Aerated concrete blocks: disadvantages and advantages

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

In the modern world, construction is developing at a rapid pace, thereby increasing the demand for materials. Cellular concrete has become in demand in the domestic market. At one time, the products were widely advertised, and the demand for them is now great.

Producers of cellular concrete say that it is universal, but they always hush up the fact that aerated concrete blocks also have disadvantages. In order to better understand the properties of the product, consider what cellular concrete is. This is an artificial material that has mineral binders and silica fillers. There are pores inside the blocks. Its derivatives can be called foam concrete and aerated concrete. At the heart of foam concrete is a foamed sand-cement mixture. Aerated concrete is obtained by adding aluminum powder and sand to a lime-cement mortar.

Material Value:

• fire resistance;
• sustainable;
• high thermal insulation properties;
• light weight;
• vapor permeability;
• frost resistance;
• easy to handle;
• cheap.

The most comfortable houses are built from Aeroc material (aerated concrete). Such buildings are absolutely protected from all the troubles that await residents of country houses - damage by fungus, insects, ultraviolet radiation, and so on. Eco-friendly material does not harm the environment.

However, professionals do not often take on materials such as aerated concrete blocks, whose disadvantages they know as well as their advantages. Not any cellular concrete is suitable for the construction of a building, especially its load-bearing elements. Masters are trying to work with D500 aerated concrete.

Specialists know that aerated concrete blocks have the following disadvantages:

• poor waterproofing;
• fragile material;
• insufficient resistance to bending (brittleness).

Aerated concrete houses should be built by professionals. Because if mistakes were made when pouring the foundation, cracks will go throughout the house. For example, the foundation must be monolithic and tape, and not everyone can afford the extra expenses when pouring a large amount of concrete.

For fifteen years in the West, houses have been built from blocks that have different characteristics compared to, for example, brick and wood. When building houses from foam concrete, special equipment is not required.

Builders use aerated concrete blocks for country houses, the shortcomings of which they always take into account. For example, products withinsufficient density, cannot be used for load-bearing walls. It is necessary to apply reinforcement in multi-storey construction. It must be taken into account that no more than 3-5 floors are built from blocks.

Aerated concrete blocks require special fasteners, so specialists prefer not to work with them, despite their high quality and seemingly inexpensive cost. The fact is that after the full calculation of the required material, its cost increases significantly.

Aerated concrete is still very popular in construction. It is necessary not only to withstand the entire technological process of building a house, but also to purchase material made under industrial conditions, and not by private companies.