New, in comparison with wood and brick, building materials cause a lot of questions among those who decided to erect their homes. Are gas silicate blocks suitable for housing construction? Will it be warm and comfortable? What difficulties await future owners in the construction and further operation of the house? You can answer these questions by reviewing the responses of those people who already live in houses made of gas silicate.
Is it so cheap?
The most important reason why gas silicate blocks are chosen as the main building material is their low cost. Calculations are made according to which 1 sq. M of walls made of this material are twice cheaper than brick. However, based on the feedback of the owners, this is not entirely true. The cost of gas silicate directly depends on its density: for a cube of material with a density of 600 kg / m3, which is optimal for external walls, it is necessary to pay much more than 300 kg per cubic meter. When buying material, it must be taken into account that it is very fragile, and some of it can be damaged during transportation or unloading. It is better to order a gas silicate with a small margin.
Those who have already built a house say that the cost of building the walls is external cladding. Without it, not to do, because the porous gas silicate easily absorbs water, begins to crumble and gets an unpleasant smell. The lining of the house from the gas silicate blocks must satisfy several requirements:
- do not allow water to pass through,
- allow the walls to breathe,
- should have a ventilation gap between the cladding and the walls of the house, the
- does not deform when shrinking the house.
Cheap polystyrene and sand-cement plaster are not suitable. Polyfoam prevents gas exchange and negates one of the main advantages of aerated concrete, and plaster can simply not stick to the surface of the walls. The more expensive gypsum plaster holds better, but the owners complain that it is covered by a network of cracks, if the exterior works were carried out before the house gave full shrinkage. The result is a hollow facade repair, which is not economical to call it.
The siding suffers the least from the owners: it meets all the requirements and can be mounted right after the completion of construction works, without waiting until the walls settle. Also, facing clinker brick is popular, although its use significantly increases the cost of construction. When choosing any method of dry facing, it is necessary to remember that there must be a ventilation gap between it and the wall, otherwise mold and a smell of damp may appear inside the house.
Should I believe in advertising?
Manufacturers of gas silicate blocks claim that houses made of this material are warm, with an optimal microclimate comparable to a wooden house. The erection of such housing will not take much time and does not require high qualification of builders. Is this true? Comments of homeowners from gas silicate blocks say that it is only partly.
Heat and air exchange in the house are ensured by the porosity of the material. The house really turns out to be warm, but to keep this heat, it is necessary to take care of protecting the walls from moisture. The ability of the same house to "breathe" is easy to destroy by covering it with foam plastic. Another important point, mentioned by those who built the house on their own - the seams between the blocks should be minimal, otherwise they will suffer significant heat losses.
Ease of erection depends on the geometry of the blocks: if it is flawless( an error of 1mm to 600mm), then it will be easy to build a house. However, this quality can only provide solid manufacturers, and their products are not the cheapest. Also, those who encountered building a house from gas-silicate blocks assure that it is not worth saving on quality adhesive for blocks and trying to replace it with cement mortar. Such a replacement will result in the fact that the seams are too thick, the thermal conductivity and strength of the walls will suffer. Another detail - the blocks are quite heavy, to cope with construction alone, especially if a two-story house is built. But cut and shtrobyatsya blocks without problems, an improvised tool.
Pitfalls using
gas silicate If you still decide to build a house of gas silicate blocks, then consider a number of points mentioned in the reviews by those who already became owners of such a house.
- House of gas silicate is better not to build above 2 floors, as the walls can not withstand a heavy load.
- After the construction of the walls of the first floor, it is necessary to make a monolithic belt of strapping to evenly distribute the weight of the second floor and the roof to the lower blocks. Every 3 rows the masonry is reinforced with a metal mesh or special sheets.
- House of gas silicate blocks requires a monolithic tape foundation, you will not be able to save at this stage.
- Within a year, the walls of the blocks will shrink. This should be remembered if you plan to immediately begin to finish the interior of the house: the plaster is almost certainly covered with cracks, so it's worth to stop on wallpaper or drywall.
Is it worth using this material
And yet, despite some features of the use of gas silicate, most owners of houses from this material do not regret their choice. According to their feedback, if outside the house walls are reliably protected from moisture, then living in such a house is quite comfortable. It "breathes", in contrast to the frame houses from sip-panels, which necessarily need a high-quality ventilation system. In such a house, mold does not start up, walls are not covered with condensate from the inside.
As gas silicate blocks are easy to process, repair inside the house is much easier. Shtroby for wiring, ducts for water pipes and heating pipes are made quickly and without much effort. True, there is this flexibility, and the reverse side: for fixing shelves and other wall furniture, cornices require special dowels, since ordinary can simply fall out of the wall.
Gas silicate is a good choice if you need a spacious and warm house in a short time, and your budget is limited. For many owners, he became a real opportunity to move to his house in less than a year.
