Do-it-yourself house made of expanded clay concrete blocks
If you build a house from expanded clay concrete blocks, then do it yourself! After all, it is economical, fast and quite simple. And due to the low thermal conductivity of expanded clay concrete, walls with a thickness of 30 cm or more do not require external insulation, which significantly affects the final cost of construction.
Do-it-yourself foundation for a house made of expanded clay concrete blocks
The foundation is the basis of the reliability of the entire building. The service life of the house depends on the correctness of its choice and compliance with the technology of the device. After all, a weak and “floating” foundation will cause cracks in the walls, and it will not work to fix it.
Foundation selection
Since expanded clay concrete is a hollow and rather light material, the construction of one-story houses does not require a complex foundation. If soil samples at the site showed the absence of high groundwater, and the soil itself is sandy or sandy, a columnar foundation with a flooded grillage or a shallow strip foundation is suitable for such buildings.
If a two-story house is planned, and the soils are unstable, or it is not possible to take soil samples, it is better to be safe and pour the strip foundation to a depth below the freezing of the soil (depending on the region, it is 1-1.5 m).
Also, on unstable ground, screw piles behave well, which deepen to a stable soil layer. Such a foundation is also suitable for areas with a strong height difference, allowing you to save on leveling the construction site.
Filling the strip foundation
For self-filling strip foundation you will need:
- a trough for mixing concrete, but it is better to use a concrete mixer;
- buckets and shovels - for pouring and leveling the concrete mixture;
The very process of building a foundation requires care and some skill:
- The fertile soil layer is removed. Do not neglect this point - the land is useful for arranging flower beds or a vegetable garden.
- With the help of reinforcement and stretched string, the area under the trenches is marked. It is important to carefully measure the angles, checking the equality of the diagonals.
- The width of the foundation depends on the chosen type of plinth. The falling base is made narrower than the wall, and the protruding base is wider.
- The trenches are made wider - for the installation of formwork.
- A layer of gravel is poured at the bottom, and on top of another 20-30 cm of sand, which is spilled with water and rammed. So that the sand does not “leave” into the ground, it is better to pour it on geotextiles laid on gravel.
- The formwork is put up and the reinforcing mesh is knitted. The reinforcement is connected with wire; it is impossible to weld the reinforcement. To prevent metal rods from sinking into the sand, special racks for loose soils are placed under them.
- When the entire foundation is filled, it is carefully bayoneted, but it is better to walk with a vibrotamper. Poorly compacted concrete can leave air pockets that reduce its strength.
A month later, after the foundation has finally hardened, you can start building walls.
Construction of walls from expanded clay concrete
The erection of walls is not a technically difficult task, but it requires certain skills. It is necessary to lay the blocks as carefully as possible, the hand must be firm, otherwise, if the vertical deviation is even a few centimeters, the walls will have to be leveled both outside and inside.
Wall masonry made of expanded clay concrete blocks
Expanded clay block can be placed both on cement mortar and on special glue. The first option is suitable for blocks of irregular shape, as it allows you to hide all the flaws due to the thickness of the masonry. But before finishing, an additional leveling layer of plaster is required.
Glue is used only for blocks with the correct geometry, even walls and no defects. The foundation surface must be level. This masonry allows you to make seams with a thickness of only 3-5 mm, which saves on rough plaster.
The process of laying expanded clay blocks is almost the same for both options:
- Waterproofing is laid on the foundation, protecting the first expanded clay concrete row from rising moisture.
- The solution is applied to the foundation, and the glue is applied to the bottom and side surfaces of the blocks.
- The evenness of the block is checked by the level both horizontally and vertically, if necessary, correcting the block with a rubber mallet.
- After completing a row of one wall, the evenness of the entire surface is checked with a long level also in two planes.
- The floors of the second floor are laid without cutting into the block. The ends of the wooden floors are wrapped with waterproofing.
When the walls of the second (or attic) floor are completed, you can proceed to the roof device.
Basement insulation and blind area
Do-it-yourself basement insulation is best done with EPPS, since it is not hygroscopic and easy to install. If the house does not have a basement or basement floor, extruded polystyrene foam boards can be fixed with dowels. If, on the outside, waterproofing was applied to the foundation, fastening with dowels is contraindicated - they break through the waterproofing layer, nullifying all work.
After the basement is insulated, you can fill up and ram the sand cushion. A layer of waterproofing is laid on the sand cushion, and XPS boards are laid on it. After that, a metal reinforcing mesh is placed and everything is poured with a concrete screed.
It is important to remember about the slope from the house to the outside - for the flow of water along the blind area. Therefore, the formwork is initially made so that the outer side is lower than the inner one.
Roof of a house made of expanded clay concrete
Your home should be comfortable and cozy, so the choice of roofing should be approached wisely. The simplest option is a gable roof made of corrugated board. This material is the most popular, as it is inexpensive and durable, does not require continuous formwork, and due to its low weight, there is also no need for reinforced rafters.
Device technology:
Very accessible and clearly about the process of building a roof is shown in the video:
A house made of expanded clay concrete is an excellent and inexpensive option for those who want to move out of the city, especially if noisy Moscow has already tired!