Making concrete blocks with your own hands. Concrete blocks: types, characteristics and self-production process
For the manufacture of concrete blocks, the following fillers are suitable: slag, ash, coal combustion waste, screening of crushed stone (stone, granite), brick waste, gravel, sand, sawdust (after processing), expanded clay, perlite, sand and gravel mixture, granulated slag, hall , crushed stone, sawdust, gypsum, brick fight, etc.
Solution for making cinder blocks
Solution for cinder blocks: coal slag: coarse sand (expanded clay): gravel 5-15 mm, cement M500, water (7: 2: 2: 1.5: 1.5-3). It is important to control the amount of water so that the blocks do not spread when removed. The solution should crumble when it falls to the ground, but it should unite in the fist.
For the plasticity of blocks, you can add a plasticizer (5 grams per block - strength, water resistance and frost resistance, fewer cracks) during vibrocasting, it is also possible with vibrocompression, but you need to add too much for the effect, and this is expensive.
In order for cinder blocks to be durable, you need to consider:
The quality of the sand - you need a large one.
The slag is ideal for blast-furnace.
Cement - high-quality M400.
Equipment - in order to better press, you need to achieve vibrocompression.
Time of preparation and storage of concrete blocks
mother with a tape is possible in a day. Complete drying after a couple of months. A day later, the blocks can already be worn - they do not break, put in a week.
When using a plasticizer, finished blocks can be removed from the site and stored after 6-8 hours. Without UPD - in two days. It is necessary to store ready-made cinder blocks in pyramidal piles of 100 pieces with a small (2-3 cm) gap between the blocks - so that the "sides" dry out.
At first, concrete can be prepared by hand. Subsequently, it is more efficient and easier - on an electric concrete mixer with a volume of 0.2-0.5 cubic meters. m.
Production site - a room with a flat floor, good ventilation/heating or a flat outdoor area under a canopy.
Advantages of cinder blocks
- low cost
- high speed of construction from cinder blocks;
- good sound insulation
- good thermal insulation
- you can make for yourself and for sale
Negative opinions on making concrete blocks with your own hands
The machine is profitable only in the presence of cheap or "free" raw materials, or with huge amounts of work.
A hollow block made anywhere is more expensive than a wall section of the same size made using the removable or fixed formwork method, the more you waste your time and effort. Therefore, basically, the sale of these machines is just an opportunity to make money on others.
An example of the cost and cost of making homemade blocks
The production of one cinder block takes 0.011 cubic meters of solution, in a ratio of 1: 7 (cement: granulated slag), i.e. 1 bag of cement = 36 blocks.
Legislation
Decrees of the Government of the Russian Federation of 13.08.97 No. 1013, Gosstandart of the Russian Federation No. 86 of 08.10.2001 and Gosstroy of the Russian Federation No. 128 of 12.24.2001, the list of products requiring mandatory certification does not include building concrete blocks with various fillers (slag, expanded clay , sawdust, etc.), as well as vibroforming equipment for their production.
Making a mold with your own hands for casting concrete blocks
The form for self-production of cinder blocks is a box of 3 mm metal without a bottom with handles. To make the front of the blocks more even, they need to be dried on a rubber band moistened with a solution of some kind of detergent.
We start the manufacturing process
What is needed for that? First of all, you need to decide on the size. I propose to stop at the following sizes: 200x200x400 mm and 200x200x200 mm (these are "halves" and they will definitely be required during the work).
Now let's prepare the formwork. To do this, it is necessary to saw old furniture boards from chipboard of the appropriate size and connect them with screws through transverse and longitudinal partitions cut from a 40 mm board (see figure).
This form is convenient because 4 blocks can be laid in it at the same time. Next, we put the form without a bottom on a flat base under a canopy, covered with plastic wrap. Their inner surfaces are smeared with used engine oil. This is done to make it easier to screw the blocks after they harden.
Now we will prepare the material from which we will make blocks. In a concrete mixer, and in its absence, pour gravel, sand and a little lime into any container. After it is mixed, add cement.
The ratio when laying should correspond to the proportion - 1 part of cement to 4 parts of aggregate. All this is thoroughly mixed and diluted with water to the desired consistency. The solution should be such that it would be convenient to lay it in the form.
Further, two shovels of mortar, a reinforcing wire, fit into the mold. On all this, two glass bottles plugged with corks should also be placed with a “valt”. The bottles will play the role of sealed glass blocks and thanks to them two air chambers are created inside the block, creating thermal and sound insulation.
After laying the bottles, a layer of mortar with reinforcing wire is poured again. From above, everything is covered with an additional layer of mortar, which is smoothed out with a trowel. When pouring the solution, it is necessary to compact it well so that voids do not form inside the mold. When the concrete hardens, the side wall of the mold is removed and the blocks are removed.
It is better to make blocks in cloudy weather, since the time for the evaporation of water from the solution increases, which reduces the likelihood of cracks on the finished blocks. If, however, you work in hot weather, then the foms must be placed in the shade and it is advisable to cover them in order to reduce the rate of water evaporation. Using this method, you save up to 60 percent of your money.
That's probably all I wanted to tell you about the folk way of making concrete blocks with your own hands at home.
Do-it-yourself concrete block making video
Read on - find out more!
Each of us needs a family and our own comfortable place for permanent residence. Someone wants to have an apartment in a big city, and someone wants to live where you can grow vegetables and fruits, keep pets, have a house suitable for habitation, and all the necessary outbuildings. But not everyone can afford to build all the necessary premises from purchased building materials. In this case, we think about whether it is possible to build a house from hand-made material.
Aerated concrete blocks are a lightweight building material, so there is no need to strengthen the foundation when building a house.
This question was asked by all generations before us, so a sufficient number of ways to obtain building materials from improvised means have long been known.
The most optimal solution in this case is the construction of housing on your own from what can be obtained directly on the spot.
Elements of the supporting frame: 1 - the first row of blocks based on mortar; 2 - additional cellular blocks; 3 - annular reinforced belt; 4 - reinforced concrete floor slabs; 5 - heat-insulating gasket; 6 - monolithic reinforced concrete distribution belt; 7 - lintel reinforced from concrete; 8 - lintel made of concrete; 9 - waterproofing; 10 - base.
The most accessible of the materials that can be found everywhere is the earth, or rather, the soil, which is under the fertile layer. Since ancient times, both residential buildings and other buildings were built from the ground, but more often in those areas where there was little forest. Blocks were made from this material using plastic molding or tamping, as well as using formwork (the soil was simply stuffed into it very tightly).
For example, if do-it-yourself work on building a house is planned without a basement, then the soil that was taken out for the arrangement of the future foundation will be enough to build the walls of a one-story house. If you make a basement, then the house can already be made two-story. For walls, the soil that is taken out during the construction of a pool, drainage or well is also suitable.
Previously, it was not possible to mechanize at least some part of the manufacturing process of such a building material, but in our time, of course, you no longer have to mix the necessary ingredients with your feet, because special mechanized devices have been invented for this.
With the advent of special mechanisms, the situation with the construction using improvised materials has changed significantly for the better. With the help of an electrified tool, it is possible to produce material - mix it and compact it. And the result is no worse than in ancient times, but it takes much less time and physical effort.
The authors of the equipment in question managed to create a tool suitable for compacting concrete and other construction low-moisture mixtures and materials, as well as soil masses. And this invention, affordable to many, will make it possible to produce most of the building material and parts directly at the construction site.
Soil manufacturing technology
With the help of such a machine, it is possible to form wall blocks from local raw materials, incl. from the soil using the “zone injection” technology.
The production process of this device is based on the reproduction of the natural effect called "fluid wedge". The main technological feature is that the mold, molding powder and supercharger simultaneously move in it. And all this without any vibrations and noises. This eliminates the need for such traditional processes as dosing mass, control of product size and pressure, which inflates the punch in similar molding plants.
In the molding machine called "Mini-supercharger" MN-05, a dense and uniform structure is formed throughout the entire volume of the mold, and the dimensions of the product always correspond to the shape in all respects. When switching to another material, no changeover of the equipment is required. And in the process, the effects of elastic aftereffect, air entrapment and overpressure are excluded.
Block laying sequence: a - single-row dressing system; b - multi-row dressing system; c, d - multi-row dressing system in a mixed way (numbers indicate the sequence of masonry).
MN-05, which has no analogues in the world, is intended not only for the manufacture of single-format blocks for building needs, with its help it is possible to independently manufacture bricks, and various racks, blocks, slabs for window sills and much more, which is necessary when building a house with your own hands. Various types of soils, and industrial waste, and other materials can act as raw materials for MN-05.
This molding kit is indispensable for owners of gardens and summer cottages, cottages, farmers, landscape designers and architects, as there are endless opportunities for individual creativity both when building a house and when landscaping any area, be it a garden plot or a park.
Everyone has the opportunity to work with this device. Nothing complicated needs to be done. And at the same time, the cost of building a house is several times lower than usual. Here are some parameters of products that can be made on MN-05 (name, size in millimeters and one-time quantity):
- raw brick from a soil block - 65x120x250 - 4 pieces;
- concrete block for paving - 65x120x250 - 4 pieces;
- paving slabs 250x250 - 2 pieces;
- concrete gas stone - 65x120x1000 - 2 pieces;
- flat tiles -120x250 - 4 pieces;
- window sill plate - 50x250x1500 - 1 pc;
- window lintel - 50x250x1500 - 1 pc;
- concrete facing tiles - 250x250x15 - 2 pieces;
- reinforced concrete pillar-rack - 65x65x100 - 3 pcs;
- concrete tray - 65x250x100 - 1 pc.
The “flowing wedge” phenomenon makes it possible to obtain unique material properties: its density reaches 99%, which prevents elastic stress, transverse delamination and expansion of compacts, since air is not trapped.
Manufacturing in a block form
It is better to make a mold for making blocks with a removable bottom, so it will be easier to take out finished blocks.
There are other technologies for making blocks for construction and other building materials for the house with your own hands from improvised materials (clay, sand, lime, sawdust, earth bit) and from cement.
The technology that will be discussed now is similar to the technology called "tise" (technology + individual construction + ecology), but this one is modified and universal, since it can be used to make building blocks with voids (sand and cement mortar ), and without them (clay, sand, sawdust, cement, lime, earthbite).
The durability of block structures using this technology is greater than that of those made by traditional methods - up to 100 years or more. With the help of such blocks, it is possible to erect buildings up to 4 floors.
The process of making a block with your own hands:
- preparation of a solution (sand-cement or other);
- setting the block form to exactly horizontal position;
- pouring the solution into the mold (and, if necessary, ramming it);
- after 5-10 minutes, the pins and internal structures are removed to form voids;
- removal of the mold from the manufactured structure, further drying of the block.
In this way, you can make up to 40 blocks per day with your own hands. And building blocks made in block form have significant advantages over panel or brick blocks:
- very significant reduction in construction costs;
- use of economical equipment;
- no need for heavy lifting and transport vehicles;
- availability of building materials;
- minimal waste;
- ensuring high strength of the structure;
- high thermal insulation of the house;
- environmental safety and high level of comfort;
- during operation there are no high costs for maintenance and repair.
Building blocks from wood concrete
The main composition of the wall blocks includes wood chips and concrete.
Wood concrete blocks are lightweight building blocks that are made from wood chips (usually from coniferous trees), water, sawdust, chemicals and cement. In the sixties of the last century, the production of such blocks was carried out by more than 100 factories throughout the country. But after the approval of panel construction, production was discontinued.
Nowadays, it is possible to make blocks of wood concrete for building a house with your own hands, with strict observance of all technological requirements. The requirements of GOST, according to which wood concrete was previously made, involves the use of wood particles, the size of which is strictly 40x10x5 mm. The number of leaves and needles cannot exceed 5% and should not exceed 10% of the bark.
For manufacturing, a considerable amount of cement is needed, which worsens the thermal insulation properties of the material. It is because of this that wood chips are considered an ideal option as the main raw material.
Arbolite is an ideal material for making the walls of a bath or sauna.
Experts recommend the use of sawdust and shavings, because wood shavings can serve both for heat and for reinforcement. The ratio of sawdust and shavings can be either 1:1 or 1:2. Before use, in order to avoid rotting from chips and sawdust, sugar must be removed, and for this it is necessary to keep the material outdoors for 3-4 months. Without this procedure, swelling of the blocks is possible in the future.
During aging, it is necessary to periodically shovel chips with sawdust, but if this is not possible, then the mixture must be treated with calcium oxide. A solution is prepared at the rate of 150-200 liters of a 1.5% solution per 1 m² of raw materials. The processed mixture is left for 3-4 days with stirring several times a day.
For the manufacture of wood concrete is required. Experts recommend using Portland cement 400 grade, and as additives - liquid glass, slaked lime, aluminum sulfate and calcium sulfate.
Additives are prepared in the amount of 2-4% of the mass of cement. The best combination of additives is considered to be a mixture of 50% calcium sulfate and 50% aluminum sulfate, or in the same ratio of water glass and calcium oxide.
Process features
If possible, you can prepare both shavings and sawdust with your own hands using special machines and processes, but you can also purchase this raw material in finished form and already processed.
This material is soaked in water with the addition of liquid glass. And to speed up the process of hardening and mineralization of the material, calcium chloride is added to the mass. In order to carry out disinfection, you need to introduce slaked lime.
And only after all these preparations, the mass is kneaded in a concrete mixer along with cement and other necessary ingredients. Next comes the filling of special forms with the resulting material, while it is necessary to compact the mixture with a manual rammer, a vibropress, or pneumatic or electric rammers.
Material shaping
Experts recommend making forms for blocks from boards and upholstering their walls with linoleum in order to make it easier to remove building blocks. With manual tamping, it is done in layers, made of wood and iron-studded tamper. After the block is aged for a day, and then removed. Then it is left under a canopy for full refinement to the desired strength. In this case, it should be covered while still wet for hydration.
The optimal temperature and time for this is 15 degrees and 10 days. At lower temperatures, longer holding times will be required. it is important not to allow the mark below zero and do not forget to periodically water the blocks with water.
Expanded clay blocks
You can do it yourself and. First of all, for the manufacture of expanded clay blocks, you need to prepare a special form. You can run it from a regular board. The form is made from a pallet and two halves, resembling the letter "G". The boards must be treated on the inside with machine oil or beaten with tin. At the ends, special closures should be installed that will not allow the form to disintegrate or change dimensions.
It will be a little more difficult to make a form with void formers for an expanded clay block with voids, but this is offset by the economical consumption of expanded clay mixture. If desired, schemes for their correct manufacture can be found in articles on this topic.
The size of the form can be arbitrary and depend on the construction tasks, but the following sizes are more often used:
- 39x19x14 cm;
- 19x19x14 cm.
In addition to the form, you will need the following tools:
- Master OK;
- shovel;
- buckets;
- container for primary mixing of components with water;
- metal plate for final mixing of expanded clay concrete mass;
- water, sand, expanded clay.
Component ratio
To make a quality mixture, you need to take:
- 1 part of a binder - cement grade not lower than M400;
- 8 parts of expanded clay (approximately 300-500 kg / m³). It should be added that about 5 kg of expanded clay fraction from 5 to 20 mm is placed in a bucket of 10 liters;
- sand - 3 parts without admixture of clay and other components;
- 0-8 - 1 part water.
Experts advise adding a teaspoon of any washing powder to the solution for greater plasticity of the solution.
Proper mixture casting
With a trowel or shovel, you need to carefully pour all the components into a container of water and let this mass settle for some time. Then it is transferred to a metal sheet and brought to the desired state by thorough mixing.
After the finished mixture is placed in a mold and subjected to vibration using a special device that creates vibration impulses. You can get by with tapping with a shovel on the sides of the form.
After two days, the rammed block must be carefully released from the mold by unhooking the shutters on it, and in this form it should be left to harden for another 26 days.
A standard expanded clay block weighs from 16 to 17 kg, and it takes about 1.5 kg of cement, 4 kg of sand and 10.5 kg of expanded clay. Having made some simple calculations, we get that each block costs about 25 rubles, with an average cost of finished expanded clay of 30 rubles without delivery.
Aerated concrete blocks
For the preparation of blocks of aerated concrete, the following components are needed:
- Portland cement;
- quicklime;
- sand;
- water;
- a small amount of aluminum powder.
You will also need:
- concrete mixer;
- forms for blocks;
- metal strings, in order to cut off excess mixture from the top of the molds;
- shovel;
- measuring utensils;
- buckets;
- individual protection means.
The components are taken in the required proportion: quicklime and Portland cement - 20% each; quartz sand - 60%; aluminum powder - less than 1% and slightly more than 9% - water. All this is mixed in a mixer until the consistency of sour cream.
Molds for casting aerated concrete experts advise to purchase ready-made, preferring metal and plastic molds. And the finished mixture is poured into such forms, filling it in half, since gas formation will raise the mixture to the rest of the mixture in some time. And if the mixture rises above the edges, then the excess is cut off by the strings.
The mixture in the forms is aged for 6 hours. In this state, the blocks will already be ready for cutting into smaller pieces after the formwork is removed from the precast molds. When cutting, it is necessary to form gripping pockets and grooves for the fingers.
Further, in industrial conditions, the blocks are placed in an autoclave to gain strength, but these installations are very expensive, so when self-manufactured, the blocks will gain strength in natural conditions.
The removed and cut blocks are kept indoors for another day before they can be stacked one on top of the other. Such material can be used to build a house only after 28-30 days, when the blocks gain their final strength.
Whatever method you choose to prepare the material for building a house with your own hands, in any case, the construction of buildings from it will come out cheaper, and in some cases much more environmentally friendly, stronger and more comfortable than using industrial material.
Concrete blocks are often used for private and commercial construction. The most popular variety of this artificial stone is aerated concrete, or in other words, autoclaved porous concrete. It has unsurpassed energy-saving and heat-insulating properties, light weight and easy to process. In addition, it is easy to do it yourself.
The technology for manufacturing aerated concrete blocks for individual needs and on an industrial scale will be the topic of today's article.
Preparatory stage
Materials for production
The use of aerated concrete blocks in construction has many advantages.
We list the main ones:
- one 30-kilogram block can simultaneously replace about 30 bricks, which affects the construction time of the building;
- the light weight of porous concrete makes it possible to build private housing construction without the use of cranes and other special equipment;
- autoclaved gas blocks are easy to work with conventional plumbing tools.
The simplicity of the production process makes it possible to produce the required amount of this building stone directly on the construction site or next to it.
All you need is an instruction describing the whole process, and raw materials:
- water;
- cement;
- lime;
- quartz sand.
Note!
To obtain a porous structure of aerated concrete, a suspension of aluminum powder is used.
This is an active substance that can harm human health.
Remember to use protective gear.
Devices and mechanisms
Not so long ago, the complexity of the technology did not allow the production of various concrete blocks at home, without the use of specialized production lines. At present, the situation has changed dramatically. There is equipment for: for the manufacture of aerated concrete blocks, for cinder blocks, for bricks and so on.
In the case when aerated concrete is produced not for own needs, but for the purpose of subsequent sale, it makes sense to pay attention to other equipment:
- semi-automatic production lines producing 2-4 cubic meters of finished products per day are good for individual entrepreneurship or medium-sized enterprises;
- automatic production complexes that allow the production of up to 100 cubic meters of aerated concrete blocks in 24 hours - suitable for a large enterprise engaged in the production of building materials.
Manufacturing process
The main part of the technological process
The production of aerated concrete blocks begins with the mixing of raw materials. Given that this building material has a porous structure and low weight, a fairly large number of finished elements are obtained from a small amount of sand, cement and lime.
For convenience of presentation, we will divide the further process into several stages:
- Lime, water, cement and quartz sand are poured into a concrete mixer, where they are thoroughly mixed.. After 5-10 minutes, a small amount of aluminum powder dissolved in water is added there. This substance, having entered into a chemical reaction with lime, promotes the release of hydrogen. It is this gas that forms pores in the block with sizes from 1 to 2 mm, which occupy the entire volume of aerated concrete.
- Immediately after adding the aluminum suspension, the mixture is poured into special molds, where it swells, increasing in volume several times.
- So that the pores are evenly distributed, and the aerated concrete hardens faster, the molds are placed on a special table or platform, where the future aerated concrete is subjected to prolonged vibration loads.
- At the last stage, with the help of metal strings, irregularities are cut off from the upper edge of the finished products, and the blocks are calibrated to the desired size.
Advice!
In order to quickly cut and calibrate aerated concrete, special milling machines can be used.
Autoclaving
Equipment for the manufacture of aerated concrete blocks includes autoclave chambers. In them, hardened blanks are subjected to 12-hour steam treatment at a temperature of 190 degrees Celsius and a pressure of 12 kgf / sq. cm.
After this procedure, aerated concrete acquires greater strength and a homogeneous structure, and also gives minimal shrinkage after construction is completed.
It can be used as:
- heat insulator;
- sound insulator;
- load-bearing wall material.
By the way, the excellent energy-saving qualities of aerated concrete, which has an excellent coefficient of thermal conductivity, makes it possible to build houses from blocks up to 400 mm thick without the use of additional heat-retaining materials (mineral wool, polypropylene, polystyrene).
Non-autoclave method
In the manufacture of aerated concrete, it is not necessary to autoclave it. But such material will be less durable and have worse characteristics.
Finished product properties
The aerated concrete obtained by the method described above has the following properties:
- low density (comparable to the density of solid pine) - it is 5 times less than that of monolithic concrete and 3 times less than that of brick;
- compressive strength, which allows the construction of 2 and 3-storey buildings from aerated concrete;
- moisture absorption, which does not exceed 20%, which is comparable with the same brick;
- frost resistance is 2 times greater than that of a brick;
- high thermal conductivity - 2 times less than that of pine, 15 - for concrete;
- excellent soundproofing properties - with a wall thickness of 300 mm, it completely isolates sound with a power of 60 dB;
- withstands exposure to an open flame at a temperature of 900 degrees Celsius for 4 hours;
- aerated concrete is easy to saw with a conventional hacksaw for wood;
- the cost of its purchase or manufacture is lower than that of similar materials.
Conclusion
The video in this article will help you learn more about the production technology of various building materials.
One of the most common materials for the construction of load-bearing walls and partitions of residential buildings, as well as small industrial buildings, are concrete blocks. Their popularity is due to low cost, excellent performance and a large number of varieties, which allows you to choose the right block for almost any task.
The instructions given in this article will allow you to learn how to make concrete blocks yourself, as well as introduce them to their existing types.
Concrete blocks for walls
Varieties of artificial stones made of concrete
Consider the main types + characteristics of building concrete blocks, which are most common in modern construction.
cinder block
These wall stones are made using the concrete mortar vibrocompression method on special platforms.
The composition of the mixture from which the cinder block is made may include:
- crushed stone for concrete products;
- brick fight;
- sawdust;
- expanded clay.
The technical characteristics of concrete blocks with slag leave much to be desired, but due to the fact that their price is one of the lowest on the market, the cinder block is widely used in private construction.
But the cost is almost the only advantage, as they lag far behind other materials in the following parameters:
- durability;
- heat-saving parameters;
- strength.
The main scope of blocks is small buildings that will not be subjected to heavy loads:
- sheds;
- garages;
- summer kitchens;
- workshops and so on.
Photo of cinder block
A less common material that is made from the following components:
- organic matter (mainly wood);
- binding element (powder);
- hardener.
In fact, this artificial stone consists of sawdust enclosed in a concrete shell.
The advantages of the material are obvious:
- light weight of the concrete block;
- high thermal insulation properties;
- good sound insulation;
- efficient air exchange.
To protect the blocks from the negative effects of the environment, the stones are treated with a special solution. This inhibits the formation of mold and prevents rotting.
Wood concrete is perfect for building small houses that are suitable for year-round use without the use of additional thermal insulation.
Arbolite block
Gas blocks and foam blocks
Cellular concrete blocks according to GOST, which determines their technical characteristics, should consist of 70-85% artificially created pores (cells) filled with air. The most common are foam and gas blocks.
These materials have the following advantages:
- have a low weight, as a result of which the transportation of concrete blocks and their installation in private construction does not require the use of special equipment;
- easy to process - you can give the necessary shape to the cellular block using an ordinary hacksaw for wood;
- walls made of cellular concrete blocks hold heat well and have excellent soundproofing properties.
Cellular concrete blocks are made from a mortar that includes sand, cement and aggregate. To form foam, lime, aluminum powder or other foaming agent is added to it.
Note!
Unlike foam concrete, aerated concrete undergoes additional processing in an autoclave furnace, where it is exposed to high temperature under high pressure (10-12 MPa).
As a result, this material acquires increased strength: it is almost impossible to crumble or break it.
Aerated concrete block
Independent production of blocks
The technology for the production of artificial stone from cement mortar with filler is relatively simple, which allows you to make blocks of concrete yourself.
Preparatory work
At the initial stage, the size of the future block should be determined. In the case of self-manufacturing, the parameters of each individual element are taken based on the required wall width.
The thickness of the bottom of the block should not be less than 2 cm, and the walls of the voids should not be less than 4 cm. In this case, a standard stone measuring 20x20x40 cm with voids inside weighs about 40 kg, which makes it convenient for laying walls.
For manufacturing, you will need any flat area covered with plastic wrap and special forms without a bottom.
The material for the forms will be:
- boards;
- plywood.
To protect the tree from damage, the inside of the mold is sheathed with sheet metal. Liners are made in the same way, thanks to which voids are formed in the finished block. They improve the thermal insulation properties of the material and make it lighter.
Concrete block molds
Do-it-yourself concrete blocks can be produced faster if you make several forms at once in one block. This requires plywood or a board with a width equal to the height of the future block. The material is sawn into pieces and fastened with self-tapping screws. Next, internal partitions are made.
Advice!
In order for the frozen block to be easily separated from the mold, all its parts must be lubricated with kerosene, machine oil or antifreeze.
Manufacturing process
To cast concrete blocks, you will need the following materials:
- gravel with a fine fraction;
- cement;
- sand;
- water;
- lime;
- reinforcement wire.
The quantity of each of the components is determined based on your needs for artificial stone. The proportions of cement, sand and gravel are taken in a ratio of 1:3:5.
For mixing concrete mortar, it is better to use a concrete mixer.
For the convenience of presentation, we will divide the entire subsequent process into several stages.
Self made concrete block
The technology described above allows, without much effort, to make concrete blocks with your own hands. The technical characteristics of finished products will practically not be inferior to analogues that are sold in building supermarkets, and the size will perfectly match your needs. In addition, this way you can significantly reduce the cost of purchasing building materials and their delivery.
The video in this article will help you to get acquainted with the material in more detail.
Building a house from blocks is moving faster than from bricks. You can buy them freely, but many make building blocks with their own hands.
Blocks in construction are used not only for the construction of walls. It also speeds up the use of building blocks for the foundation. Of course, these blocks must be very dense: 1.5 tons per 1 cubic meter. Making blocks with your own hands, if you look, is not such a super complicated matter.
Where to begin?
And the beginning of everything is the manufacture of forms.
Forms
On sale there are forms for building blocks with standard sizes. And at home you can make building blocks sizes that suit you. We take sheet metal, cut out the required shape of the workpiece from it and weld the shape. They also make molds from wood, they are good for adobe blocks. The bottom is not needed here. But the handles on the sides will come in handy, it’s more convenient to work with them.
Material for homemade building blocks
What makes DIY building blocks good is that they use material that you already have or you can easily purchase.
Basically, blocks are made on the basis of cement with different fillers, but craftsmen, like manufacturers, sometimes do without it. Depending on the material chosen, it is possible to manufacture home-made building blocks of the following types:
- cinder concrete;
- blocks based on liquid glass;
- adobe;
- chip concrete or arbolite.
How the filler is used:
- ash;
- slag;
- screenings;
- crushed stone;
- gypsum;
- perlite;
- expanded clay;
- sawdust;
- straw;
- broken brick and more.
Blocks without cement
The manufacture of building blocks using this technology is not available to everyone, because liquid glass is present in the mixture. Is it possible to negotiate with the nearest reinforced concrete plant and buy the main component there. The mix will be:
- two dozen parts of river sand;
- one and a half dozen parts of liquid glass;
- 4 parts of chalk;
- 3 parts of slaked lime;
- 2 parts kaolin.
Manufacturing process
- First, the sand is sifted;
- chalk is added;
- everything mixes well;
- slaked lime is introduced;
- kaolin or brick crushed to a state of powder;
- liquid glass.
The feedstock should be homogeneous, pasty. Before pouring this dough-like mass, moisten the molds from the inside. If you wish, you can add color to the building blocks. To do this, add:
- chalk of any color;
- powdered red brick.
Fillers are added to such blocks: slag, expanded clay, shavings. Their strength is high - they are much stronger than cement.
Expanded clay blocks
Expanded clay concrete blocks are one of the types of cinder blocks, where expanded clay serves as a filler.
Compound
- cement - 1 part;
- expanded clay - 5 parts;
- sand - 3 parts;
- water - about one part.
Technology
The manufacturing technology of expanded clay concrete building blocks is, in general, the same as any other:
- the starting material is placed in pre-lubricated molds;
- rammed;
- the form is removed after 10 minutes;
- the product remains in place;
- after 12 hours it is transferred to a place protected from precipitation and direct sunlight.
- in warm weather, the blocks will become hard after a little less than a month.
If you plan to make thick walls (about 0.5 m), then blocks are better with voids. To do this, inserts made of wood are inserted into the mold: round or square. And so that they can be taken out well, before inserting them, wrap them in roofing iron.
Advantages
- light weight;
- frost resistance;
- breathability;
- moisture resistance;
- strength;
- small cost.
A house made of expanded clay concrete blocks is built faster than a brick house, less mortar is needed for masonry.
adobe blocks
Components
For this type of block, the material is literally underfoot. All it takes is:
- clay;
- straw;
- river sand;
- water.
Selection features
In order for the characteristics of the building blocks to meet all the requirements, you need to know something about the features of the selection of components:
- It is better to prepare clay in the fall, cover it with a film and let it winter - this will improve its quality.
- Sand first sift, freeing from impurities.
- Straw can be taken to the field where wheat, rye or barley have just been harvested. If the straw remains from the harvest of the past year, then the quality will not be the same - after all, after lying down, it begins to sing.
How to determine the percentage of components
- clay - 1 cu. m;
- straw - 20 kg;
- sand - 25%.
In order not to spoil the entire batch of blocks, you need to make a small experimental batch. So we do it like this:
- we combine all the components in small quantities and write down the proportions;
- we make a batch;
- form a ball;
- leave in the sun to dry for about 1 hour;
- We throw it on the ground at a height of a meter and a half.
If all the components are matched in the right proportions, then the ball will remain intact. Added more sand than it should? It will break or crack. Not enough sand? The ball will float. So in a practical way, we select the most optimal option.
Training
To prepare the mixture for several dozen blocks at once, you need to make a recess in the ground: round with a diameter of about 2.5 m or rectangular 1.5x2.5 with a depth of half a meter. Line the bottom with polyethylene. Although some kind of ready-made container is also suitable: a trough or an old bathtub. Then everything is as it was done in the old days: we put on high boots made of rubber and walk, mixing everything until smooth.
Manufacturing
- While the batch is in the manufacturing stage, we are preparing a platform for products: we select a flat sunny place;
- we bring the mixture with buckets;
- filling out forms;
- we compact;
- we remove the excess by drawing a board along the upper edges of the form;
- remove the form.
Finished blocks should dry. This usually takes several days. It is important that they do not get rain. Then they are transferred to a shelter and dried again. Will be ready in 10 days.
A house made of adobe blocks turns out to be very warm and comfortable. In addition, this building material is environmentally friendly, durable, fireproof. It is used for buildings no higher than 2 floors.
Sawdust concrete blocks (arobolit)
The technology for manufacturing blocks from sawdust concrete is similar to the manufacture of adobe blocks, but the components need not be mined, but purchased.
Components
Before you start manufacturing, you need to purchase:
- cement - M300 or higher;
- sand - a fraction no larger than 1.8 Mcr;
- not slaked lime;
- sawdust (coniferous wood).
Preparing the Components
- sift sawdust;
- mix dry cement and sand;
- lime here and mix again;
- add sawdust and repeat the mixing procedure;
- pour water;
- In order for the components to adhere well to each other, we add calcium chloride or alumina sulfate;
- we control the quality of the mixture.
For quality control, roll the ball and squeeze it in the palms. If water flows, then there is too much of it in the mixture, if the ball crumbles, there is a lot of sawdust or sand.
Let's start manufacturing
- We line the form with plastic wrap;
- lay the mixture;
- rammer;
- without removing from the mold, leave to harden for 5 days;
- take it out of the mold and dry it further.
The drying process will take a long time - from 1.5 to 3 months: it all depends on the mass of the block.
Equipment
If the construction is to be large-scale, then it may make sense to invest in equipment for building blocks. For example: there is a mini-machine for the production of wood concrete RPB-1500 BL on sale. Its productivity is 1 sawdust block with dimensions of 19 x 19 x 39 cm per minute. Produced by a Russian manufacturer - the company INTEK.
Vibrating tables are widely used in the manufacture of building blocks. They allow you to solve the problem of ramming mixtures. The vibrating table consists of:
- movable table;
- engine;
- control panels;
- sometimes a transformer is included.
Compaction of the working mixture occurs under the influence of vibration created by the vibration motor.
Working cycle
- on the movable table we set the form;
- put in the mold half or completely dry mixture;
- start the engine;
- drying.
How to choose?
There are 3 types of vibrating plates capable of compacting material by weight:
- up to 75 kg;
- from 75 to 160 kg;
- from 160 kg.
Based on these indicators, you should choose the best vibrating table for yourself.
Manufacturers
They are released by:
- Russian company VPK;
- Stroymash LLC;
- plant "Red Poppy" in Yaroslavl and others.
Vibrating tables are also supplied by foreign manufacturers:
- Spain - Enar and Hervisa;
- Germany - Wacker;
- Italy - Batmatic;
- France - Paclite.
