses from different materials and compare the upcoming maintenance costs, then the rating will look like this:

1 place. Frame house. The estimated cost of construction is $180. e./sq. m, the cost of heating and maintenance of the house is minimal.
2nd place. Wooden beam without insulation. The approximate price of the building is 200 USD. e./sq. m, but the heat costs are more than doubled, which means that the heating bills increase.
3 place. Aerated concrete with insulation. The cost of building a house is 320 USD. e./sq. m. Heating costs compared to a frame house increase by a quarter.
4th place. Brick, double brickwork. The asking price is around $400. e./sq. m. The operation of the house in the winter will cost three times more than the maintenance of the frame.

Potential developers often doubt whether it is worth building a frame house or whether it is better to resort to traditional technologies. Many years of foreign experience, profitability indicators and positive feedback from compatriots speak in favor of frame buildings. In many respects, they are ahead of brick, wooden and concrete houses.

Video: comparison of wall materials

Read the article to the end and you will find out: what materials are best used today to build the walls of a house, what are their advantages and disadvantages. And also: at the end of the article - interesting reader poll regarding this issue.

Let's see what houses are built from today. More specifically, what materials are used to build the walls. We will present the information “without water” and structured. First, consider the most popular building materials, and then - those that are used less frequently.

Of course, each material has its pros and cons. Therefore, we will also talk about this. So…

Popular materials for building walls at home

There are many. Let's start with the most proven and reliable option.

Ceramic brick (red)

Made from clay - an environmentally friendly material. Firing gives it a red color, and also improves strength properties.

Previously, houses were built mainly of brick. And they performed well. We can say briefly about this material: this is a classic ... Time-tested.

Pros of red brick:

high strength;
reliability;
the ability to withstand heavy loads for a long time.

Cons of brick:

high cost of the material;
complex and expensive masonry (highly skilled workers are required);
relatively large construction time.

Red brick houses are always in price. They are reliable, durable, warm enough (with a wall thickness of 60 cm or more). Such a house after construction and after 25 years can be sold at a good price. Because brick houses serve for 100 years.

Ceramic blocks (porous ceramics)

Modern material for the walls of the house. In fact, the same red brick, only with numerous voids. It is made by firing the same clay. However, this creates voids in the material, which significantly improve its thermal insulation properties. In addition, sawdust is added to the raw material during production. When fired, they burn out, due to which microscopic pores are formed.

Advantages of porous ceramics:

excellent thermal insulation properties;
ecological cleanliness;
large-format blocks (laying is done quite quickly);
less weight (and therefore less load on the foundation).

Flaws:

high price;
reduced bearing capacity and strength (compared to solid ceramic bricks);
increased fragility (especially noticeable during transportation, loading / unloading);
easily absorbs moisture.

By the way, one point should be noted regarding the strength characteristics ... Manufacturers often claim that porous ceramic blocks (used for the construction of load-bearing walls) correspond in strength to M100 concrete. For example, you can often hear that "the strength is the same as that of a regular solid red brick." However… in practice this does not always work out. Different manufacturers have different strength of porous ceramics. Therefore, when buying, you need to be vigilant.

Despite the shortcomings, now this material is very popular. It is used for the construction of luxury houses.

aerated concrete

The material is a kind of cellular concrete. Produced from quartz sand, cement, special blowing agents. In addition, lime, gypsum, as well as slag and other industrial waste are used. The output is a material with an open porous structure (pore diameter is approximately equal to 1...3 mm).

Advantages of aerated concrete:

small mass;
low thermal conductivity;
ease of machining;
good strength;
relatively low price.

Disadvantages of aerated concrete:

strongly absorbs moisture (due to the open porous structure);
increased fragility (a reliable foundation is required to exclude even small subsidence).

Now the popularity of aerated concrete is at its height. Indeed, for a relatively small price, you can get a warm and quite durable house. Due to the low thermal conductivity, it is possible to build walls of much thinner thickness than, for example, in the case of red brick. This further reduces the cost of masonry material. In addition, the labor cost of workers is noticeably lower. Aerated concrete houses are built relatively easily and quickly.

foam concrete

Also a type of cellular concrete. Unlike aerated concrete, this material has a closed porous structure. It is made from sand, cement, foaming agent and water.

The production technology of foam concrete is quite simple. The production does not require expensive equipment. And I must say that this fact gives not only a plus, but also adds an important minus: there is a lot of foam concrete on the market made by dubious private firms (handicraft production). Accordingly, the quality of such material cannot be high.

Advantages of foam concrete:

light weight;
good thermal insulation properties;
ease of processing (easy to drill, saw);
due to the closed porous structure (the pores are closed), foam concrete does not absorb moisture as much as aerated concrete.

Disadvantages of foam concrete:

poor vapor permeability (walls "do not breathe", a good ventilation system is required);
almost does not work on bending;
over time, it shrinks significantly (which means cracking is possible).

Despite significant disadvantages, foam concrete is used for the construction of residential buildings. Also, this material is used for sound and heat insulation - walls, roofs, floors, etc.

Wood

Natural material, time-tested. Wood houses have been built since ancient times. This material has not lost its popularity even today.

Moreover, there are different technologies for the construction of wooden houses. So, they can be built from a log house (the old method) - when the trunks are cut to the required length, locks and grooves are made in them, and then they are laid, creating walls.

There is also a method of construction from rounded beams. In this case, the logs in production are processed to a smooth surface, marked. In this case, the bars can be planed, sawn, glued.

Advantages of wood:

relatively affordable price (compared to other expensive materials);
ecological cleanliness;
excellent thermal insulation characteristics;
aesthetic and attractive appearance;
no need to build a strong foundation;
a sufficiently long service life (with proper construction and care) - naturally, different types of wood have different wear resistance;
ease of machining.

Disadvantages of wood:

Despite the shortcomings, houses built of wood have been and will always be in price. It is pleasant to be in a wooden house, it is easy to breathe. It is cozy and comfortable. In a word, wood.

shell rock

This is an absolutely environmentally friendly material, completely natural origin. The rock of this stone is porous, carbonate. It consists of pressed shells. Hence the name - "shell rock" (also called "shell rock", "limestone").

The stone is different in density, shape, type and number of shells that form its basis. Accordingly, the strength, aesthetic and other characteristics of different shells can vary greatly.

However, in general, the following can be said about the pros and cons of this stone.

Shell rock benefits:

complete ecological cleanliness (surpasses even wood, as it requires impregnation with special protective substances);
does not accumulate radiation (usually it is below the sensitivity level of measuring instruments);
relatively low price (except for delivery);
high construction speed (for example, it can be sawn into blocks 490 × 240x188 mm in size);
dense stone has a fairly high strength (suitable for the construction of load-bearing walls).

Disadvantages of shell rock:

increased ability to absorb moisture (especially for porous and low-strength stone) - higher than that of ceramic bricks;
the dimensions of the blocks are inaccurate, significant deviations are often observed (due to the fact that the blocks are not stamped, but cut out);
in terms of thermal conductivity, it is inferior to brick, aerated concrete, wood and some other materials;
often there is heterogeneity in density and strength (the material is completely natural origin).

The attitude of people to this stone is ambiguous. In some regions, most of the houses are built from this stone. In others, they practically do not build because of the existing significant shortcomings and give preference to other building materials for building walls. Of course, this is also due to the fact that the delivery of stone to some regions can be expensive and unprofitable.

Other building materials for building walls

Now let's list what is used less often. And there are advantages here too.

Expanded clay concrete

It is made by pressing from a mixture of water, sand, cement and expanded clay (which is made from clay). Additionally, voids of various volumes and shapes (for example, rectangular, cylindrical) can be made in blocks.

Masonry is usually performed using a reinforcing mesh (after 3-4 rows).

Advantages of expanded clay concrete:

low thermal conductivity;
good strength (higher than, for example, aerated concrete);
relatively low price;
environmental cleanliness (in fact, the basis is clay);
small mass (due to the presence of a porous and lightweight material - expanded clay);
manufacturing technology is quite simple (you can make it yourself);
durability (tested by time);
good vapor permeability (walls "breathe").

Cons of expanded clay concrete:

Increased water absorption (need waterproofing, protection from external atmospheric influences);
Requires a solid foundation;
The presence of cold bridges (it is problematic to make thin seams due to significant deviations in the size of the blocks);
There is a material of "handicraft" production with low quality (due to the simplicity of manufacturing technology).

It should also be noted that expanded clay concrete is quite versatile. Suitable for both the construction of load-bearing walls in low-rise construction, and for the construction of partitions, floors, ceilings. This material is often used simply as a heater.

Arbolit

Refers to lightweight concrete. Another name is also used - wood concrete blocks. Cement, water, organic aggregates, chemical additives are used for manufacturing. Moreover, different materials can be used as fillers (80-90% of the total volume) - wood chips (often), flax or hemp fire, cotton stalks, etc.

Chemical additives are used to eliminate the negative impact of organic matter on the cement hardening process. It can be: liquid glass, calcium chloride, aluminum sulfate, etc.

Arbolite advantages:

environmental friendliness;
low thermal conductivity (you can do without a heater);
good fire resistance (does not support combustion, and when exposed to fire it only chars);
the speed of building walls (blocks of sufficiently large sizes);
high bending strength (has the ability to restore shape after exposure to loads - due to the presence of wood particles);
a powerful foundation is not required (as, for example, for aerated concrete);
you can easily screw screws into the walls, hammer in nails (they hold securely).

Disadvantages of wood concrete:

protection from moisture is required (due to the presence of organic substances in the composition);
in some regions the material is difficult to find;
the price can be clearly overstated by the manufacturer (therefore, making wood concrete with your own hands is popular).

In general, we can say that this is a pretty good building material for building walls. Moreover, if you wish, you can make it yourself.

It is used for low-rise buildings (usually up to 3 floors). It can be both residential buildings and commercial buildings.

cinder block

This stone is produced by vibrocompression or natural shrinkage of cinder concrete mortar is used. The binder is cement, the filler is slag from metallurgical production.

However, it must be emphasized right away that at present it is customary to consider all stones that are made by vibrocompression from concrete mortar as cinder blocks. As a filler, in addition to slag, granite screenings, broken bricks, hardened cement, cullet, etc. can also be used.

In this case, the resulting blocks can be both full-bodied and with voids (which, in turn, can be of different shapes and sizes).

Advantages of cinder block:

does not burn;
not afraid of temperature changes;
long service life (about 100 years);
affordable price;
good sound insulation;
retains heat well (due to the porous structure), although it is inferior in this regard to some other materials (for example, aerated concrete);
high strength;
building walls is easier than, for example, laying bricks (the block sizes are much larger).

Cons of cinder block:

Hygroscopic (capable of absorbing moisture by 75%) - waterproofing is needed;
The walls still need to be insulated;
The composition may contain substances of dubious origin that can have a toxic effect on the human body (production waste makes itself felt);
the environmental friendliness of the blocks depends on the integrity of the manufacturer;
the high strength of the material makes it difficult to lay cables and pipes in it;
the walls have an unpresentable appearance (therefore, finishing is required).

In general, we can say that cinder block is a good material for building walls. It is also used for laying the foundation, building partitions.

However, many are stopped by the question of harmfulness. Therefore, for residential buildings, they often prefer to use other options - brick, aerated concrete, etc. A cinder block - for outbuildings, garages, fences.

Building materials for the walls of the house: draw conclusions

As you can see, today the market offers many options for solving this issue. The house can be built the way you want - not only in appearance, but also in terms of thermal insulation, strength and other characteristics.

Therefore, choose the best material for building the walls of the house and ... for work.

And now, as promised, a survey among our readers.

Interview

What is better to build the walls of the house? How do you think?