Arbolite has been used in the construction of buildings for both residential and commercial purposes since the 60s of the last century. Despite its widespread popularity, it has both advantages and disadvantages. We want to tell you about the pros and cons of wood concrete, as well as what this building material is.
Arbolit came to the domestic construction market back in the days of the USSR, in the 60s of the last century. Even then, it was widely used in the construction of canteens and industrial buildings. However, in the construction of private houses, the material was rarely used, preferring natural wood, brick and precast concrete structures. Currently, wood concrete is gaining more and more popularity in the construction of buildings for various purposes.
Let's take a closer look at what kind of material it is, as well as the pros and cons of buildings made of wood concrete blocks.
What is arbolite
The name itself comes from the French word arbre, which means "tree". It is also called "wood concrete" and is made from 3 main components:
- Filler in the form of crushed rice straw, flax fire, cotton stalks, needles, bark, but most often - wood chips (spruce, pine, beech), up to 25 cm in length and 1 cm in width.
- Binder - cement grade not less than M300.
- Stabilizers that regulate the improved adhesion of components, as well as the degree of hardening of the material, its plasticity are additives of chemical origin, mainly aluminum sulfate, calcium chloride and nitrate, as well as water glass, and so on.
The quality of the material obtained is regulated by the established standards of GOST or TU.
Types of wood concrete
Arbolite is produced in 2 main types:
- Thermal insulation - used as a partition wall, as well as a heat insulator, with a density of 400-500 kg / m 3.
- Structural - intended for the construction of load-bearing surfaces, with a density of 500-850 kg / m 3.
There are also 2 forms of material:
- Blocks - this option is very convenient for quick wall construction. Blocks can be common for straight walls, and with a U-cut when you need to create a window or door lintel.
- Monolithic - a cheaper version of wood concrete, which has a lower strength than block, since in the first version the products go to the dressing in the structure. To increase the strength, the monolith is made with a layer of heavy concrete.
Application
Arbolit is intended for:
- Erection of load-bearing walls of low-rise residential buildings.
- Construction of non-residential premises for economic purposes.
- Thermal insulation of existing walls of buildings.
Cons and pros of wood concrete
Any building material has its own advantages and disadvantages. The same applies to wood concrete.
The pluses include:
- Lightness of products, allowing self-assembly without the use of special equipment.
- High thermal insulation characteristics of the material intended for insulation. So its thermal conductivity is on average 0.08 W / (m · ° C), which is better than any type of concrete or brick. For example, a 30-centimeter-thick wood concrete wall corresponds to 1.5 meter brickwork. At the same time, wood concrete is able to accumulate heat without succumbing to sudden temperature fluctuations. The thermal conductivity of structural wood concrete is slightly higher, and can reach 0.17 W / (m · ° C).
- Since the material has a woody structure, it could be assumed that it is combustible, however, wood concrete is hardly flammable, and, moreover, does not form a large amount of smoke. Its fire resistance is equal to 0.75-1.5.
- High vapor permeability allows you to build baths, saunas from wood concrete.
- The material is resistant to stretching, that is, it is susceptible to cracks and deformations when the foundation moves by only 0.4-0.5%.
- Wood concrete has group V according to the classification of biostability, which means its resistance to rot, mold, as well as the lack of interest in it from rodents and wood-eaters without additional impregnation.
- Frost resistance is high - from F25 to F50 cycles, but this indicator is significantly reduced in combination with dampness, if the wood concrete is not protected by an external insulator.
- The positive features also include ease of processing and, meanwhile, good bearing strength - that is, it is easy to saw it if necessary, and also to fix any structures on it.
- In addition, wood concrete has excellent sound absorption parameters.
The disadvantages of wood concrete buildings include:
- High coefficient of water absorption - from 40 to 85%. Wood concrete absorbs moisture and releases it during drying. But this applies to random or irregular cases. It is not recommended to use it in unheated rooms with constantly high humidity, or it will have to be plastered with moisture-resistant mixtures and covered with appropriate insulators. In addition, for material saturated with moisture, the frost resistance coefficient is significantly reduced.
- Low strength parameters limit the use of wood concrete. Structural is suitable only for low-rise buildings with a low bearing load (that is, with a height of one floor, it will not work to combine it with heavy materials). The maximum height of wood concrete buildings should not exceed 3 floors.
- Many people believe that arbolite belongs to budget products in terms of cost. However, if you choose a material that meets all the parameters of GOST, then the prices for it exceed the cost of foam concrete. So, on average, a cube of wood concrete for structural purposes costs about 4000 rubles, and a foam block - 2500-3000 rubles.
Thus, wood concrete is an excellent material, with a number of positive features outweighing the shortcomings, but only if all the necessary operating conditions are met, as well as with the right choice of material.
At the initial stage, it is important to choose the right material, having considered all possible options. Arbolite, which is a mixture of high-grade cement and wood chips, replaced brick and concrete, wooden beams. It is in no way inferior, and in some respects it surpasses the traditional options.
It is necessary to take into account all the characteristics of wood concrete. Any kind of base can be adopted, since even with significant shrinkage, due to the high strength and ability of the blocks to withstand bending loads, the walls of the building do not crack. It is possible to use the base, the construction of which will be the most profitable and expedient in specific conditions, the most suitable design is the belt one.
Arbolite has high moisture permeability, therefore waterproofing is required according to the technology:
- elevation of the foundation above ground level - not less than 0.5 m;
- a brick substrate is made to the same height, absorbing moisture into itself.
2. Laying the walls.
The technology is practically no different from the scheme for working with brick or foam concrete, except that the blocks are capable of absorbing moisture from the solution. Therefore, in order to avoid "drying out" of the seams, the wood concrete is moistened in advance.
Laying rows begins from the corners, checking the level for possible deviations, the material is easily processed. The thickness of the seam is taken from 10 to 30 mm, depending on the geometry of the elements and the number of storeys of the building.
The solution is applied along the edges of the previous row. An air thermal break is created, which is compensated by the thermal conductivity of the cement-sand mixture. Often, additional insulation of masonry is used with the help of wooden battens or polystyrene foam tape. Such a gasket creates a gap in the seam, eliminating the formation of cold bridges.
The optimum thickness of the walls of the house is 30 cm. For a two-story dwelling - at least 40, since the load on the lower rows of wood concrete increases. Subject to brick cladding or internal or external additional insulation, it is allowed to take the thickness of the load-bearing walls of 20 cm.
It is necessary to stiffen the walls by reinforcing them with a polymer mesh or steel bars treated with an anti-corrosion compound. Strengthening is subject to the corners of the building, door and window openings, the junction of the outer walls. For houses built from wood concrete, it is not necessary to strengthen the masonry, but many, taking hedge, place a grid every 3-4 rows. You can read the reviews of the developers.
The blocks are stacked in a staggered manner, which ensures high reliability of adhesion of the elements to each other.
The manual for working with wood concrete indicates the need to lay out no more than three rows at the same time. Then take a 24-hour break to dry the solution. It is for this reason that internal walls are often erected together with external ones. To accelerate the curing of cement and reduce construction time, various additives are introduced into the composition.
3. External and internal decoration.
The surface is rough, due to which reliable adhesion of the material and the rough plaster mixture is ensured, additional processing of the walls is excluded. The facade of a house made of monolithic wood concrete or block concrete can also be painted with acrylic urethane paint.
For exterior finishing, it is desirable to use products that have reliable adhesion to wood concrete. If the plane is not even enough, a wooden lathing is allowed. Anyone can choose the way to decorate the interior walls with their own hands. The humidity level in the room during work should not exceed 75%
4. Roof.
It is important to correctly calculate the loads and distribute them on the walls, the thickness of which must be sufficient to ensure the reliability and stability of the roof. The easiest way is to arrange a reinforced cement mortar screed at the end of the last row of blocks.
Nuances of construction
When building a house from wood concrete with your own hands, it is important to study the manual and follow a few simple tips. The thermotechnical properties of wood concrete are fully revealed in the absence of cold bridges, leading to significant heat losses. To eliminate them on our own, the technology of breaking the seams by laying wooden battens is used.
To prevent the absorption of moisture in the solution, moisten the surface of the blocks with water or place them on an incompletely dried material. You can solve this problem with a mixture of liquid consistency.
The use of wood concrete presupposes the obligatory execution of finishing. If it is necessary to use products of non-standard sizes, it is advisable to process them on site. This will reduce the cost and significantly shorten the time frame.
Some nuances:
- due to high hygroscopicity, it needs a waterproofing device;
- construction of a basement with a height of 500-600 mm;
- to protect against water runoff, the roof is removed from the walls by 300-500 mm;
- for rooms with high humidity, it is necessary to perform a high-quality vapor barrier;
- heat-insulating blocks with a low density can be selected only for one-story houses; with a higher number of storeys, the use of a construction material is required that can withstand the weight of floor slabs and upper floors;
- wood concrete does not combine well with ordinary concrete, therefore, when joining, special ingredients are added to the solution that accelerate the setting of cement, or wooden strips are used as a spacer between surfaces;
- when docked with metal, additional protection against corrosion is needed.
Building material is well cut, drilled, sawn, perfectly holds screws and nails.
Possible mistakes
- The involvement of non-professionals for the construction of a turnkey house is the main reason for dissatisfaction with the quality of the work performed.
- Wrong block selection. A product with a low density, the price of which is significantly lower, gives significant shrinkage with a curvature in the vertical plane.
- Lack of reinforcement over the floor. It entails an uneven distribution of the load on the walls and their curvature.
- Deviations in geometric parameters. It leads to an increase in the consumption of masonry mortar and finishing plaster.
- Aerated concrete basement construction. A porous building material of low cost is not able to provide protection against moisture.
The cost of building turnkey houses in Moscow
The price of turnkey housing depends on whether a typical project is selected or is developed individually for each customer. Also, to a large extent, the layout of engineering networks on the site is also influenced, the connection of which to the house is a considerable part of the estimate, the area of the building and the number of floors.
When ordering a house according to a standard design, which can be easily adapted to blocks made of wood concrete, it will be possible to save on the development of an original scheme and plan of the dwelling.
The cost of 1 m3 of standard thickness masonry is about 6,700 rubles, 1 m2 of a finished house will cost on average 4,200. Prices for fully finished housing made of arbolite start at 800,000-900,000 for a modest and neat house. A two-story cottage with garage and pool can be built for about $ 4-5 million.
If you decide to build a house from wood concrete blocks, you need to know all its advantages and disadvantages. This will help you avoid serious problems in the future. Everyone has their own priorities for their future housing, so it is important to get information on time.
Advantages:
- Since these blocks have low thermal conductivity, this makes the walls thin.
- They are considered natural raw materials, therefore they do not emit any harmful substances.
- Good soundproofing.
- Low weight allows you to save money on the foundation, since the load on it will not be significant.
- The construction speed is high due to the size of the blocks.
Disadvantages:
- Arbolite blocks absorb moisture well and that is why it is important to waterproof the first row of masonry.
- Bad geometry. More mortar is spent on construction, and the thermal insulation deteriorates.
The bottom line! You can build an environmentally friendly house from this material.
What is a finished project from wood concrete blocks
You can choose it from our catalog. We have a very large selection, so you will like one anyway. This will save you time and money. You will be able to start construction in the near future.
What is an individual project
We create an individual project according to the requests and requirements of the customer. Although it takes a lot more time, it will result in all your ideas being realized. You will receive a unique home.
If you want to build a house, then you will not regret contacting our company. We employ professionals. You will not need to seek help from other companies, since we have everything you need. Our prices will delight you, you can be sure of that. You will receive all the information you need in advance. The result is your dream home. We will do everything necessary for this.
The following characteristics of wood concrete make it possible to use it for the design and construction of houses, baths, hotels and other buildings:
- Low thermal conductivity due to porosity and wood filler
- High sound insulation
- Greater strength of the material due to chips chaotically interlocking with each other
- Low weight
- The ability to saw, cut, tighten screws and hammer nails - like in a tree, very convenient in decoration and operation
- Environmentally friendly - 85% of it consists of ordinary wood
Misconceptions about arbolit
Sometimes you have to hear some misconceptions about arbolit that do not correspond to reality. Our experts were personally involved in the design, production of wood concrete and the construction of houses from it, so we can absolutely responsibly refute:
- Arbolite unknown material. It is not true, it was invented under Stalin. There are still houses built at that time.
- Arbolit is afraid of water. Any building material must be protected from moisture, a fool understands that. We have successfully designed a lot of wood concrete baths. They have been in operation for years, the owners are very satisfied, we can provide reviews.
Features of wood concrete projects and prices
- Arbolit is a building block, projects of houses made of bricks, aerated blocks, expanded clay blocks, ceramic blocks, and even frame projects are easily adapted for it.
- By design, wood concrete houses do not differ from the design of any other projects.
If you need to modify an existing house project for wood concrete, or design a house from scratch according to your wishes, then feel free to contact us - we have extensive experience in the design and construction of wood concrete houses, and the prices for our services will pleasantly surprise you! You can see prices for house projects below in the catalog.
In the practice of low-rise construction, wood concrete is used for the construction of partitions, load-bearing walls, as sound and heat insulation. But, successfully implemented house projects are not so common due to the low popularity of this type of lightweight concrete. Although arbolite can become the basis for effective construction.
Wood concrete can be used based on one of two technologies:
- laying of walls from ready-made modules;
- pouring monolithic wood concrete into the formwork (fixed or removable).
If the builder is just starting to work with the material, it is recommended to carry out a trial batch and make several test modules... If you managed to achieve a high quality block, you can try to make a small bench from them, then a garage or a shed, and only then start building a house. The master will have time to gain experience in working with wood concrete, learn to lay the mortar of the required thickness, and gain confidence in his actions. Construction of houses from wood concrete will be of high quality and fast.
A correctly folded wood concrete house will never crack along the wall, even if the foundation collapses. Material has high bending strength
Technology
How to build a house from wood concrete? Initially, a plot of land should be allocated for building, the master should have a project of a house made of wood concrete, according to which construction will be carried out.
The further sequence of work is as follows:
- markings for the foundation are applied to the site;
- according to the markings, a trench 50 cm deep is pulled out, the width depends on the design values, but 30 cm is enough to create a two-story house;
- the soil is rammed using a vibratory rammer;
- formwork is constructed from edged boards;
- sand 20 cm is laid at the bottom of the trench, or gravel / sand 10 cm each, the mass is rammed and leveled;
- waterproofing is laid out;
- a reinforcing cage is laid (d 10mm);
- concrete B22.5 / M300 is poured.
In this case, a brief technology for manufacturing a strip foundation is described. No less reliable is the supporting base on bored piles. To protect the masonry from moisture, you should erect a 1.5 m underlay of red brick or raise the foundation above the surface of the earth to an identical height. A reinforced belt can be laid between the masonry and the base, a waterproofing layer is required.
Laying of walls and partitions
Wall thickness can be 30-40 cm... Work on the construction of the first floor starts from the corner of the building. It is recommended to use a block of 300x200x500 mm. The modules are laid on perlite or cement mortar M10, with a seam thickness of no more than 10-15 mm, a vertical seam - 8.0-15 mm. For the device of internal partitions, a size of 20x20x50 cm is used... During the construction of partitions, ventilation ducts are laid, for the creation of which special modules are used.
The composition of the cement / perlite solution used in the construction of houses from wood concrete with your own hands:
- proportions by volume 1: 5;
- cement - 300.0 kg;
- perlite - 1.00 m³;
- water - 290.0 l;
- air-entraining additives - 4.1 l.
For the masonry of wood concrete blocks, a standard cement-sand mortar is often used in a ratio of 1: 3.
After the completion of this stage of work, the filling of the armopoyas is carried out... This structural element gives the future building high strength.
Work technology:
- wood concrete blocks 150x200x500 mm are installed along the perimeter of the object, closer to the outer wall;
- modules act as formwork and as additional insulation of a structural element;
- from the inside, a formwork is laid from an edged board;
- reinforcement of 10 mm is placed inside the structure in six rows;
- pouring concrete M300 / B22.5 is being implemented.
For reinforcement of wood concrete, you can use separate rods or welded mesh:
- welded reinforcement products, embedded parts and meshes in accordance with GOST 8478-81 / GOST 6727 80;
- reinforcing bar steel АI-II-III;
- wire of class Вр1.
Floor laying
The material of the house masonry made of wood concrete allows you to equip reinforced concrete or wooden floors. Frameless concrete slabs 150 mm can be used as a basis... Based on the design data, all the protruding parts of the slabs can be cut to obtain the required configuration. Along the perimeter, they are also insulated with wood concrete modules 150x200x500, after which the laying of the second floor begins.
Laying floor beams on the second floor
When building houses from wood concrete, beams with a section of 100x200 mm are laid on the last row of blocks. The recommended pitch is 600 mm. The material is pre-treated with an antiseptic.
Roof construction
For the construction of the rafter system, you can use an edged board 200x50 mm... A waterproofing membrane is pulled onto the rafters. The material UTAFOL H110 showed good results.
A counter-beam of 50x50 mm is attached to the membrane to the rafters, a crate is assembled from a 150x35 mm board with a step of 250 mm. The lathing is sheathed with particle boards 122x250 mm, 9.5 mm thick... Metal or bituminous tiles are laid on the roof of a house made of wood concrete blocks.
Modules can be tailored to the needs of a specific project. The complete set and dimensions do not violate the beauty of the masonry and contribute to fast construction
We build a house from wood concrete with our own hands - exterior decoration
How to build a house that won't collapse in a few years? The outer surface must have a protective finish... The material has good adhesion and does not require preliminary preparation. A rough plaster layer is applied along the facade along the lighthouses.
After that, the walls are pasted over with plaster mesh under the finishing layer. At the end, a protective plaster mixture up to 5 mm is applied, with frost-resistant and moisture-resistant properties... The facade is ready to work with textured paints (based on acrylurethane) or decorative cladding (block house, wall paneling, siding, clinker, ventilation facade). The main construction of a house made of wood concrete with your own hands can be considered completed.
The property needs good protection from moisture. A layer of vapor barrier is laid between the masonry and the inner cladding, it is better to leave free space from the outer cladding to the wall.
Monolithic house made of wood concrete with your own hands
How to build a house from wood concrete with your own hands using this technology? The monolith is created on the basis of removable or non-removable formwork. Special shells can be made of high-density wood concrete 1000 kg / m³, which, after setting, act as a permanent formwork. In this case, it is possible to achieve relative uniformity of the wall, which is due to a minimum of through mortar joints. In addition, this method of building houses from wood concrete on a turnkey basis allows using cast wood concrete of a lower density, which is warmer.
The mixture is placed around the perimeter, - on average, a layer of 40-50 cm / 3-4 m³ is realized per work shift... She practically does not ram, only bayonets and then slightly ramps. Arbolite should be prepared from special chips, pre-treated with mineralizers or lime 100-150 kg / m³. When they build a house from wood concrete with their own hands, mixing the solution must be done by force.
When building houses from wood concrete blocks, professionals recommend taking into account the following:
- it is possible to extract the maximum heat engineering properties from the object by removing the cold bridges, which are characterized by a high coefficient of heat loss. There is a technique for breaking a mortar joint using wooden planks 12x12 mm. Along the entire contour, the solution is distributed between the strips set on the sides of the modules;
- It is not so easy to build a house from wood concrete - when dry, the module quickly absorbs water that is present in the cement mortar. To prevent this, it is recommended to moisten the surface with water or use an incompletely dried block in the masonry. For such purposes, a more liquid cement slurry can be used;
- for the implementation of a non-standard project of a wood concrete house, modules of complex trapezoidal or angular shapes will be required. Machining is best done on site using a stone saw and other tools.
The wood concrete manufacturing technology provides such properties that the blocks can be used as insulation in frame housing construction
Price
Before you build a house from wood concrete, you should decide on the level of costs that you will have to incur. Arbolite blocks, the price of which is 3.9 tr / m³, are not a cheap building material. A budgetary project for a typical development can cost 2,100-2,500 thousand rubles.
Lightweight concrete, prepared on the basis of special chips and cement, makes it possible to obtain a high-quality and technological block, which should be used in private housing construction.
The construction of houses from wood concrete with your own hands is shown in the video: