Materials for the construction of a country house: expert advice. What is better to build a house from - choose material for the walls of the house What material is better for building a country house

Comparison of various materials and their combinations in terms of thermal conductivity:

What to build a house from?

Before starting construction, you need to decide what a country house is for. Conventionally, country houses can be divided into two broad categories.

Seasonal houses. They are designed mainly for the summer period of residence and for an ambient temperature of 0 ... -5 ° С. The walls of such houses are made in a frame design, from a bar with a thickness of 100 - 150 mm, from rounded logs of small (up to 220 mm) diameters. Due to the low level of protection of the walls of such a house from heat loss, the cost of construction is low.

Some typical wall options for such houses:

Houses for permanent residence. The name speaks for itself and implies constant heating in the winter. They are designed for outdoor temperatures down to -30°C. Such houses can be both wooden and stone.

The walls of wooden houses for year-round use are made of profiled or sawn timber from 200 mm and above, with or without insulation, from rounded or chopped logs 240 - 280 mm.

Stone houses of permanent residence are also built using different technologies: monolithic houses in fixed formwork, stone houses from gas blocks (gas silicate blocks), bricks, warm ceramics, expanded clay concrete blocks.

Typical wall designs for permanent residences:

You can read more about the energy efficiency of various building materials in the article. Thermal characteristics of wall materials.

Choosing a building material

Table 2.

Some additions.

To maintain normal heat and humidity conditions in a brick house, it must be constantly heated. If the house has not been used in winter, then in the spring it will have to be thoroughly heated before it warms up and the rooms become dry. A house made of wood or a monolithic house built using fixed formwork technology does not require heating during the winter.

The construction of a heavy foundation and thick brick walls is significantly more expensive compared to building a wooden cottage or building a monolithic house.

In a wooden house more intensive exchange and purification of air. Up to 30% of the air per day can change through a log or timber indoors, and the unique properties of these materials allow in dry weather to release accumulated moisture, and in damp weather, on the contrary, to absorb its excess from the living space. That is why wooden houses are distinguished by a special microclimate and a high level of comfort. Wood is a very living material. Even after the log house, it continues to breathe, radiate heat energy, exude the aroma of resin. Wooden houses give people bioenergetic nourishment, heal them, have a positive effect on the human nervous system.

Construction of a monolithic house with fixed formwork gives creative scope to the most daring architectural ideas. In this material, you can bring to life any architectural forms - from a warm garage for an iron pet, to the floating lines of a small country residence. And the heating of the building can be proud of the neighbors - it is so economical.

A house made of warm ceramics is a combination of durability, reliability and environmental friendliness. The walls of such a house will stand for more than one hundred years, paying off their rather high cost. A house made of such blocks does not need additional insulation (with a wall thickness of 51 cm). The use of natural clay as a basis for ceramic blocks guarantees the absence of any chemical impurities in the air. Such a house is a long-term investment in which more than one generation of descendants will live.

So decide!! If your choice is in favor of a cozy wooden house or you are attracted by the reliability and durability of a stone house - contact our construction company, we will help you choose a project from the catalog, or develop a new one to suit your needs.

WOODEN HOUSING

Which tree is best?

Many developers are faced with the question of what kind of wood to build a house from. During the construction of a wooden house from time immemorial, preference was given to coniferous trees - larch, pine and spruce. Not without reason there was a saying among the people: “The hut of the spruce, but the heart is great!”
The best-known material for timber construction is pine. It has a hard, resin-impregnated core and a looser
upper part. Of all conifers, pine is most often used in construction. It is distinguished by the greatest straightness of the trunk, the minimum number of knots and good technical properties. Pine has a high resistance to decay, but often (especially in July-August) with high humidity it tends to "turn blue". Blue in itself does not change the physical and mechanical properties of wood, but spoils the appearance. Pine is the main material for the construction of wooden houses, both in our country and in Europe (in particular, in Finland).

No less popular building material is spruce. The physical characteristics of these rocks are very close. Spruce has a stronger outer skin but a softer core. When dry, spruce wood is as strong as pine wood. Spruce is more prone to decay, but turns blue much less. On the world market, spruce is valued higher than pine.

Another building material (almost perfect) is larch, which has a unique, only inherent pattern. Larch is stronger, denser and practically unaffected by moisture, but it is more difficult to process than pine and splits easily. Therefore, larch is ideal as a wall material, but is not used for structural material (beams, valleys, rafters, puffs, etc.). However, this material is relatively expensive and not available to everyone.

What are the walls made of?

Our construction company offers a wide range of building materials for your home or bath. Let's look at their main types.

Technological material that requires a minimum of manual labor when building a house, as the house is assembled according to the principle of a constructor. All necessary operations with rounded logs are performed at the place of production, in particular, the choice of mounting cups and landing channel in rounded logs.

The advantage of a rounded log is its even, rounded shape, which makes it possible to achieve a dense connection of logs. The diameter of rounded logs ranges from 160 to 320 mm. And due to the same diameter and high quality of surface treatment, rounded logs do not require wall finishing.

Advantages of building houses and baths from logs:

Accuracy in the production of rounded logs and their marking speeds up the assembly of buildings and reduces construction costs;

The beautiful appearance of rounded logs due to the high quality and cleanliness of the surface treatment makes it possible to do without additional wall decoration inside and outside;

The tightness of the crown and corner joints of the logs is ensured by the technological accuracy of the groove and "cups";

Aesthetic appeal of buildings built using logs.

2. Hand-hewn logs up to 40 cm in diameter
For manual cutting, environmentally friendly, high-quality wood (spruce, pine, larch) is used, not infected with woodworm and fungus, with a moisture content of 45-60%. It is quite easy to process and deforms less when natural drying in assembled form. Logs undergo manual processing: removal of bark, proteza, selection of cups and grooves, processing with a planer. With this treatment, the upper solid protective layer of the log (“sapwood”) is preserved. Hand-hewn logs are less deformed during the aging process. Corner joints of logs between themselves are made in a "bowl" or in a "paw", the crowns are fastened with wooden spikes (nagel) after 1000 - 1500 mm, all logs are treated with an antiseptic. Such houses are warmer than those assembled from rounded logs, their walls are less prone to cracking. And with high-quality processing of logs, the appearance of such houses is not much inferior to houses made of logs.
If you like the old Russian or Finnish style of houses - this is your material!

A house made of profiled timber is an island of comfort and coziness in the world of concrete jungle. A wooden house will delight its owner with a very comfortable indoor atmosphere - after all wood is an excellent natural conditioner , maintaining air exchange and humidity at a very comfortable level for a person.
In the manufacture of profiled timber, a high purity of the treated surface is achieved, so the wood becomes almost polished, which makes it possible not to use additional materials for the interior decoration of a wooden house, and therefore avoid unnecessary costs. Unlike log walls, the walls in a cottage made of profiled timber are even, o facilitates possible finishing, arrangement of furniture, use of wall cabinets.
Currently, many prefer this particular material. The ratio "price-quality" is optimal here. Cottages made of profiled timber are very modern, look great, keep temperature fluctuations well, which is very important for the regions of central Russia.
The construction of houses and cottages from profiled timber is a technological process that includes the processing of material on a machine tool, the preparation of a “cup” with a double lock. Pre-assembly at home in the workshop is possible, which ensures particularly high assembly accuracy. The final assembly includes the erection of a log house at the construction site, drilling and fixing the timber with dowels.
In the construction of cottages and country houses from profiled timber, our company uses material produced by one of the company's departments.

4. Ordinary sawn (unplaned) timber
This is the cheapest building material made of wood. The sawn timber used for the construction of the well of a wooden house is made of an equilateral section (150x150mm, 200x200mm), or a versatile section (from 150x100 mm). In construction, either simply sawn timber is used, or planed (on one or two sides). Basically, an ordinary beam with a section of 150x150, 200x150, 200x200 mm is used for the construction of country houses (optimal ratio: price / quality), and a larger one - for the construction of cottages with subsequent insulation and finishing with other facing materials.
However, we must not forget that a simple bar does not have a thermal lock. Because of this, it is difficult to insulate it, because. the blowing coefficient will be several times higher than that of a wall made of a properly made log or profiled beam. In any case, after 1 - 1.5 years (after the shrinkage of the log house), it is necessary to carefully caulk the seams between the beams and sheathe the walls with finishing materials both inside and outside (lining, saiting, etc.). All these activities absorb the savings obtained by purchasing the timber itself. The benefit here is one thing - such a house can be built (and, therefore, invested in it) in stages, with a stretch over time.

Naturally, with any option for building a wooden house, antiseptic treatment of the walls with special compounds and paints should be implied, protecting the wood from turning blue, putrefactive disease, mold and woodworm beetles.

TECHNOLOGIES OF THE XXI CENTURY: Monolithic houses in fixed formwork

In today's world, where prices for building materials, as well as electricity, gas and fuel are growing rapidly, the question of the cost-effectiveness of building cottages is quite seriously raised, and in the process of operation - savings on heating and air conditioning houses.
For this reason, we propose technology of monolithic housing construction "Izodom" (using non-removable formwork made of expanded polystyrene). This technology for thermal protection, sound insulation, comfort, simplicity and speed of construction, as well as durability refers to the advanced technologies in the field of construction and is designed for the rapid construction of warm, reliable and inexpensive homes.
This technology has been tested for many years in the USA, Canada and Western Europe, confirming the profitability and durability of this system, and in recent years it has become popular in Russia. The sphere of application of Izodom technology is the construction of cottages, rural houses and summer cottages; construction of shops, cafes; multi-storey residential buildings; warm individual pools, garages and much more.

What gives developers the Izodom technology (monolithic houses)?

Reduced construction time. When using traditional materials (such as brick), building a house stretches for a long time. If you build using the Izodom technology, the same wall area is built several times faster.
savings when constructing foundations, since Izodom walls create a much lower specific load on the foundation. For such a house, it is recommended to install a shallow foundation.
Savings on the cost of wall materials. The cost per square meter of the Izodom wall is significantly lower than the cost of a brick wall, similar in terms of heat saving.
Benefit from obtaining additional usable area, since the thickness of the walls of "IZODOM" is much less than the thickness of walls made of other building materials, similar in terms of heat-saving capacity.
High thermal performance of walls- this is a way to avoid high costs for the purchase of expensive heating equipment, transportation of fuel, time and labor costs for its operation. The cost of heating the IZODOM building will be 3-4 times less compared to a brick building.

How cottages are built from monolithic concrete.

The modules of the Izodom system are hollow polystyrene blocks with a density of 25-27 kg/m3, which are joined together like parts of a children's designer. Fixed formwork modules have cavities that are reinforced and filled with concrete during the construction process, and a special the design of the locks allows you to quickly and accurately connect the blocks. Thus, a monolithic wall is constructed, framed on the inside and outside with a heat and sound insulating shell of expanded polystyrene. Thanks to this wall construction, houses built using fixed formwork are strong, light and very warm. The thickness of the wall is selected depending on the purpose of the building, as well as the temperature parameters of the construction region.
The internal partitions of the house can be made from the same blocks, as well as from any other traditional materials. During the construction of buildings, you can use any type of floors - monolithic floors, concrete slabs or classic wooden floor structures.
For exterior wall decoration, plaster, siding, facing brick or stone can be used. Interior decoration can carried out using plaster or plasterboard. The undoubted advantage of a house built using this technology is that the walls, both internal and external, have a very even surface, therefore, an economical thin layer of plaster is needed to finish the walls. In addition, it is very easy to lay electrical wiring in such walls.
Expanded polystyrene is environmentally friendly (97% air and 3% material) and is even used for food packaging. It does not contain substances that feed microorganisms, i.e. not subject to the destructive effects of rodents, mold and bacteria. In addition, it does not burn if there is no prolonged exposure to the flame (more than 2.5 hours).

Technical parameters of the walls.

Wall thickness - 25, 30 or 35 cm, where 15 cm is concrete, the rest (respectively - 10, 15 or 20 cm) is polystyrene foam.

The weight of walls without finishing is 400 kg/m2.
Concrete consumption - about 125 liters per square meter of wall.
Thermal conductivity coefficient - L0=0.036 W/mK, excluding exterior and interior finishes.
The fire resistance limit of the wall is 2.5 hours.
Vapor permeability - 0.032 mg / (m.ch. Pa).
Water absorption in 24 hours, by volume - 0.1%.
Acoustic isolation - 46 dB.

Fire safety:

The fire hazard class of the load-bearing wall is K0 (the fire spread limit is 0)
The fire resistance limit of the load-bearing wall is at least 155 min.**

* According to the conclusion of the State Unitary Enterprise "NIIMosstroy"
** According to the tests of the center of the Federal State Institution VNIIPO EMERCOM of Russia

Whatever material you choose to build your house - we will be happy to help the future homeowner decide on a project or develop an individual one, discuss materials and finishes, and build STRONG HOUSE according to your wishes, tastes and possibilities.

Starting the construction of your own home, you want to choose the cheapest material for building a house - in order to maximize savings. But the pursuit of a low price of building materials can result in both expensive maintenance in the future, and an increase in the cost of the entire construction as a whole. How to build a cheap house?

What determines the value of a house?

The final price tag for construction depends on several factors. Materials play an important, but not the only, role here. So, the construction estimate will include:

If you do a monolithic fill, you will need a large amount of wood for the formwork. And working alone on weekends, construction is delayed indefinitely, which is also not always economically profitable.

The cheapest materials for building a house - handmade?

There is an opinion that materials made by one's own hands will be much cheaper than those purchased from the manufacturer. Of course, there are recipes for different brands of concrete, you can fold straw walls yourself or even fill the frame with sawdust.

This is economically justified in the following cases:

• the availability of free assistants - it is difficult to interfere, fall asleep and press alone, which can lead to poor-quality work;
• no need to go to work five days a week - otherwise construction will often have to be postponed due to weather conditions;
• the opportunity to obtain equipment and raw materials for building materials at very low prices - the delivery of sawdust from another region will not be cheap.

So, the cheapest construction options:

1. Thatched walls with clay plastering. They are distinguished by good thermal insulation, but require repair due to rodents that settle in the thickness of the wall.



2. Abrolite or sawdust concrete. You can make your own or purchase ready-made blocks. In the first case, you will have to wait a long time for the sawdust concrete to dry, in the second - to build walls as quickly as possible and do the exterior finish, since the wood concrete is hygroscopic.



3. Clay or cordwood. Dry logs and chocks, peeled from bark, are used. They are laid across the wall on a clay mortar. The ends of the wood must be impregnated with antiseptics or burned, otherwise they strongly absorb moisture.



4. Backfilling with sawdust or expanded clay. To do this, a non-removable formwork is made from a cut board on the frame, into which the insulation is poured.

The appearance of the house of these materials is rather unsightly. And if it is quite simple to beat straw walls or peeking logs, you will also have to make a screed on top of the wood concrete. Another significant disadvantage of homemade materials is that they are not strong enough. But this is a problem of all frame houses. To hang shelves or install a kitchen set, it is necessary to provide mortgage boards at the construction stage.

Economical building materials - what are they?

If it was decided to abandon self-production by common sense, it is worth taking a closer look at the prices on the market. What is the cheapest building material? Paradoxically, almost any:

• tree - can be purchased extremely cheaply in the forest belt, but in the steppe zone it is expensive;
• brick - building in the neighborhood of a brick factory, you will be able to buy red brick at manufacturer's prices;
• aerated concrete and foam concrete - lightweight and relatively simple material to build, has good thermal insulation;
• frame construction is the most budget option, suitable for any climate, but requiring the organization of forced ventilation.

Not every carpenter can assemble a log house with high quality, so you will also have to take into account the cost of the work of builders. The same applies to a brick house - the skew of the masonry will result in a large-scale alignment of the walls.

So when choosing materials, you need to take into account the cost of working with them. For example, aerated concrete is laid on a special glue, due to which the gaps between the blocks are minimal.

This allows you to save on fine finishing, but requires care from builders. Foam concrete does not differ in the quality of geometry - the blocks can be skewed and differ in size. It is unpleasant to work with such material, it is difficult to level the walls.

As a result, the cost of work is higher.

How to globally save on construction?

Not only building materials can reduce the cost of building your own home. To save as much as possible:

1. Think over the plan of the future building. The simpler the layout, the cheaper it is to equip it. You should not plant bathrooms at different ends of the building - laying pipes will cost a pretty penny. Placing the kitchen next to the bathroom will also save on pipes. The even geometry of the walls, the absence of non-functional niches and differences in floor heights, although they look simple, do not require extra costs. Together, this will give up to 20% savings on the total cost.



2. Refuse architectural excesses. Balconies, terraces and a tiered roof can increase the value of a home by 10-15%. It is much more rational in the future to build a small gazebo or attach an open terrace.



3. Use building materials produced in your region, abandoning the popular and advertised ones. This will allow not only to buy them cheaper, but also not to overpay for delivery. So, houses made of shell rock in the Altai Territory are among the most budgetary, but Moscow cannot boast of a low price for this material.



4. Lighten the truss system as much as possible using lightweight roofing materials. Then, instead of a 10x10 cm beam, it will be possible to use a 5x10 cm board laid on the end, while not reducing the pitch of the rafters.



5. Get rid of the basement. Filling, waterproofing and roughing out the basement will add another 20% to the estimate.

The choice of building materials

If the building materials market offers several types to choose from, that's great. Indeed, in this case, you can compare all the advantages and disadvantages and purchase materials that combine low price and good quality.

General features to look out for:

• durability - if the house is idle for a maximum of 10 years, saving on materials is rather doubtful;
• ease and accessibility of installation - the need to use heavy equipment at a construction site can negate all the savings;
• environmental friendliness - maintaining natural humidity in the house is achieved through "breathing" materials, otherwise you will have to take care of forced ventilation;
• heat capacity and thermal insulation are two parameters responsible for future efficiency, because the house should not only be cheap during construction, but also during operation.

Having considered the most popular of building materials, you can choose the most suitable option for yourself.

Wooden houses

Timber houses are considered the most environmentally friendly and one of the best in maintaining an optimal microclimate. A wooden building has the following advantages:

But such a structure also has disadvantages. So, the quality of literally every log is very important - an undried tree will begin to twist, longitudinal cracks may appear, the ends must be “plugged” with an ax to prevent waterlogging of the tree due to precipitation. If, however, to deviate from the classical processing of logs in favor of the use of modern antiseptic and flame retardant solutions, the house ceases to be environmentally friendly.

Ready-made kits are expensive, but only professionals can assemble an inexpensive log house from round timber. After all, you have to customize every log! In addition, in regions with cold winters, the thickness of the walls of a wooden hut should be at least 50 cm to ensure minimal heat loss during the heating season. Finding logs of this diameter will also cost a pretty penny.

To let the house "breathe", it cannot be insulated with polystyrene foam, only with vapor-permeable mineral wool. And so that the insulation does not get wet, be sure to arrange a ventilated facade. There are also certain limitations for interior decoration - it is better to use modern vapor-permeable membranes if you plan to cover the house with plasterboard or clapboard.

But the log house is beautiful in its original form. To get a cozy and windproof house, you need to regularly check and caulk the cracks in the walls. Particular attention is paid to the system of corner locks - simply cutting into half a tree will not provide the necessary insulation and will lead to the formation of cold spots.

brick houses

Brick has excellent heat capacity. This means that when the heating is started, the house will warm up for a long time, but then cool down just as long. For permanent residence - a great option. But for a country house visited on weekends, this will become an irrational waste of money on heating. After all, while the house warms up, it is already necessary to leave back to the city.

For one-story buildings, walls of 1.5 bricks will be enough. But such a thickness of the walls is completely unsuitable for winters, where the temperature drops to -20 degrees.

In order not to increase the cost of brickwork, the house will have to be insulated from the outside. What is especially nice when building brick buildings - you can use any insulation! So, by choosing foam plastic with a thickness of only 5 cm, you can reduce the heat loss of the house from 125 kWh per square meter to 53 kWh per heating season. In other words, you can halve your heating bills.

The disadvantages of brick houses include:

• a large weight of the building - you will need a recessed strip foundation, which will significantly increase the cost of construction;
• the duration of the construction - a team of five people can raise a box at home in three weeks, subject to continuous work, but alone, the time increases significantly;
• finishing work - if you can live in a log house immediately after construction, a brick house requires a mandatory screed of walls and floors, followed by a fine finish.

Houses from a gas block or foam block

These buildings have all the advantages and disadvantages of brick houses. At the same time, they also have their own characteristics:

At the same time, the price per cubic meter of brick and gas block is almost the same. And given the need for insulation along the facade, the advantages of aerated concrete over ceramic bricks are rather illusory. But due to the large size of the blocks, building a house is quite simple, which determines the low cost of the work.

frame houses

For those who are really on a tight budget, frame construction is a real salvation. A house on a wooden frame with mineral insulation is many times cheaper than all previous options. And that's why:

But, despite the obvious advantages of frame construction, preference is still given to brickwork. All because of no less significant shortcomings:

On the other hand, approaching the construction of a frame house wisely and without saving on building materials, you can get a good and reliable structure that will last for decades. And in the future, the frame is just as easy to disassemble and put in its place a capital brick house.

You can build a small and cozy house in a few months, and this video confirms this:

Every good owner sooner or later faces some kind of construction. Someone is building a garage, someone is building a bathhouse, and some are aiming at building a large mansion on their own. Here the question arises as to which material is better to choose for building a house.

The main stages of construction include pouring the foundation, as well as erecting walls. For any owner, it is important that the aesthetic appearance of the building is of a high level, the walls are warm, strong, and in general, the cost of building materials is not very high.

The most popular materials for building a house

The modern construction market is rich and diverse. Let's take a closer look at the top five most popular building materials for building a house.

• One-piece profiled beam.
• The log is rounded.
• Brick.
• Foam blocks.
• Thermal panels.

What to give preference? Each owner makes this decision independently, but for this it is worth studying all the pros and cons of each of the materials.

Wood

Wooden building materials for building a house have become very popular in our time. Wooden walls have low thermal conductivity, but stable heat capacity. Even if the house has not been heated for some time, with the stove in operation, the resulting condensate will be absorbed into the wood. After that, the already heated air draws moisture, and a special, favorable microclimate is created in the room. Coniferous species (pine, spruce, fir, larch, cedar) are often used in construction. In addition to the popular solid profiled timber, round logs, glued, ordinary timber, carriage are used.

Solid profiled beam

Material that has undergone special processing. In the profiled beam, the content of wood resin is very high, thanks to which the structures made of it are durable and are not exposed to aggressive environmental influences.

Back in the last century, when choosing finishing and building materials, rarely did anyone stop at a profiled beam. During the construction of the walls, manual adjustment was required. Now, thanks to modern technologies, the bars are processed on machines in such a way that they simply fit perfectly, the gaps between them are minimal.

This eco-friendly material is not too expensive. The walls keep the heat inside for a long time, they can be built in a matter of days. Smooth, machined beams allow you to assemble a house, like puzzles.

rounded log

When studying building materials for building a house, pay attention to round logs. Like timber, this building material is made from conifers. Unlike the first one, the rounded log allows you to build buildings that are more durable, all this is due to the shape of the material. The construction of round logs is also carried out in a short time.

Brick

The most popular building material for building walls is brick. Brick buildings are outwardly quite acceptable, they are very strong in strength, durable, and also environmentally friendly.

silicate brick. This building material is very common. Buildings made of such bricks can last for decades.

Clay brick. It has always been considered a symbol of something stable, indestructible. Such a brick has increased strength, frost resistance, immunity to aggressive atmospheric action. However, the thermal performance of such a building material does not always meet expectations.

The construction of reliable buildings requires high-quality building materials. Brick factories offer a wide range of their products, which can be divided into three categories:

1. Solid bricks, these include the following types: conditionally effective, ordinary, effective.
2. Hollow bricks, the share of voids in them reaches 40%. Facing products also fall into this category.
3. as well as large-format stones-bricks. The high thermal conductivity of this category is ensured by the honeycomb-shaped structural material.

Disadvantages, advantages of brick

During transportation, especially over long distances, a small percentage of products lose their presentation, brick materials for building the walls of the house crumble. Their cost, however, is very high.

The ability of a brick to retain heat is much less than that of a tree. Walls built from conditionally efficient or solid bricks always require additional insulation. This problem is solved by three options: a ventilated facade - installation of a hinged insulation system, a heat-insulating plaster system, as well as three-layer walls with a heat layer.

The brick house is comfortable for living. This design "breathes", provides air exchange, and at the same time has active thermal inertia. Having warmed up, brick walls hold heat for a long time and gradually release it into the room.

Foam blocks

If you need high-quality and at the same time inexpensive building materials for building a house, then pay attention to the foam blocks.

Foam blocks are characterized by such qualities as heat resistance, high strength, low weight. Sudden temperature changes do not affect the walls erected from foam blocks. They do not crack or expand. There are many air bubbles inside the block, which increase the effect of thermal insulation. For comparison: foam concrete walls have a thermal conductivity eight times higher than conventional concrete walls. The material is good not only for the construction of the main walls, but also for internal floors. Thanks to this, the whole structure perfectly retains heat. Foam concrete structures do not require additional insulation. Heating costs are significantly reduced, by about 30%.

Advantages of concrete structures

• Due to the low weight, the pressure on the foundation is reduced.
• Savings in finishing. Normal wall putty is enough, plaster is not required.
• Reducing labor intensity. One 15 kg foam block replaces 20 bricks, the total weight of which is 80 kg.
• Cellular foam concrete blocks have excellent soundproofing properties.
• Brick factories produce such building materials in sufficient volumes. The popularity of foam blocks is growing every day.
• In terms of environmental friendliness, this material resembles wood. The room maintains optimal humidity, the walls breathe. Unlike wood, blocks do not rot, burn, or rust like metal.
• Foam concrete is often used as a heat insulator, it can withstand high temperatures (up to +400 degrees).
• The blocks are very easy to work with conventional hand tools.

Disadvantages of foam concrete

When we choose materials for the walls of the house, we try to study not only the advantages, but also their inherent disadvantages, foam concrete also has them. These include:

• Brittleness of the material.
• Every three rows of walls must be reinforced.
• Foam concrete quickly absorbs moisture, which somewhat reduces thermal conductivity.
• To avoid dampness, it is necessary to create waterproofing, moisture-resistant protection between the foundation and walls.
• Vapor permeability of foam concrete. Vapor barrier required.

Frame thermal panels

If you need inexpensive building materials for building a house, then you should pay attention to frame thermal panels. The advantages of this material include low thermal conductivity, relative strength and fast assembly. Minus - the lack of naturalness.

Thermal panels today are very often used for finishing frame-panel houses. Their design consists of extruded polystyrene foam (in the role of a heat-insulating substrate) and High performance properties allow the use of thermal panels in the construction of houses using Canadian technologies. The most important characteristics of this facade material, which ensured wide demand, of course, include the absence of moisture absorption, low thermal conductivity, high compressive and impact strength, resistance to fire and any biological attack. The material is easy to install and use.

Finishing and wall-building houses must meet all modern requirements, then the design will delight the owners for many years. Frame thermal panels provide an attractive, aesthetic, solid appearance to the building. It is for this reason that this material is very often used for the construction of cottages. built according to Canadian technology, finished has the appearance of a smooth, flawless brickwork.

If the building is lined with thermal panels, heat losses are immediately reduced by 30%, all this thanks to the substrate, which consists of extruded polystyrene foam. Clinker tiles are connected to the insulation under high pressure with heavy-duty adhesive. The thinnest cutting of expanded polystyrene sheets allows you to make high-quality tight joints. In order for the facade to take on a finished look, in addition to the main panels, you can purchase various additional elements to neatly arrange the corners.

We have presented the most common building materials on the market today. It is up to you to decide how and what material to choose for building a house, to give preference to price, naturalness, aesthetic qualities or technical characteristics.

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

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

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

Where does the choice of wall material begin?

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

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

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

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

Construction consultant's opinion Romana Nikonova:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The following example is illustrative:

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

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

What house to build. O features of wall materials

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

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

Consider their main features.

1. Brick and warm ceramics

The advantages of this material:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Alexey Melnikov:

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

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

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

Roman Nikonov:

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

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

Alexander Toporov(nickname on the forum 44alex) :

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

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

The main disadvantages of brick:

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

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

2. Foam and aerated concrete

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

Alexey Melnikov:

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

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

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

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

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

Alexander Toporov:

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

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

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

But this material is not without drawbacks.

Alexey Melnikov:

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

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

You can familiarize yourself with all and.

3. Wooden houses

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

Roman Nikonov:

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

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

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

Alexey Melnikov:

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

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

Qualitatively made wooden houses can serve 200-300 years.

Among the disadvantages of wooden houses are:

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

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

3. The tree is subject to shrinkage and cracking.

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

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

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

Let's name the advantages of glued beams:

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

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

4. Frame technology

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

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

Denis Reznichenko(nickname on the forum silent):

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

Advantages of frame houses:

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

The disadvantages of frame houses include:

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

Alexey Melnikov:

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

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

5. Arbolit

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

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

Arbolit has high thermal insulation performance.

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

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

Alexey Melnikov:

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

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

However, now arbolite is experiencing a rebirth.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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:

1. If you want to save on arranging the foundation by making a shallow lightweight version, 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.
2. 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.

1. 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.
2. 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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.