How to build a house from gas silicate blocks with your own hands?
A house made of gas silicate blocks will be an excellent solution for those who want to build their own housing. The popularity of this material in the construction industry is explained by the fact that gas silicate has unique properties and characteristics. Therefore, building a house using such blocks allows you to save money and get a safe and durable structure.
Benefits of gas silicate
Building a house with your own hands using gas silicate as the main material has the following advantages:
- profitability;
- environmental friendliness;
- fire resistance;
- soundproofing;
- thermal insulation;
- frost resistance;
- ease;
- ease of use.
The main advantage of gas silicate is the relatively low price for the material, due to which the construction of a house from gas silicate blocks will be cheaper than from brick. These blocks have good thermal insulation and help to better insulate the home than other building materials. The porous structure gives them high soundproofing properties.
Gas silicate has excellent vapor permeability and does not accumulate steam and moisture inside the room, but brings it out. In the event of a fire, the material does not burn and only melts slowly, as it consists of non-combustible elements. Since it is much lighter than standard concrete, such a building will not need a solid foundation and it will be possible to save on the foundation. In the manufacture of blocks, only natural materials are used: aluminum powder, lime, quartz sand, cement and water. During construction, you can also not be afraid of harmful fumes.
Foreman's advice: when building a house with gas silicate blocks, the walls will sag within one year, therefore, in order to avoid the formation of cracks, it is undesirable to use plaster for interior decoration.
Features of building a house from gas silicate
For building a house with your own hands, products with a ridge and groove are usually used, which will help save on adhesive and ensure even lines. As shown, built from gas silicate, blocks with a density of at least D500 are considered the most popular option.
You can build a house on weakly bearing soil without the mandatory installation of a powerful foundation, so a shallow strip foundation can be the best solution. In this case, it is necessary to observe the dimensions with accuracy. The first laying should be carried out on a durable waterproofing layer in order to avoid moisture ingress into the cavity of the gas silicate block. As a bond, it is desirable to use a solution of cement or special glue. It is recommended to design window and door openings using gas silicate lintels, which will be similar in size to the main unit.
Construction stages
It will not be difficult to build a house with your own hands if you make calculations in advance and clearly follow the plan to carry out all stages of construction:
- laying the foundation;
- waterproofing;
- main row;
- subsequent rows;
- wall reinforcement;
- installation of jumpers in the opening of the window and door;
- overlap.
For building a house, a reinforced concrete slab is suitable as a foundation. It can be replaced with a monolithic strip foundation on a sand cushion. You can check its horizontalness using a hydraulic level or level. If there are differences of more than 20 mm, it will be necessary to level the foundation in order to simplify the process of laying walls. After the foundation is established, waterproofing is carried out from a double layer of roofing material. If this is not done, then mold may appear on the walls and there will be increased dampness and humidity in the house itself.
The first rows of gas silicate blocks are recommended to be laid out on a cement-sand mortar in order to smooth out irregularities and align the first row horizontally. The laying of blocks begins in the corners, after which a rope is pulled between them, along which the entire row will be laid out. The evenness of subsequent rows will depend on the correct laying of the first row.
The next rows can be laid on a special glue, which is applied with a trowel. It is very important to remove dust from the surface of the block in advance. Glue is applied to the surface of the wall on which the next block will be installed and to the end part of the previous one. Alignment is carried out horizontally and vertically, and the seam of the previous block should be in the center of the product to be laid. Pressing them together will help light tapping with a rubber mallet on the end.
Every fourth row of blocks must be reinforced with fiberglass and metal reinforcement. The reinforcement takes on bending loads and does not allow the walls to diverge. To do this, at the top of the gas silicate, a strobe is cut manually or using an electric strobe cutter. Glue is half poured inside the strobe, and reinforcing bars are installed. Reinforcement gaps in the rows should not intersect to ensure greater structural reliability.
For openings with a width of not more than 1.5 m, metal corners are used, on which blocks are laid. Cuts of the required size are made in the surface of the gas silicate block in order to prevent height differences. The corners must first be treated with a special anti-corrosion agent.
If there is an opening wider than 1.5 m, a reinforced concrete lintel with a height of at least 20 cm is used. At the end, the floor is installed, which can be wooden or monolithic. Under the Mauerlat, it will be necessary to install a reinforcing belt with a thickness of at least 10 cm. Formwork is prepared for it from durable plywood or boards. Reinforcement is carried out with metal bars, which should be installed in the thickness of the concrete, but not on the blocks themselves.
It will not be difficult to build a house with your own hands from gas silicate blocks if you correctly perform all measurements, use only high-quality materials in construction and strictly follow all the steps.
