Starting the construction of your own home, I want to choose the cheapest material for building a house - in order to maximize savings. But the pursuit of a low price of building materials can result in both expensive maintenance in the future and an increase in the cost of construction as a whole. How do you build a cheap house?

What determines the cost of a house?

The final price tag for construction depends on several factors. Materials play an important, but not the only role here. So, the construction estimate will include:

If you make a monolithic fill, you will need a large amount of wood for the formwork. And working alone on weekends, construction is delayed indefinitely, which is also not always economically profitable.

The cheapest materials for building a house - made with your own hands?

There is an opinion that materials made with your own hands will be much cheaper than purchased from the manufacturer. Of course, there are recipes for different brands of concrete, you can independently fold straw walls or even fill the frame with sawdust.

It is economically justified in the following cases:

• the presence of free assistants - it is difficult to interfere, fall asleep and press alone, which can lead to poorly performed work;
• no need to travel to work five days a week - otherwise construction will often have to be postponed due to weather conditions;
• the opportunity to obtain equipment and raw materials for building materials at very low prices - shipping sawdust from another region will not be cheap.

So, the cheapest construction options:

1. Thatched walls with earthen plaster. They are distinguished by good thermal insulation, but require repair due to rodents that settle in the thickness of the wall.



2. Abrolite or sawdust concrete. You can make it yourself or purchase ready-made blocks. In the first case, you will have to wait a long time for the sawdust concrete to dry, in the second - to erect walls as quickly as possible and do external finishing, since the wood concrete is hygroscopic.



3. Earthenware or cordwood. Dry logs and lumps, peeled from bark are used. They are laid across the wall on a clay mortar. The ends of the wood must be impregnated with antiseptics or burned, otherwise they strongly absorb moisture.



4. Backfilling with sawdust or expanded clay. To do this, a permanent formwork is made on the frame from an edged board, into which insulation is poured.

The exterior of the house from these materials is rather unprepossessing. And if it is quite simple to beat the straw walls or peeping blocks of wood, you will also have to make a screed on top of the wood concrete. Another significant disadvantage of homemade materials is that they are not strong enough. But this is a problem with all frame houses. To hang shelves or install a kitchen set, you need to provide for embedded boards at the construction stage.

Economical building materials - what are they?

If, on good judgment, it was decided to abandon independent production, it is worth taking a closer look at the prices on the market. What is the cheapest building material? Paradoxically, almost anyone:

• wood - can be purchased extremely cheaply in the forest belt, but in the steppe zone it is expensive;
• brick - being built next to a brick factory, it will be possible to buy red brick at manufacturer's prices;
• aerated concrete and foam concrete - lightweight and relatively easy to build material, has good thermal insulation;
• frame construction is the most budgetary option, suitable for any climate, but requiring the organization of forced ventilation.

Not every carpenter can assemble a log house well, so the cost of the builders' work will also have to be taken into account. The same applies to a brick house - the distortion of the masonry will result in a large-scale alignment of the walls.

So when choosing materials, you need to take into account the cost of working with them. For example, aerated concrete is laid on a special glue, due to which the gaps between the blocks are minimal.

This saves on finishing, but requires care from the builders. Foam concrete does not differ in the quality of geometry - blocks can be skewed and differ in size. It is unpleasant to work with such material, it is difficult to deduce the walls according to the level.

As a result, the cost of work is higher.

How to save money on construction globally?

It is not the only building materials that can reduce the cost of building your own home. To save as much as possible, you must:

1. Think over the plan of the future building. The simpler the layout, the cheaper it is to equip it. You should not install bathrooms at different ends of the building - laying pipes will cost a pretty penny. Placing the kitchen next to the bathroom will also save on pipes. The smooth geometry of the walls, the absence of non-functional niches and differences in floor heights, although they look simple, do not require extra costs. Together, this will provide up to 20% savings on the total cost.



2. Refuse architectural excesses. Balconies, terraces and tiered roofs can increase the value of a home by 10-15%. It is much more rational in the future to build a small gazebo or attach an open terrace.



3. Use building materials produced in your region, abandoning the popular and advertised ones. This will allow not only buying them cheaper, but also not overpaying for delivery. So, houses made of shell rock in the Altai Territory are among the most budgetary ones, but Moscow cannot boast of a low price for this material.



4. Lighten the truss system as much as possible using lightweight roofing materials. Then, instead of a 10x10 cm beam, it will be possible to use a 5x10 cm board laid on the end, without reducing the step of the rafters.



5. Give up the basement. Filling, waterproofing and rough finishing of the basement will add another 20% of the cost to the estimate.

Selection of building materials

If the building materials market offers several types to choose from, this is great. Indeed, in this case, you can compare all the advantages and disadvantages and purchase materials that combine low price and good quality.

General characteristics to look out for:

• durability - if the house will stand for a maximum of 10 years, the savings on materials are rather doubtful;
• simplicity and availability of installation - the need to use heavy equipment at a construction site can negate all savings;
• environmental friendliness - maintaining the natural humidity in the house is achieved due to the "breathing" materials, otherwise you will have to attend to forced ventilation;
• heat capacity and thermal insulation are two parameters that are responsible for future efficiency, because the house should not only be cheap during construction, but also during operation.

Having considered the most popular building materials, you can choose the most suitable option for yourself.

Wooden houses

Houses from a bar are considered the most environmentally friendly and one of the best in maintaining an optimal microclimate. A wooden building has advantages:

But such a structure also has disadvantages. So, the quality of literally every log is very important - an undried tree will begin to twist, longitudinal cracks may appear, the ends must be “plugged” with an ax to prevent the tree from waterlogging due to precipitation. If we deviate from the classical processing of logs in favor of using modern antiseptic and fire retardant solutions, the house ceases to be environmentally friendly.

Ready-made kits are expensive, but only professionals can assemble an inexpensive log house from round timber. After all, you have to adjust each log! In addition, in regions with cold winters, the thickness of the walls of a wooden hut should be at least 50 cm to ensure minimal heat loss during the heating season. Finding logs of this diameter will also cost a pretty penny.

To let the house “breathe”, it cannot be insulated with foam plastic, only with vapor-permeable mineral wool. And so that the insulation does not get wet, a ventilated facade is sure to be arranged. There are also certain restrictions for interior decoration - it is better to use modern vapor-permeable membranes if you plan to cover the house with plasterboard or clapboard.

But the frame is beautiful in its original form. To get a cozy and clean house, you need to regularly check and caulk the cracks in the walls. Particular attention is paid to the system of corner locks - a simple cut in half a tree will not provide the required insulation and will lead to the formation of cold spots.

Brick houses

The brick has excellent heat capacity. This means that when heating is started, the house will warm up for a long time, but then cool down just as long. For permanent residence - a great option. But for a country house visited on the weekend, this will be an irrational waste of money on heating. After all, while the house warms up, you already need to go back to the city.

For one-story buildings, 1.5 brick walls will be enough. But such a thickness of the walls is completely unsuitable for winters, where the temperature drops to -20 degrees.

In order not to increase the cost of brickwork, the house will have to be insulated from the outside. What is especially nice when building brick buildings - you can use any insulation! So, choosing foam with a thickness of only 5 cm, you can reduce the heat loss at home from 125 kW * h per square meter to 53 kW * h during the heating season. In other words, you can cut your heating costs in half.

The disadvantages of brick houses include:

• large weight of the structure - you will need a buried strip foundation, which will significantly increase the cost of the construction;
• the duration of the construction - a team of five people can lift a box at home in three weeks, subject to continuous work, alone, the time increases significantly;
• finishing work - if you can live in a log house immediately after construction, a brick house requires an obligatory screed of walls and floors, followed by fine finishing.

Houses from aerated concrete or foam block

These buildings have all the advantages and disadvantages of brick houses. At the same time, they have their own characteristics:

At the same time, the price per cubic meter of brick and gas block is practically the same. And given the need for insulation on the facade, the advantages of aerated concrete over ceramic bricks are quite ghostly. But due to the large size of the blocks, it is quite simple to build a house, which explains the low cost of work.

Frame houses

For those who are really on a budget, frame construction is a real salvation. A house on a wooden frame with mineral insulation is several times cheaper than all previous options. And that's why:

But, despite the clear advantages of frame construction, brickwork is still preferred. All due to no less significant shortcomings:

On the other hand, by approaching the construction of a frame house wisely and not saving on building materials, you can get a good and reliable structure that will last for more than a decade. And in the future, the frame is just as easy to disassemble and put in its place a major brick house.

You can build a small and cozy house in a few months, and this is confirmed by the video:

There is no single building material for walls that is versatile. When choosing it, many factors are taken into account: this is reliability, soil characteristics, weather conditions, price range and much more. Currently, the choice of building materials is very extensive. For a house to be strong and durable, it is necessary to take into account not only the advantages of the raw materials from which the construction is planned, but also its disadvantages.

Building materials for walls

A good home is a solid home. So it will be if the building material for its walls is chosen correctly.

The wall is:

• building structure that encloses or separates some part of the territory;
• side of the structure.

The walls in the house can be divided into several groups depending on the load. Among them, there are load-bearing, self-supporting, non-bearing, hinged and fencing. All this is shown in the diagram.

Building walls at home requires the selection of a specific building material. Each of them has individual properties, has its own strengths and weaknesses. Depending on this, it finds application in wall construction. The use of various materials for the walls can be seen in the video.

The following main wall materials are distinguished:

• brick;
• wood;
• ceramic blocks;
• concrete;
• aerated concrete;
• foam concrete;
• cinder blocks;
• sip panel;
• metal structures.

All these modern materials are widely used in individual construction.

Brick walls

Brick is a traditional building material, which is an artificial stone. It has its positive and negative qualities: heat capacity, has a high bearing capacity, but has a relatively high price.

Brick types:

1. Adobe - made of clay and straw, instead of which wood shavings, chaff or horse dung are sometimes used. It is used in Asian countries. In Russia, it is found in rural areas.
2. Ceramic - made from fired clay. A high-quality brick should emit a sonorous sound and have a uniform reddish color. Through cracks with a length of more than 4 cm are unacceptable; such a brick should be selected for strength and frost resistance. The letter "M" denotes the strength grade. The numbers indicate the permissible compressible load in kg / cm 2. The frost resistance class is designated by the English letter F, the numbers indicate freezing cycles.
3. Silicate - made of sand and lime under the influence of steam at a temperature of 170 - 200 0 C. For the construction of walls, you can choose bricks of various colors and thicknesses.
4. Hyper-pressed - a building material made under high pressure without the use of firing. In a small amount of cement with water, small limestone rocks, battle from the production of ceramic bricks, various waste from the extraction and cutting of facing stone, fine gravel, marble and dolomite are added. The material is as close as possible to natural stone.

Pros and cons of brick construction

Brick types	Advantages	disadvantages
Adobe	Low cost	Low moisture and frost resistance
	Good sound insulation and thermal inertia	Walls dry for a long time and gain strength
Ceramic	Resistant to all climatic conditions	High price
	Low moisture absorption	The possibility of efflorescence
Silicate	Good sound insulation	High thermal conductivity
	High strength and frost resistance	High moisture absorption
Hyperpressed	Resistant to aggressive environments and climatic influences	High price
	Perfect geometric shape	Requires thorough drying before laying

Walls from foam blocks

The composition of the foam block includes sand, cement, foaming agent. It is used for the construction of load-bearing walls and interior partitions. Advantages of the foam block as a building material:

• environmentally friendly;
• perfectly retains heat;
• has the ability to "breathe" - to release water vapor outside;
• excellent fire resistance - resistance to open fire for 8 hours;
• good moisture and frost resistance;
• excellent sound insulation;
• significantly reduces the overall construction time;

With all their significant advantages, foam blocks have their disadvantages. They are a low-strength material: the wall can crack if overloaded. Water that gets inside at low temperatures will destroy the foam block. This can be avoided if the surface is plastered or treated with a special solution. Not all types of finishes are suitable for wall cladding made of foam blocks.

Ceramic blocks

A ceramic block or porous ceramic is a material made by firing special shaped clay blocks. There are 3 main standard sizes of this raw material:

№	Dimensions (edit)	Volume
1	219x250x380 mm	10.7 NF *
2	219х250х440 mm	12.4 NF
3	219x250x510 mm	14.3 NF

* NF - normal form, an indicator of the number of bricks of a given block volume.

The material is environmentally friendly and durable, like any ceramics.

Aerated concrete blocks in wall construction

Aerated concrete is a light cellular material obtained from a mixture:

• lime;
• cement;
• fine-grained quartz sand;
• water;
• gas-forming reagents - aluminum powder is most often used.

The acceleration of the curing process takes place in autoclave installations.

Comparison of gas silicate and foam concrete - building materials for walls, favorably emphasizes the advantage of the former.

Aerated concrete is a relatively inexpensive material, it is non-combustible, environmentally friendly and durable. Special blocks are made from it.

Modern building technologies allow the use of different materials for the walls at the same time. Gas silicate blocks can be combined with bricks. This will ensure high thermal conductivity of the walls.

If a person does not have enough finances for individual construction, then the independent production of wall material will be appropriate.

Brick or gas block

Brick - an artificial stone with dimensions of 250x120x65 mm. It is produced by firing clay. Aerated concrete block is an artificially created stone with dimensions of 600x400x250 mm.

Comparison of brick and aerated block

A wall built from a gas block is 3 times lighter than a brick one. This means that the frame will require less reinforcement. Given the ability of the building material for the walls of the house to transfer heat, the thickness of the brickwork should be greater. In terms of frost resistance - the ability of the material to maintain strength, brick is superior: it is more durable.

Aerated concrete blocks are used in the construction of walls of houses with a height of no more than 14 m. It is not recommended to erect supporting structures from them. A feature of aerated concrete blocks is their high geometric accuracy. This allows for less costly glue laying. It is performed faster in comparison with cement.

Walls should be built in dry, clear weather. It is forbidden to build wet rooms from aerated concrete: saunas, baths, laundries. The walls for them are made only of bricks.

Aerated concrete blocks after a while after construction may decrease slightly in size, which will lead to cracks in the wall. This is not observed with bricks.

Gas blocks are easier to machine tools. Cutting and grinding of aerated concrete can be carried out directly on the construction site with standard hand saws. But the reliability of bricks when installing door and window openings is much higher. The fire resistance of a brick and a gas block is approximately the same.

Aerated concrete blocks are the cheapest material. But the construction of walls requires adherence to a special technology. The services of workers for such masonry are higher than those of builders working with bricks. However, brick walls are warmer and stronger.

Wood construction

Several types of wood are used as a building material: pine, spruce, larch, cedar, oak, linden. You should choose according to the properties of the tree and financial resources.

The advantage of wooden walls lies primarily in environmental friendliness. Wood is a natural conditioner. In such a house, it is warm in winter and cool in summer. The air in the room is renewed up to 30% during the day, so it is easy to breathe in it.

When heated, cracks do not form in the walls, which cannot be said about a brick house. Wooden structures are the most resistant to earthquakes and do not require additional insulation.

In terms of thermal conductivity, a log with a diameter of 20 cm replaces brickwork 1 m thick. This significantly reduces financial costs for the house and reduces the weight of the structure, which is economical for the depth and width of the foundation. Its price is sometimes 1/3 of the total value of the house. Wooden walls are built very quickly at any time of the year.

The main significant disadvantage of wood as a material for building walls is its high fire hazard. The disadvantages also include susceptibility to rotting, damage by fungus and woodworm bugs. The tree quickly collapses under the influence of the atmosphere: sunlight and moisture.

All these disadvantages are easily eliminated by specially developed chemicals. They are applied to the walls and prolong the life of the wooden house.

Glued laminated timber

Glued laminated timber - the leading material in timber construction

Glued laminated timber is one of the leading materials in timber construction. It is collected from individual dried boards of appropriate sizes treated with antiseptic and fire-fighting agents. Then gluing takes place with special compounds under high pressure. This is done in order to prevent cracking and twisting of the timber during drying.

The timber contains a special groove-ridge system, which allows you to assemble the walls as quickly as possible. Like many building materials for walls, it is environmentally friendly. Glued laminated timber belongs to the group of combustible materials. With a protective treatment, it is relatively durable.

Comparison of building materials

Comparison of materials for walls by main indicators

	Aerated concrete		Wood	Brick
Thermal conductivity	0,12	0,16	0,18	0,56
Strength	25	100	50	150
Fire resistance	1200	1500	300	1500
Shrinkage ratio	2	0,01	10	0,01

Thermal conductivity - the ability of a material to pass heat through itself - a brick has 3 times more than a ceramic and aerated concrete block. Based on the estimated cost, we can conclude that the cheaper material is a ceramic block. To achieve the correct thermal conductivity of the wall, it is enough to insulate the wall with a special material.

The strength of aerated concrete and wood is minimal compared to other types. This suggests that you should not build houses with more than 2 floors from these materials. The strength of the ceramic block and bricks allows the construction of buildings of almost any height.

The shrinkage factor is expressed as a percentage. The largest is by the tree. This means that one year after the completion of construction, the height of the wall will be reduced by 10%. Relatively low shrinkage coefficient for aerated concrete. Its low strength can cause cracking. The rest of the materials on this indicator can be ignored.

Aerated concrete is the cheapest building material. It is widely used in individual construction.

The choice in favor of one or another wall material is based on individual evaluative conclusions and an analysis of the characteristics of the environment.

Everyone who wants to build a house for themselves is concerned about the question of which material to choose for the construction of walls. Indeed, the strength, durability and comfort of the home depend on it.

The choice of wall material directly affects the cost of building a house.

In order to choose the wall material that you "can handle", we will ask the FORUMHOUSE specialists for clarification.

Where does the choice of wall material begin

Aerated concrete or warm ceramics, timber, wood concrete or frame technology ... Any novice developer, when choosing a material for building a house for permanent residence, is faced with an abundance of conflicting information. It seems that there are so many materials that choosing the right one seems to be an impossible task. We have to narrow the scope of the search and select exactly what is needed!

According to a forum user with a nickname Abysmo, it is enough to understand only ten things to decide whether to build a house. Namely:

1. What kind of housing do you plan to build - for permanent residence or for short-term visits;
2. What requirements do you have for the strength and environmental safety of the wall material;
3. How quickly do you want to check in;
4. What fuel is planned to be heated;
5. What will the operation cost;
6. How much are you willing to spend on construction;
7. What building materials are available in your area;
8. Is it possible to carry out independent work, or will workers be involved;
9. What building technologies and means of mechanization are available in your region of residence;
10. Are you considering the likelihood of selling the building on the secondary market?

There is no one-size-fits-all wall material to suit every project. A large or small area, the peculiarities of the region of residence, climate, personal preferences require the use of their materials.

Construction Consultant Opinion Roman Nikonov:

- When choosing wall materials, it is necessary to take into account a number of technological features and protective properties of the material: fire resistance, durability, thermal conductivity. In addition, you should be guided by your feelings - whether you like the material or not.

In the conditions of central Russia, the walls should provide good thermal protection. They also need to be strong enough to withstand the weight of floors, roofs, snow and wind loads.

Snow in the surroundings of Moscow is capable of giving a load of up to 180 kg per 1 sq. M. roof surface. Do not forget about the fire resistance of structures.

The point of view of an expert of our forum Alexey Melnikov(nickname on the forum Lyokhin ):

- If building codes and technologies are violated, even modern and expensive wall material can be damaged.

And vice versa - a competent approach and careful planning allow, with a very limited budget, to build a reliable, practical and not so small comfortable home for permanent residence.

For your information: the cost of erecting a box (relative to the general construction budget) usually does not exceed 20-30%.

The following example is illustrative:

If the house is planned to be operated in the "summer cottage" mode, then it is not cost-effective to erect stone walls for the following reasons:

1. The economic component. If the stone dwelling has cooled down, then upon arrival it needs a long heating. It is not profitable to do it for the sake of one or two trips a week.
2. Operational component. Irregular heating of a stone structure in winter negatively affects its durability.

What kind of house to build. O property of wall materials

Among the most famous materials used in the construction of walls, the following can be distinguished:

• brick and warm ceramics;
• foam concrete and aerated concrete;
• wood;
• frame technologies;
• arbolite.

Let's consider their main features.

1. Brick and warm ceramics

The advantages of this material:

1. Strength - denoted by the letter "M". The number after the letter indicates what kind of load the brick can withstand. This value is expressed in kg per cm2.

2. Durability. Brick buildings are among the most durable.

3. Environmental friendliness. The brick is based on clay, sand and water. Due to its structure, the brick is good for air permeability. Therefore, a favorable microclimate is established in the room, and excess moisture is removed outside. In addition, the walls accumulate heat well and then give it away inside the room.

4. High frost resistance. The higher the frost resistance, the more durable the building. Frost resistance is the ability of a building material to withstand freezing and thawing in a water-saturated state. The frost resistance of the material is indicated by the letter F. The numbers after the letter indicate the number of freeze and thaw cycles that the material can withstand without losing its qualities.

5. Aesthetics. A brick-built cottage can be made in any architectural style, and the masonry technology itself has been worked out for decades.

6. High degree of sound insulation. Brick walls are good at dampening both street and interior noise.

Despite a number of undoubted advantages, a simple brick also has significant disadvantages.

Alexey Melnikov:

- Traditional ceramic bricks measuring 250x120x65 mm do not meet modern heat engineering standards.

Calculations show that the required thickness of homogeneous brick walls (even for the southern latitudes of our country) is at least 1 meter.

It is possible to build a house for permanent residence with such thick walls, but it is not economically feasible. Therefore, the brick received its further development - in the form of such a modern solution as warm ceramics.

Roman Nikonov:

- Ceramic block, or porous ceramics, is a high-tech clay-based material.

Thanks to the smallest air-filled pores, the ceramic stone is very warm and has high mechanical strength. The dimensions of a block of warm ceramics exceed the dimensions of a standard brick several times, which increases the speed of laying. But warm ceramics is a rather fragile material. Therefore, to fix any structures in a wall made of a ceramic block, you have to use special anchors.

Alexander Toporov(nickname on the forum 44alex) :

- Warm ceramics have a thin-walled structure, so it is not easy to fix some heavy objects on it, and an expensive special tool is required to saw it. After laying warm ceramics, it should either be plastered from the outside, or additionally filled with vertical joints. Before buying a ceramic stone, I recommend that you pay attention to the geometry of the blocks and make sure there are no cracks.

When chiseling and drilling walls made of warm ceramics, you need to be very careful, otherwise you can split the block.

The main disadvantages of bricks:

• 1. High construction costs. Brick is an expensive building material, which leads to an increase in construction estimates;
• 2. The large mass of a building built of brick requires laying a carefully calculated, powerful and expensive foundation;
• 3. Seasonality of construction works.

Wet processes (preparation of building mixtures and water-based mortars) impose restrictions or make it impossible to lay bricks in winter.

2. Foam and aerated concrete

Today, gas and foam concrete blocks are the most common materials for building walls. This is due to the good balance in the price-quality ratio.

Alexey Melnikov:

- The advantages of such blocks are their relatively low thermal conductivity (as a result, high thermal resistance), high fire and biological resistance, ease of processing with hand and portable power tools, as well as their lightness.

It is these qualities that allowed the user of our forum with the nickname Dimastik25 independently, in one hand from aerated concrete.

- I chose aerated concrete, because it makes it possible to lay the masonry independently, without the involvement of auxiliary power.

The size of the block allows one person to lay it, but due to the large format of the block, the work is done quite simply, quickly and without unnecessary labor costs.

Even an unprepared person will be able to lay blocks on their own. There is no need to mix a large amount of cement-sand mortar, the laying is done on a fairly thin layer of glue. Also a significant advantage is the uniformity of the wall, a large selection of blocks and their good geometry.

Alexander Toporov:

- Gas silicate is easy to process, it is easy to saw. It is also easy to organize various armored belts, jumpers, arches, etc.

One of the main advantages of gas and foam concrete as a wall material is their good heat and noise insulation, which leads to a decrease in heating costs and insulating materials.

Aerated concrete blocks are produced by large enterprises. Therefore, the quality of such materials corresponds to the declared characteristics, and geometric deviations are minimal.

But this material is not without its drawbacks.

Alexey Melnikov:

- Gas and foam concrete blocks are a very fragile material. Low bending strength requires the use of a relatively expensive and powerful foundation (usually a monolithic reinforced concrete slab), as well as additional reinforcement elements - an armored belt.

Foam concrete, although it costs less than aerated concrete, can be produced using the so-called "garage" methods. Therefore, when buying it, you must carefully consider the issue of choosing a supplier and not chase the lowest price.

You can familiarize yourself with all and.

3. Wooden houses

Wood is a classic building material, but despite its ubiquity, it also has a number of advantages and disadvantages.

Roman Nikonov:

- The wooden house breathes and is beautiful. It is a very flexible, "home", versatile material, easy to transport and install. But it is less durable than stone.

Because when erecting a log house there are no wet processes, then such a house can be erected at any time of the year.

Starting a construction site, we are thinking about which log is better to build a house for permanent residence. Experts believe that it is better not to build a wooden house from a log!

Alexey Melnikov:

- Beams are more practical in terms of cost-energy efficiency, but for connoisseurs of log facades, the aesthetics of a log house usually comes first.

Rounded logs and profiled beams (including chamber drying) are all modern types of logs aimed at increasing the aesthetic properties and simplifying the construction of a house.

Well-made wooden houses can last 200-300 years.

Among the disadvantages of wooden houses are:

1. The device of "wet" rooms in a wooden one is fraught with certain difficulties.

2. Based on the standard dimensions of logs (6 m), overlapping rooms over 5 meters wide is difficult to implement. Interfloor floors in wooden houses are usually timber-beam. This reduces the degree of sound insulation in the house (wood conducts sound well) under shock loads.

3. Wood is susceptible to shrinkage and cracking.

4. A wooden house must be caulked and tinted regularly. Thermal protection, sufficient for a comfortable life in the house, is provided by a wall made of wood with a thickness of 200 mm.

5. Wood can rot and requires antiseptic treatment against mold and wood-boring beetles.

Therefore, the next stage in the development of wooden housing construction was the development of laminated veneer lumber - a wall material devoid of the shortcomings of conventional timber.

Let's name the advantages of laminated veneer lumber:

• The material is durable and, thanks to a special profile (the serrated connection protects the wall from blowing out), it better retains heat in the house;
• Glued laminated timber has a clear geometry, which facilitates and speeds up the process of building a house;
• The material practically does not shrink, which allows immediately after the construction of the house to start laying communications and interior decoration of the premises;
• Thanks to the factory fire-biological protection, glued laminated timber is distinguished by increased resistance to fire, mold and fungi;
• The walls of a house built of laminated veneer lumber do not need interior and exterior decoration.

The main disadvantage of this material is its high price, as well as the need to attract highly qualified specialists to build a house.

4. Frame technology

Frame houses are considered one of the most pre-fabricated and warm houses. Therefore, if you need housing urgently and urgently, and you are wondering from what time resources and what material to build a house, feel free to choose this option. The main advantages of frame housing construction are profitability and high - in a matter of months - construction speed.

Because the frame house is light, then a powerful foundation is not required to be erected under it, which also perfectly reduces construction costs. The absence of wet processes allows the frame house to be built all year round.

Denis Reznichenko(nickname on the forum silent):

- If you are going to live permanently in a frame house, please note that heating costs will be noticeably lower compared to wooden or stone houses, because the ability to retain heat in modern insulation is higher than that of traditional materials.

The advantages of frame houses:

• high construction speed;
• frame technology does not require the use of heavy construction equipment;
• the construction of such a house can be carried out independently;
• due to the absence of shrinkage, the interior and exterior decoration of the frame house can be done immediately after the end of construction;
• the thickness of the walls in frame houses usually does not exceed 30 cm, which increases the usable area of ​​the house;
• in the cold season, frame houses quickly warm up to a comfortable temperature.

The disadvantages of frame houses include:

• High quality requirements for the materials used. For the construction of a frame house, first of all, you need well-dried and planed wood, treated with fire and bioprotective compounds, which protect it from damage and decay. When erecting the frame, it is unacceptable to use raw wood, because during the drying process, it warps. This leads to a change in the geometry of the timber structures;
• Construction carried out by low-skilled workers with a deviation from technology entails a significant decrease in the operational characteristics of the house;
• Compared to stone houses, timber frame houses have a lower degree of sound insulation.

Alexey Melnikov:

- Also among the disadvantages is the low heat capacity (heat storage capacity) of frame walls.

A frame house with the heating turned off cools down quickly. However, there is a way out - you can use an insulated Swedish slab as a foundation.

5. Arbolit

Arbolit is a material made of cement binder (concrete) and organic aggregates obtained from woodworking waste.

Sometimes wood concrete is called wood concrete, because this wall material has absorbed the advantages of both concrete and wood.

Arbolit has high thermal insulation properties.

This is an environmentally friendly material that does not need additional insulation. It does not dry out like a tree, does not rot and does not burn.

The arbolite walls "breathe" (the vapor permeability of the arbolite wall is more than 35%). This regulates the humidity level in the room. This ensures good air exchange in the room.

Alexey Melnikov:

- Arbolit is an old and, at the same time, undeservedly forgotten material. Attempts to implement it were made back in Soviet times.

However, the segment of individual low-rise housing construction in those days was not developed, mainly panels of high-rise buildings were built, and over time, arbolite gave way to other wall materials.

However, now arbolit is experiencing a rebirth.

After all, it is devoid of a number of disadvantages inherent in gas and foam concrete blocks, the material is relatively light, and building a house does not require the construction of a powerful foundation.

Also, wood concrete has a high bending strength and will not crack when the foundation moves or settles.

Arbolite, like wood, is well sawn, drilled, nails are easily hammered into an arbolite wall, and the material itself holds heavy objects well without using special fasteners.

Among the disadvantages of wood concrete, two can be distinguished: its high cost and an insufficient number of house projects designed specifically for these blocks. Therefore, when choosing a wood concrete block (in order to avoid buying low-quality material with impaired geometry or strength characteristics), it is necessary to carefully consider the issue of choosing a supplier.

On our portal, you will be helped to find out everything that a novice frame builder needs to know, what kind of house, to understand which is better,. We will help you choose the best wall material and how to build

Watch a video on building a house from wood concrete blocks. And after reading our next video, you will learn how to build on your own in six months

In principle, every material for building a house has its own indisputable advantages and disadvantages... The abundance of choice complicates the question of which house to build for permanent residence. One thing is for sure: for heavy and light materials, the main thing is skillful hands of the developer... An error in calculations will come back to haunt in any case and surface the next day or in 10 years, when it will be very difficult to fix it.

What material to choose, what is better and cheaper to build a house from? Let's conduct a brief overview, as well as materials for their construction.

What are heavy and light materials?

Heavy materials for construction include, as the name suggests, stones, various blocks, bricks, slabs... For houses made of heavy materials, an appropriate foundation is also needed. Most often, tape is used, but if the ground is not the best, it can be combined with pile-screw.

When it comes to lightweight materials, it means wood, wireframes... Of course, these are just conventional names for such houses, which does not mean that the house will be really easy in the end. for wooden houses, it is better to choose the best possible. stand for several hundred years and the foundation should not fail.

For frame frames, you can save a little, choosing just the pile option... The "shelf life" of the frame is up to 100 years, therefore, if the soil allows you to save, it is quite possible.

Brick is expensive, but for centuries

As the saying goes, a brick can handle everything: hurricanes, frosts, unbearable heat - the natural mood is changeable.

However, this material is able to withstand not so.

According to statistics, the "shelf life" of a brick house reaches 200 years.

Due to the fact that the material has been in use among builders for a very long time, usually there are no problems with hiring craftsmen.

The assortment of types of bricks is also for every taste:

1. Ceramic bricks are made from clay by molding and calcining in special ovens. Possesses high level of strength, refers to environmentally friendly materials for construction. Of course, if it is made with high quality and the production standards are met. It can be solid and hollow (up to 50% of voids inside). For construction, the second subspecies is in priority, since the more voids in the body of the material, the higher its heat-retaining property.
2. Silicate bricks are made from lime and sand. It is white and looks great, especially the one-piece subspecies. Lightweight sand-lime brick - looks very sloppy, but has higher thermal insulation property.
3. Ordinary and frontal subspecies of bricks will also find application in the construction of a capital house. Privates - in the inner masonry, front ones - will decorate the house from the outside.

Be sure to pay attention to the marking before ordering a batch of material. It is done in order to know whether the masonry of a particular brick will withstand the weight of the structure and natural phenomena. Usually the material is marked with the letter "M" with two or three numbers. The minimum strength per square centimeter is 75, the maximum is 200.

Important: When building a basement, the minimum strength is 150; when building a two-story house, you should purchase lots with strength from M125. The more floors, the heavier the attic, the higher the coefficient should be, respectively, the brick will be heavier, and the cost per cubic meter of material is higher.

For construction in Russia, especially in the outback, it is very important to take into account the fact that frosts in winter can be serious. The "F" marking is responsible for frost resistance, and the indicator varies from 15 to 100.

For cladding a house in a temperate climate, the F50 marking is used; inside you can make F25 masonry. The higher the marking rate, the more times the brick will survive freezing without damaging the structure.

Brief summary and characteristics of the material:

• you will get an expensive house box and foundation;
• very expensive, presentable type of final work;
• phenomenal durability;
• precipitation, temperature drops do not care;
• excellent fire resistance;
• difficult to lay out a box;
• rather "dirty" construction, you need a lot of extra space around.

Output: brick construction is a costly and time-consuming process.

However, all costs, including financial ones, will more than be repaid for the long life of the building. Correctly selected brick and competent builders extend the life of a house up to 100-200 years without changing the original characteristics.

Concrete blocks

The second most popular material for laying load-bearing walls, in comparison with brick. Strong material, more profitable financially and much easier to build... In the summer, the house is kept cool, in the winter it is warm and cozy, precipitation and other natural phenomena are not terrible high quality concrete block.

Advantages of building with concrete blocks:

1. The first thing to note is the fire resistance of the material. Concrete does not burn, therefore, unlike wood construction, the house is safe from external fires and can withstand direct fire for several hours.
2. The material tolerates frost well.
3. For those who value good sound insulation in the house, construction from concrete blocks is suitable. Due to the structure of the concrete itself, there will be no extraneous noise in the house.
4. With proper construction, thermal insulation is pretty good. In conjunction with an external, well-built heating circuit, you can achieve good savings on heating the house.
5. It is possible to operate a building from blocks, as well as from bricks, for a long time. On average, without major repairs, the house will delight 80-120 years.
6. Concrete blocks do not rot, mold and mildew.
7. The versatility of the material allows you to build residential buildings, garages, and multi-storey buildings of any type.

The disadvantages include unpresentable appearance of the house without finishing. Therefore, when calculating the budget for construction, one should also take into account the external "marafet". In addition, construction should only be done in dry weather and takes a fair amount of time, partly due to variable weather. Due to the high level of groundwater in some parts of the country, waterproofing may be required.

What you need to know about concrete blocks?

There are several types of concrete blocks and differ from each other:

• brand (from 50 to 100) is an indicator of the strength of the product;
• frost resistance - from 15 to 200.

Strength marking must correspond to the total mass of the building. That is, for the basement - the highest value, for a house with 2 floors - approximately M75 (it also depends on the size of the attic). Frost resistance, as already discussed, depends on the location of the future building.

Very important for quality construction explore the soil under the home site... To do this, it is better to play it safe and hire specialists, which will also be very costly. But, if you choose the wrong type of foundation and the building starts to drive, the costs will be even greater. For "troubled" lands, a monolithic type of foundation (if the house is not large), as well as pile and tape, are suitable.

Output: concrete blocks are only slightly inferior to brick in terms of their qualities.

but the price and ease of construction are more attractive if you choose between these two materials. Additional costs for waterproofing and external insulation and finishing may be required.

Construction from natural stones

People have been using natural stones for a very long time. Many old-timers remember the times when construction from this material was worth a penny, since the stone was not very valuable and was simply mined. Natural stone was especially available in areas close to the place of extraction.

Now the situation has changed radically and construction from sandstone, shell rock, granite, basalt is sometimes more expensive than we would like. More or less good is the case with the construction of natural stone is near the mountains, that is, next to the place of extraction.

Dignity using natural stone for building a house:

• for not remote areas, this material will be inexpensive, the farther from the mining sites, the more expensive the high-quality material will cost;
• the material is the most environmentally friendly of all heavy building materials;
• the blocks are quite large, so the construction will not be delayed;
• depending on the deposit, the porosity of the shell rock is different, which means that the thermal conductivity also changes;
• good sound insulation;
• perfectly survives all weather changes, does not rot, does not become covered with bacteria when properly built.

Like any other material, natural stones have their own limitations:

• heavy: you need a good, expensive foundation and additional costs for the construction of the box;
• different shapes of each block create additional difficulties when joining; more cement will be required;
• very serious waterproofing is required: the material absorbs moisture;
• the facade of the shell rock wall is trimmed along a reinforced mesh, otherwise everything will quickly fly around.

Output: minor difficulties associated with the construction are more than repaid, due to the fact that the material is environmentally friendly, the house will stand for a long time.

Having chosen the stone of the correct density (all natural stones are also marked), it is possible to equip both the basement and the higher floors with it. And the cost per cube will depend on the location of the customer.

Thermal panel construction

Thermal panels or panels from - a relatively new product for construction. If the material for construction is selected based on savings, in the first place, then you can take a closer look at this option. Frame thermal panels declare themselves as the most heat-saving material. In addition, the construction of a house from new material is quite fast.

The panel consists of clinker tiles and thermal insulation in the form of expanded polystyrene. The main disadvantage of frame thermal panels is that they 100% synthetic material... That is, panels will not be suitable for connoisseurs of environmentally friendly buildings under any pretext. The material does not absorb moisture, is not subject to destruction, it tolerates compression very well, pressure from all sides, does not burn, perfectly withstands any natural changes.

Other dignity panels:

• excellent appearance;
• in tandem with thermal panels outside, heat loss is immediately reduced by 30-35%;
• very tight joining of panels, thanks to their precise cutting.

TO disadvantages have already attributed the fact that they are not environmentally friendly. In addition, this list can be supplemented by the fact that additional panels of corner shapes are needed to decorate the shape of the house. These building materials have passed all known tests and meet modern requirements.

Output: the use of frame thermal panels is an economical option that provides a very solid appearance to the finished building.

The exterior of the house without exterior decoration will be similar to brickwork. The clinker board is bonded to polystyrene foam with a special high-quality construction adhesive under high pressure, which ensures high strength of the final work.

Which house is better?

Wooden houses

The most environmentally friendly type of building. For a long time, timber has been used for construction. The best trees for building a house are pine, cedar and larch... Conifers are less susceptible to fungal attack and have good weather resistance. Larch material does not rot, does not melt. Natural resin has bactericidal properties.

Since time immemorial, mankind has built its houses from pure, breathing natural material - wood. A huge number of preserved architectural monuments are built of wood. The durability of such buildings is counted in hundreds of years and is amazing.

Larch wooden houses

No wonder this tree is called "iron", those who dealt with this material know that this wood very dense and heavy... It has an amazing quality for wood - increased fire resistance. Over time, larch becomes only denser, it is the only tree that does not rot at all.

In addition, for people with respiratory problems, doctors strongly recommend visiting the larch forest more often. It turns out that it is three times better for health to live in a house made of this material. Great house for living with family, children.

Cedar houses

One of the most expensive building materials is oak. In terms of density, it is close to larch trees, withstands phenomenal loads. A house built of this material can withstand an earthquake of up to 7 points. Also, cedar has the property of thermal insulation, more than other trees.

Pine timber house

Most popular material in construction, due to the lower cost per cubic meter of material. This material has good thermal insulation, it allows you to build a house in 2-3 floors. A properly assembled house will last for at least 150 years with timely maintenance and replacement of the lower rims.

Log house

This construction technology has been perfected for centuries and has come down to us in the most refined form. The trunk is cleaned of bark and dries for a long time in natural conditions.

Professional builders know that the material that is dried under a roof or shed outside, retains its properties much longer than dried in dryers of wood processing enterprises.

Log houses are unique, each house may be completely different from others. A well-built wooden house retains heat perfectly.

In room there will always be a healthy microclimate, clean air... The disadvantages include the cost of construction and its duration.

First, a bar is purchased and dried under the flooring for at least 3-4 months, then the box is assembled. The work of the masters also costs a pretty penny. Then the blockhouse (read :) should stand for a year or two, otherwise it will drive and cracks will go. After shrinkage, you can do the finishing, conduct water, connect to electricity, put up windows and the like. All this takes a lot of money and time.

How chopped houses are made:

1. The largest, most resinous and thickest logs are placed in the first rows - the crown of the log house. Waterproofing must be provided before laying. You can use roofing material, waterproofing, etc.
2. In each subsequent log, a longitudinal notch is made for closer contact between the rows of logs. Thus, all the rows are collected.
3. After the initial shrinkage (about 3 months), the logs are marked, disassembled and assembled again, laying all longitudinal grooves with moss, tow or modern materials.
4. After complete shrinkage (1.5 years), the logs are caulked using insulation. Caulking is carried out only after the roof and windows are ready.
5. Sometimes after 5-7 years, when complete shrinkage occurs, you have to caulk again, as new gaps appear and the heat blows out.

Of course, these stages are described only in general terms, but this will make it possible to better visualize the stages of building a log house.

Output: building a log house is a way to show your imagination in full. The design of such a house can be absolutely anything. The thickness of the walls, the lower crown make the building not only warm, but also the most durable from all other wooden buildings.

Rounded log construction

Rounded log construction is the use of even logs of the same size and diameter, which industrially manufactured... Of course, you can use your golden hands to prepare the material, but, as practice shows, this is a long and laborious task.

After the purchase, according to the construction plan, the customer receives a ready-made log impregnated with special compounds, which only needs to be assembled into a log house. The larger the house is planned, the larger the diameter of the log should be. Thanks to high-quality processing, the logs fit well with each other and each crown fits well on the previous one.

The round log construction method is similar to the chopped log method. The advantage of this type of construction can be considered environmental friendliness and excellent appearance, even without external finishing. By the way, it is not at all obligatory for most regions of the country.

Output: ordering and buying a rounded log will cost more than buying untreated timber and peeling the bark, processing and turning the log yourself. But, in any case, houses made of such material look very nice, respectable... The house will be warm, breathable and environmentally friendly.

Frame houses

Another subtype of construction, which is considered very new and tempting for its speed of construction.

A rigid frame is assembled from a bar, the base material is installed between the supporting beams.

Less often, a frame is made of metal beams; they will be discussed below.

1. Frame-panel board. A frame is built of beams, sheathed from the inside and outside with slabs of coarse shavings or others, insulation is laid between the slab material. The main advantage is the speed of construction. Of the shortcomings - the need to use special equipment.
2. SIP panels. These panels consist of insulation (expanded polystyrene), pasted over with OSB plates on both sides. Walls, ceilings, floors are built from this material. These panels are smaller than in the case of a frame-panel house, so a crane is not needed and you can build a building with your own hands... Of all the wireframes, this method is the easiest for novice builders.
3. Frame houses. Compared to the rest, such a building will be the cheapest... The frame is assembled from thick boards, stuffed onto a foundation box. You can use glued laminated timber, not a board (half-timbered frame construction method). The finished frame is filled with bricks, stones, double-glazed windows, wood.
4. Metal frame houses. The construction principle is similar to the previous ones, with the exception of the frame material. Metal bases are used, in combination with panels with insulation. Such houses are classified as light, with a service life of about 80 years (according to the warranty from the manufacturers of such frames, which cannot be verified). Despite the thermoprofile used, it will definitely take more money to heat such a house than for a wooden "brother".

Output: frame construction is clean, inexpensive.

In addition, little space is needed, construction can be carried out "from the body" without unloading panels and material, if the space on the site does not allow or is occupied by plantings. To increase the lifespan of a frame house, it is important to correctly calculate and design the frame itself, take the foundation seriously.

What is the cheapest way to build a capital house?

As already noted, a house that will stand for centuries is a priori costly to its owner at the time of construction. However, for budget buildings there is an innovation of the last decades - wireframes.

The lighter the walls, the cheaper it will cost. If you use inexpensive SIP panels, the price will be even lower. However, many are suspicious of the walls of the house, which can be pierced with a large knife with great effort.

Of heavy materials, construction is the cheapest made of aerated concrete or thermal panels... Construction will be expensive from bricks and ceramic blocks... For these buildings, the cost of work will be higher, since the blocks themselves are not easy to climb.

The same conditions will apply to the foundation: the more durable, stronger, the more expensive it will cost both in terms of materials and labor costs. Optimal for a small house to set pile foundation, if there is an idea to build on the 2nd floor or a good attic, it is better to play it safe.

What to build a house from on a small plot?

For the organization of construction from heavy materials, a scope is needed. The site will need to be divided into zones for the foundation, for placing a warehouse with material (at least - a canopy), for mixing concrete. It is also worth thinking about the heap of garbage that will certainly collect.

Debris, packaging, empty boxes, material waste and similar work points. Workers need a place to at least dine or have a smoke break.

Pay attention to construction from frame thermal panels... Despite the fact that this material is more of a heavy one, you can build from it directly from the car. In terms of terms, finances and costs on the ground, this is a profitable material.

As for lightweight materials, work will require a much smaller area. Most of all - for working with timber, log, the least it takes frame, especially made of SIP panels... If the site is extremely small, there are already plantings or there is only place for a house, it is better to give preference to a tree, frame frames.

What is the final cost of construction made up of?

Evaluating and comparing materials, the question involuntarily arises: what, besides the main raw materials, will the money still go to?

Not every site owner can immediately lay out on the table in front of the builders the amount that will be required for turnkey development.

Usually, especially for young families, it is customary to divide the work into parts and build in stages.

So, the total amount will be the sum of:

• the complexity of the shape of the house, its number of storeys (complicating the work of the brigade);
• internal planning;
• insulation;
• exterior decoration;
• roofing costs;
• building materials;
• foundation - almost 40% of all costs;
• interior decoration;
• the severity of the underlying material;
• additional fittings;
• conducting communications;
• waterproofing;
• installation of a heating system;
• other minor costs.

The list is pretty impressive. Depending on the choice of material, it can either grow or shrink. However, building your own home is real a way to create a truly cozy dream home that everyone fantasized about in one way or another.

The abundance of building materials in our time is growing every year. The search for the ideal material will probably last for more than one hundred years. However, in order to build a good-quality house in which it will not be cold, scary or expensive to live, it is worth turning to materials tested over the centuries.

Out of competition there will always be brick and wood... These are the most reliable, long-lived homes that are inexpensive to maintain and are good in terms of environmental friendliness. If the question is financially, it is better to choose modern methods: frame houses, thermal panels.

Average houses in terms of cash investment - from sand blocks, sand-cement blocks, concrete blocks etc. Block buildings retain heat well in winter, as they cool down for quite a long time, and in summer the room remains pleasantly cool.

Despite the fact that everything seems to be in order with the production of oil and gas in Russia, the price of energy resources in our country is steadily growing. And now, following the countries of Europe, the Russian Federation adopted in 2003 new norms of thermal resistance of enclosing and supporting structures (SNiP 23-02-2003 "Thermal protection of buildings"). But even before the adoption of new SNiPs, new effective building materials and technologies came to us (and continue to come).

What should be the walls (enclosing structures) of the house in order to comply with the norms of building heat engineering? The answer to this question is not entirely unambiguous. If we carry out calculations, it turns out that, for example, a brick wall should be 2.3 m thick, and a concrete one - 6 m. Therefore, the structure of the walls should be combined, that is, multi-layer. Moreover, one "layer" in this case will perform a supporting function, and the other will provide heat conservation. A certain difficulty lies in the fact that the parts of this "puff pie" are too different in their physical and chemical properties. Therefore, in order to combine them, you have to come up with ingenious construction technologies.

A bit of physics

What parameters seem to be the most important when choosing a material for the construction of an energy efficient warm house? This is, first of all, the bearing capacity of the material, as well as its heat capacity and thermal conductivity. Let's dwell on the latter.

The unit of measurement of heat capacity - kJ / (kg · ° С) - indicates how much heat energy is contained in 1 kg of material with a temperature of 1 degree Celsius. For example, consider two well-known building materials - wood and concrete. The heat capacity of the first is 2.3, and of the second - 0.84 kJ / (kg · ° С) (according to SNiPs II-3-79). It turns out that wood is a much more heat-consuming material, and more heat energy is required to heat it, and when it cools it will release more joules into the environment. The concrete will heat up faster and cool down faster. However, these figures can only be obtained in theory if we compare 1 kg of completely dry wood and 1 kg of concrete. For construction practice, these conventional values ​​are practically useless, because if you recalculate per square meter of a real wooden or concrete wall, for example, 20 cm, then the picture changes. Here is a small table in which, for comparison, 1 m² of a wall 20 cm thick from different materials (at a temperature of 20 ° C) is taken.

From the above figures, it can be seen that to heat 1 m² of a concrete wall by 1 degree, it will be necessary to generate almost 20 times more heat energy than to heat a wooden one. That is, a wooden or frame house can be heated to the required temperature much faster than a concrete or brick one, because the weight (mass) of brick and concrete is greater. Let us also remember that in addition to the specific heat capacity, there is also the thermal conductivity of building materials. This property characterizes the intensity of heat transfer in a material. With an increase in temperature, humidity and density of the substance, the thermal conductivity coefficient increases. The thermal resistance of a homogeneous enclosing structure, defined as the ratio of the thermal conductivity coefficient of the wall material to the wall thickness in meters, should not be less than the required heat transfer resistance (depends on the temperature of the coldest five-day period in the region and other climatic conditions). parameters).

For the Moscow region, the resistance to heat transfer is in the range of 3.1–3.2 m · ° C / W. And in Novosibirsk, where frosts in winter reach 42 ° C on average, this figure is much higher. It should also be borne in mind that not only walls take part in the heating processes, but in general everything that is inside the house - structures of ceilings, floors, windows, furniture, as well as air. The architectural features of the enclosing structures and the presence of "cold bridges" play a significant role.

Wood as a building material

For comfort in the house, a combination of sufficient heat capacity and low thermal conductivity of the wall material is important. In this respect, the tree has no equal. It is also a good material for seasonal homes, which hosts only occasionally visit in winter. A wooden house that has not been heated for a long time tolerates sudden changes in temperature better. The condensation formed when the heating is switched on is partially absorbed by the wood. Then the walls gradually release the accumulated moisture to the heated air, thereby contributing to the maintenance of a favorable microclimate in the living quarters. Conifers are used in construction: spruce, pine, larch, fir, and cedar. In terms of price / quality ratio, pine is most in demand. Its heat capacity is 2.3–2.7 kJ / (kg · K). Along with the old technology of manual felling, houses built from rounded logs, profiled and ordinary beams, gun carriages, and glued beams have also gained popularity.

Whichever you choose, keep in mind the general rule for wooden walls - the thicker the better. And here you have to proceed from the capabilities of your wallet, since with an increase in the thickness of the log, the cost of the material and the cost of work increase. To meet the required heat engineering standard, the log (rounded or hand-cut) must be at least 28 cm in diameter, and the profiled bar must be at least 24 cm thick. Then the house need not be insulated from the outside. Meanwhile, the most common size of a profiled bar is 20 × 20 cm, length up to 6 m.

So the developer will have to immediately calculate and decide what thickness to build walls: 20 × 20 cm, followed by insulation with mineral wool and cladding (siding, clapboard, facade panels) or thicker without insulation and cladding. Separately, let's say about an ordinary (not profiled) bar measuring 15 × 15 cm. It is very popular in summer cottage construction, but nevertheless, it is better not to build a house for year-round living from such material. It is only suitable for a small summer garden house. However, the appearance of such a house is unlikely to please you. No matter how hard you try to seal the gaps between the crowns, they still appear due to warping and uneven shrinkage of wood. Birds take apart caulk for nesting. Under the slanting summer rain, the wall gets wet through and through, and there is no need to talk about freezing in winter.

If you nevertheless chose this type of construction, then first wait for the new log house to settle (six months or a year) and proceed with its external insulation and cladding. The hinged insulation system (ventilated facade) will be optimal. Note that it is undesirable and even harmful to insulate wooden walls from the inside. Glued laminated timber is somewhat superior to massive timber and rounded logs in terms of strength and hardness. Due to its layered structure, the product is not susceptible to cracking and warping, and is resistant to decay. Nevertheless, the thermal performance of laminated veneer lumber is only slightly better than that of ordinary pine logs. In a house made of timber, where the walls are 20 cm thick, you can live in winter. However, heating is expensive.

Such housing also does not comply with the requirements of SNiP 23.02-2003 "Thermal protection of buildings" (for the middle band Ro = 3.49 m² · ° C / W). Meanwhile, the cost of houses made of laminated veneer lumber varies in the range of 40-80 thousand rubles. per m². The question arises, is it worth spending first on walls 20 cm thick, and then on insulation and cladding? Yes, and it is a pity to cover the very decorative surface of the laminated veneer lumber with a hinged facade. So you need to think hard here. For comparison, a house made of hand-cut logs will cost 40–70 thousand rubles. per m², the average cost of a house made of rounded logs and profiled beams will be about 20-25 thousand rubles. for 1 m².

Competent insulation of wooden walls

With the help of special dowels, thermal insulation boards made of basalt wool are attached to the walls. To prevent atmospheric moisture from penetrating into the insulation, the plates are tightened with a superdiffusion hydro-windproof membrane (film). Such membranes protect the façade from rain, snow, condensation and wind. At the same time, they are good at letting in steam coming from inside the house. Further, guide rails are nailed to the walls with a certain step for attaching the finishing material. The finishing can be vinyl siding, wooden lining of different widths and thicknesses, block house (planed board made in the form of a segment of rounded logs) and other materials. It is important to leave air vents at the top and bottom to ensure air circulation in the ventilation ducts formed by the wooden guide rails.

Frame construction technologies

Perhaps not everyone knows, but the frame structure is one of the oldest. An example of this is half-timbered houses, which have a rigid supporting frame made of racks, beams and braces. Our ancestors filled the space between the frame elements with a kind of insulation - reeds or straw mixed with clay, or a more reliable material - raw brick. The frame was covered with tar so that it would not rot, and the clay filling was plastered and whitewashed. Part of the frame was usually visible, so half-timbered houses have a characteristic black and white appearance. Thermal characteristics of such a house are excellent, they are cool in summer and warm in winter.

To date, there are a lot of options for frame technology. Many countries, primarily northern ones, have contributed to their creation and development: these are Canada, USA, Germany, Scandinavian countries. However, the principle is still the same: wooden or metal racks, united by horizontal strapping, are sheathed on the outside with sheet materials (oriented strand board, cement chipboard, waterproof plywood, etc.). The internal space is filled with an effective insulation material - mineral basalt wool. On the inside, a vapor barrier film is mounted, on the outside, a hydro-windproof membrane is pulled. This is followed by decorative wall decoration.

A frame or frame-panel house built according to all the rules will serve you faithfully for more than one decade. Frame and frame-panel houses can be partially or completely made from factory-made elements, brought to the construction site and quickly assembled on site. They do not need powerful foundations; pile and bored structures are suitable.

A frame house can take any shape and look like wood, brick, stone, plastered. The same can be said for the interior decoration. The choice is huge: fiberboard, plaster, drywall, wallpaper, painting, wooden lining, panels and other materials. In the depths of the frame walls, it is convenient to place communications, electrical wires, heating pipes, which has a positive effect on the interior design.

After installation of equipment and completion of finishing, the frame house is completely ready for living. If you visit your country house on short trips, on weekends and holidays, there is practically no alternative to the frame structure. It can be quickly, literally overnight, warmed up. But if the heating is turned off, the "ice age" will come just as quickly. This is because, unlike concrete and brick, the frame wall has almost no place to keep heat. Even wood sheathing cannot cope with this function due to its low weight. And mineral wool has a different vocation: it plays the role of a reliable boundary between two temperature environments - cold external and warm internal. So it will not work to heat the frame house for the future.

As for the price, the general rule "It's never good cheap" also applies here. Excessive savings on the construction site are inappropriate. The price per square meter is highly dependent on the manufacturer of building elements, on the distance to the construction site, workers' wages. On average, a turnkey house will cost about 19-24 thousand rubles. for 1 m² of the total area.

Clay brick has always been a symbol of something stable and indestructible. Indeed, the brick is strong, frost-resistant, immune to atmospheric influences. But the thermal performance of the material leaves much to be desired. Brick products can be divided into three groups:

1. Solid products: ordinary brick (density 1700–1800 kg / m³, thermal conductivity coefficient 0.6–0.7 W / m · ° С); conditionally effective brick (density 1400–1600 kg / m³, thermal conductivity coefficient 0, 35–0.5 W / m · ° С); efficient brick (density less than 1100 kg / m³, thermal conductivity coefficient 0.18–0.25 W / m · ° С).

2. Hollow bricks with a void fraction of 5 to 40%. This also includes facing products.

3. Porous bricks, including large-format stone bricks. The low coefficient of thermal conductivity of the latter is achieved due to closed air pores, as well as the special structure of the material with honeycomb-shaped voids.

If we take into account the walls with a thickness of 510 mm or 640 mm, covered with the necessary layer of "warm" plaster, then only effective ceramic products reach the norm. Walls made of solid and conditionally effective bricks need additional insulation. To solve this problem, three options are proposed: the installation of a plaster thermal insulation system, the installation of a hinged facade insulation system (ventilated facade) and the construction of three-layer walls with a heat-insulating layer.

A brick house is good for permanent residence. Brick structures "breathe", that is, they are able to provide air exchange in the thickness of the walls, and have a solid thermal inertia. When heated, such a wall keeps heat for a long time even with minimal heating, gradually releasing it into the surrounding space. That is, if the heating unit suddenly breaks down, then it will be possible to hold out for a long time until the arrival of the repair specialists in a more or less comfortable atmosphere.

Aerated concrete

Aerated concrete is a collective term that unites fine-pored building materials based on a mineral binder (lime, cement). These include large-format blocks made of aerated concrete, gas silicate, foam concrete and foam silicate. Expanded polystyrene concrete is distinguished into an independent category. The structure of the listed materials is formed by small air pores (cells). It is they who give aerated concrete products a high thermal insulation capacity and a relatively small bulk density.

Walls built using single-row block masonry technology do not require additional insulation. They also do not need a strong foundation. In terms of its environmental and other characteristics, this material is close to wood, but it compares favorably with it in that it does not burn or deform when the humidity changes. At the same time, in terms of its thermal performance, a cellular concrete wall is superior to a brick wall.

To make the walls of aerated concrete of the desired quality, the masonry is carried out on a special mineral glue. This provides a joint thickness of only 1-3 mm (for comparison, masonry on a cement-sand mortar gives joints 12-15 mm). At the same time, heat loss is significantly reduced, because thick seams are real "bridges of cold" through which heat leaves the house. Foam concrete is more affordable than aerated concrete (for comparison, the first will cost 1300 rubles / m³, and the second - 2800 rubles / m³), ​​so many developers turn their eyes to it. But the fact is that foam concrete blocks can be produced on special mobile installations in a rather artisanal way. Therefore, small businesses are often involved in their manufacture.

To obtain a fine-pored structure, special substances are used - foaming agents. For the most part, these are tanning extracts from the leather industry, various liquors, etc., that is, organic compounds that have a limited shelf life and different foaming properties. To reduce the cost of production, manufacturers instead of quartz sand use substitutes in the form of industrial waste: fly ash, slags, etc. The blocks harden in natural conditions. The process is uneven, causing shrinkage deformations. All this leads to, to put it mildly, vague technical characteristics of the final product. The material has sufficient strength and retains heat well, but subject to manufacturing in accordance with all the rules.