Is it possible to build a modern one or two storey house of concrete and glass with your own hands, quickly, cheaply, practically, forever? Of course you can! The main thing is to choose and use concrete blocks correctly.

Content

1. What are concrete blocks
2. Concrete block: types and features video video
3. Concrete blocks: the scope of the photo

What are concrete blocks

Concrete blocks  this is a relatively new type of building material in the modern market, which replaced brick and concrete slabs, while combining the advantages of these materials.

Like bricks, concrete blocks are relatively small, i.e. compact, they can easily be moved (transported, raised to the floor, to the level of masonry). The variety of shapes and colors characteristic of concrete blocks allows you to use them, both directly in construction and for the purpose of decorating or warming an already finished building.
  With concrete slabs, a concrete block makes the material from which they are made, i.e. cement.

Concrete: durable, but diverse in its characteristics material, thanks to additives. Also, from concrete slabs, concrete blocks retained the possibility of reinforcing walls, which makes it possible to build a 2-storey house with relatively thin but fairly strong walls.
A separate advantage of concrete blocks can be considered that concrete blocks, the price of which, when they are purchased, are much lower than for brick and concrete slabs, can be made independently.

Concrete block: types and features

Concrete blocks   very diverse building material, can have different sizes, shapes, content.

- sizes:the sizes of concrete blocks vary from large to the size of a standard brick;

- the form:  smooth, full-bodied

or with grooves, recesses

and voids.

- filling:

• heavy concrete: blocks of this material are used for the construction of foundations and socles. Concrete blocks for the foundation have a high density, increased strength, due to which they are able to withstand not only large loads, but also temperature extremes, i.e. frost and heat-resistant, as well as increased humidity, moisture-resistant. A feature of concrete blocks made of heavy concrete is the rigidity of the requirements for the accuracy of their sizes: the permissible error is not more than 2 mm. - because the whole house will be supported on them! There are two types of heavy concrete blocks:
• reinforced concrete:  They have a ready-made frame made of steel reinforcement and wire integrated in the unit, so that such units have increased resistance to compression and expansion under the influence of temperatures.

• sand concrete:  most often they are made hollow, in the form of not removable formwork for pouring the foundation, followed by reinforcement with metal rods and wire. Widely used in the construction of private one-story houses.

• lightweight concrete, from it are made wall blocks used for the construction of walls and partitions of the house and / or used as insulation of the main walls. Concrete becomes light due to the fact that light porous materials of various fractions are added to its composition. The purpose of concrete blocks depends on the size of the fraction of additional material: finely fractional for building walls, coarse fractional for wall insulation.
• Concrete wall blocks can be of the following types and compositions:
• slag concrete:  cinder block wall blocks have low thermal insulation properties, are characterized by increased hygroscopicity, and therefore require additional insulation-protection of the cinder block wall from environmental influences and weather conditions.
• expanded clay concrete: blocks of this material have an optimal price-quality ratio, they are characterized by sufficient strength, high sound insulation, low heat conductivity and hygroscopicity, but also have increased fragility, which is why they are difficult to process and require additional insulation-protection (by the principle of a thermal fur coat) from environmental impact.
• cellular concrete   the most popular and affordable type of building material for the construction of private houses: lightweight, durable, having high sound and heat insulation properties, affordable, by foaming (and increasing the volume) of the binder component.

There are blocks of cellular concrete of the following types:

• gas silicate blocks:  have accurate dimensions (margin of error 1-2 mm), easy to process (sawn, drilled).

• foam concrete blocks:  their characteristics are similar to gas silicate, but have a greater variation in the size of bricks: up to 5 mm. And if we continue the comparison with gas silicate blocks, the foam blocks have slightly lower thermal insulation properties and lower moisture resistance, as well as worse processing.

Concrete blocks: the scope of the photo

Wall concrete blocks, concrete blocks for the construction of the foundation It goes without saying that they are all needed in order to build a house

or just the foundation for a fence, garage, house ..

and not only: beautiful fences made of concrete blocks,

paving concrete tiles,

pools

using correctly selected concrete blocks, you can build almost everything!

Author: Sergey and Svetlana Khuentsov

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