The most important and first question before starting work on the construction of a home: from which it is better to build a house for permanent residence. The choice depends on many factors and making it quite problematic without proper preparation. The material of the walls affects not only the microclimate in the room, but also the design features of the remaining elements of the house. To build a house for permanent residence, you will need the highest quality modern materials, and a country house gives some indulgence in the construction of your own hands.
Material Overview
Before building new walls, we will need to make a comparison of materials for the following indicators:
- strength;
- thermal conductivity;
- moisture resistance;
- frost resistance;
- sound insulation;
- durability;
- cost;
- density (mass);
- availability and range of transportation.
The choice is made on the basis of all these characteristics together, but the most important is the strength, since the load-bearing capacity of the walls depends on it. For external building envelopes, it is necessary to check compliance with thermal engineering requirements and frost resistance.
If the material is not warm enough, the temperature and humidity conditions of the room will be violated, which will lead to inconvenience to residents. With insufficient frost resistance, destruction is possible when the outside temperature changes from negative to positive, and vice versa.
A do-it-yourself country or city house can be made from the following materials:
- ceramic brick;
- silicate brick;
- ceramic blocks;
- wood (profiled timber, logs, glued wood);
- on the frame with insulation and sheathing (the frame can be metal or wooden);
- lightweight concrete.
The cheapest will be to use frame technology or some types of lightweight concrete. These materials allow you to save not only on the construction of external and internal walls with your own hands, but also on the elements of the foundation.
To make a choice for a private house, conditionally all materials can be divided into several groups:
- brick and stone;
- lightweight concrete;
- wood;
- frame houses.
The most impressive buildings will be those whose walls are made of massive materials such as brick or concrete. These new homes are able to resist environmental influences and look quite attractive. But when using them, you need to prepare for serious costs.
It is most advantageous to build with your own hands a wooden one (not from glued wood) or a frame object. Next, it is worth considering in detail the main modern materials that are suitable for the walls of a building intended for permanent residence.
Silicate brick
This material has been widespread in the past for multi-apartment buildings. It is important to note that he has more shortcomings than advantages, but the choice in favor of silicate brick makes it possible to make the walls of a private house cheaper.
The benefits include:
- low cost of production and finished products;
- high accuracy of geometric dimensions;
- attractive masonry appearance;
- the possibility of using any type of masonry mortar;
- high strength (the choice is relevant for both low-rise and multi-story construction);
- high frost resistance (more than 50 cycles) allows you to safely use the material for the manufacture of external walls with your own hands.
There are disadvantages and they are significant, so if possible, it is better to choose another material:
- The mass is greater than that of ceramic brick, which creates an additional load on the foundation and increases its cost.
- Instability to moisture. In rainy weather, you can see how the silicate walls darken. This means that they absorbed water. This is an undesirable quality for outdoor fences, the humidity regime is disturbed in the rooms. Also, because of this, it is not allowed to use the basement and basement for masonry.
- Thermal insulation characteristics are very low (high thermal conductivity). Requires a large wall thickness or additional thermal insulation.
- Instability to high temperatures. Such material for building a house is not suitable for stoves, fireplaces and chimneys.
Ceramics
The selection here is represented by the following products:
- solid brick;
- hollow brick;
- porous stone.
If we talk about thermal insulation, the last option will be most effective, and the first will be the least desirable. Strength, on the contrary, is greater for corpulent bricks.
Price frames for this category are very large. Depending on the manufacturer, you may find the material cheaper or more expensive. It is important to consider the cost of transportation, since they can be impressive.
Ceramics is the best option for building a house “for centuries”. In the presence of high-quality materials and adherence to technology, they can ensure a long life without problems.
When used as the outer layer of facing brick, you can leave the walls without additional decoration. They will withstand adverse effects and retain an attractive appearance.
A new type of material is ceramic stone. Its thermal insulation characteristics are twice as good as that of hollow bricks, which allows to reduce the thickness of walling and reduce the load on the foundation. Moreover, the strength of the material is comparable to its immediate family. The plus also becomes that the enlarged dimensions allow faster masonry and reduce the complexity of the process.
If you answer the question of what to build a strong and reliable home with your own hands, then the answer will be precisely ceramic porous stone. Other materials may come out cheaper, but here you can save during operation, on masonry mortar and insulation. New walls from such products have an attractive appearance. The following options can be used as decoration:
- plaster;
- siding;
- lining;
- block house.
Lightweight concrete
This group includes a large number of different species. We can distinguish the following most popular when it is necessary to build a summer house or a residential house with your own hands:
- Foam concrete. It is easy to process, has good thermal insulation and low weight. Of the disadvantages - high water absorption and low strength. The choice of such products allows you to save on foundations and walls.
- Aerated concrete. Similar to previous wall material. Resistance to moisture is even less than that of foam concrete. It is characterized by greater accuracy of geometric dimensions.
- Expanded clay. It is cheaper than all other types of lightweight concrete. It is easier to install fasteners in it (the material does not crumble and does not crumble). Disadvantages: large mass, low thermal protection.
- Arbolite. The most desirable of this group material for the walls with their own hands. It protects well from the cold and has a small mass. Disadvantages: low fire resistance, the destruction of wood under the influence of moisture and rodents.
To understand which material from the listed ones is best for walls, it is necessary to take into account the climatic features of the area (wall thickness), the number of storeys of the house, and soil characteristics.
Wood
There are several options for the material from which you can build a wooden house with your own hands:
- timber;
- log;
- glued wood.
In terms of technology, it is easier to work with timber. There is no need to cut recesses to maintain the stability of the elements, as is the case with a log.
A wooden house allows you to minimize the load on the foundations and save on them. This is due to the following characteristics:
- Low density wood. One cubic meter weighs an average of 520 kg for coniferous species, while a brick has a density of 1800 kg / m3. This allows the use of lighter foundations, for example, it is especially advantageous in terms of cost and labor to use screw piles.
- Good thermal conductivity. Compare the wooden house again with ceramic bricks. To ensure proper thermal protection, the thickness of the brick wall should be an average of 770 mm (for the climate of the middle strip). Walls made of wood can be 300 mm thick, which further reduces the load on the foundation, increases the speed of work and reduces their cost.
If you answer the question of what is better to build a house (and more profitable), then the tree will be the answer, but it is important for him to provide reliable protection against various negative factors. The material of the walls is necessarily treated with antiseptic compounds and, if possible, fireproof.
As a finishing layer of the wall, a lining, block house or siding is used. The latter reduces costs, but the house loses its ability to “breathe” due to the unnatural finish. You can leave the building without cladding, but in this case, in addition to antiseptic treatment, coating with varnish or protective paints is necessary.
The answer to the question of which type of wood is better to use when doing it yourself will become this: the material of conifers of the first or second grade is required.
Glued beams are not rational for most private buildings. They are designed for increased loads and large spans, so they have a very high cost. To use them without special need for walls is impractical and disadvantageous.
Frame houses
Walls with this technology have the following advantages:
- ease of manufacture with your own hands;
- high thermal conductivity;
- low cost;
- light weight;
- the possibility of using inexpensive light foundations as a base;
- fast erection speed.
The house can be made on a wooden or metal frame. The first option is more common. As parts for a metal frame, a profile is used. The main elements: upper and lower harness, racks, insulation. Thermal insulation is placed between the racks, the thickness is calculated depending on the climatic region. The outer skin can be made from siding or various panels, the inner - from drywall.
It is impossible to unequivocally answer the question of what material to use for the construction of the wall. It all depends on the financial capabilities and customer requirements. You can only give recommendations in terms of heat engineering, cost and strength.