Before you start building your dream home, you must at least decide on the technology used in the construction. Currently, there are several types on the construction market that are fundamentally different from each other, house construction technologies. Let’s look at each of them, find out the pros and cons, the approximate cost of construction, durability, and the ability to retain heat.
frame houses
Durability: over 70 years.
Approximate cost of construction: $500 per 1 m2 (from $120/m2 for a building kit, from $170 for building a “box”).
The ability to retain heat: the frame wall, in terms of thermal insulation, exceeds the brick wall by 8-10 times.
The first important advantage of a frame house: its entire foundation can be lightweight, which means cheaper. To reduce the supporting frame, coniferous trees are most often used: unlike hardwoods, pine, spruce, cedar, and larch are less susceptible to decay. In addition, the tree is impregnated with antiseptics that are safe for humans: it is not affected by wood parasites, does not rot, and does not even support combustion. The frame house practically does not shrink, since the windows and the door are installed immediately after the roof is covered. This fact allows you to lay communications, carry out internal work in the house, install finishing floors even in a slight frost. The advantages of a frame house also include reliability, environmental friendliness, outstanding seismic resistance. The erected multi-layer frame wall, together with the installed ventilation system, can provide fantastic thermal insulation of the building. When performing construction work, there is no need to use heavy construction equipment. A construction team of 3-4 people is able to completely assemble the frame of the house in a month. The full cycle, from pouring the foundation to the complete commissioning of the house, usually takes no more than 6-7 months. Of course, this is a unique result compared to other building technologies.
If all the same, it’s good to look for flaws, then we can say that the tree, no matter how you impregnate it, is still prone to decay, burning, damage by parasites, and besides, it is afraid of moisture. If the construction is approached seriously, intelligently and with full responsibility, then all these disadvantages can be avoided.
Metal frame houses.
Durability: at least 100 years.
Approximate cost of construction: about $500 per 1 m2 (building a “box” about $250/m2).
Ability to retain heat: metal itself, by definition, conducts heat a little better than wood, but this problem is solved by using modern heaters in construction. Despite the seeming fragility, a house built using light steel thin-walled structures (LSTC) is a rather rigid structure that allows you to build houses on 2 full floors without any problems. The connection of elements in a metal frame does not require any welding or the use of special rivets. Fastenings are carried out with self-tapping screws, special pins or locks provided in the profiles themselves, from which the supporting structures of frame walls, ceilings, truss systems and other auxiliary architectural elements are made. The metal frame has a higher precision than when using wood, so it does not need to be additionally leveled using special profiles, hence saving labor and material. In addition, some builders claim that the cost of metal-frame construction is 5-15% lower than with the use of wood, but, as we see, there is no difference in price under the condition of turnkey construction. A properly sheathed metal frame house has excellent thermal insulation properties, but design and installation errors can lead to significant heat loss through metal structures. One of the important inconveniences of a metal frame house is that it is extremely difficult to install built-in cabinet furniture in it. Shelves, cabinets, pencil cases, kitchen cabinets, racks are usually attached to a rigid, reliable base on the wall, but this base simply does not exist in the metal frame. Therefore, the locations of the furniture to be attached to the walls are determined at the design stage.
Difficulties will certainly also arise in the case of installing a fireplace: it is rather difficult to insert a heat-resistant section of a brick wall into a metal frame. And, finally, in case of fire, the wooden beams of the frame of the house impregnated with an antiseptic are charred and retain their shape for quite a long time, and the metal profile is quite deformed under the influence of high temperatures, which will greatly reduce the chances of saving residents.
Brick houses.
Durability: on average – about 100 years.
To a large extent, the service life depends on the quality used in the construction of bricks.
Approximate cost of construction: about $500 per 1 m2 (from $300 per m2 – for the construction of the “box”, $200 per m2 – for the internal arrangement). The ability to retain heat: in order for the house to be warm enough, the thickness of the brick walls must be at least 1.5 m. The main advantages of a brick house include durability, strength, environmental friendliness, beauty, sound insulation, the possibility of implementing various architectural forms and high aesthetic properties .
A brick house can be built on any soil and any terrain. But do not forget that the house is quite heavy, and the weaker the soil, the more expensive the cost of the foundation. In addition, after the construction of a brick box, soil shrinkage can last from a month to several years. This increases the construction time. To eliminate the shortcomings of a brick, it is laid in different ways, and each pursues its own goal: to lighten the structure, improve thermal insulation, reduce pressure on the foundation, make the architecture of the building expressive, etc.
So the use of “effective masonry” provides for the device between the rows of bricks of air gaps, which are often filled with various kinds of heat insulators. This makes it possible not only to make the wall warmer, but also to significantly reduce its cost and weight. For the same purpose, brick is combined with other materials – for example, with adobe.
Concrete block houses.
The most popular materials for the construction of low-rise buildings have recently become foam and aerated concrete blocks.
Let’s find out why. Durability: foam blocks are considered an eternal material; over time, a house built from them only becomes stronger.
Approximate cost: about $500/m2 (construction of a “box” – from $200/m2). Ability to retain heat: foam – and aerated concrete blocks have excellent thermal insulation properties (they vary depending on the type of material). Foam concrete is made on the basis of foaming fillers, for example, from aluminum powder.
As a result, the resulting material has a uniform porous structure, as well as a number of unique properties. Thanks to the “filler” in the form of air bubbles, foam concrete has excellent heat and sound insulation characteristics. Foam concrete is lightweight, having significant dimensions of the blocks, it can be easily transferred from one place to another without excessive effort. A block of foam concrete can be sawn with a circular saw or even a regular hacksaw, which makes it easy to adjust problem areas and corners.
Aerated concrete is in many ways similar to foam concrete, only the filler is gas – hydrogen, oxygen, carbon. This material has several advantages: it is stronger and plaster fits better on it. Foam concrete can be used both for the manufacture of appropriate blocks, and used for pouring into fixed formwork. Aerated concrete is intended exclusively for the manufacture of blocks. Blocks of foam – and aerated concrete are placed in the overlay. Due to the fact that they have an almost ideal surface shape and porous structure, the mortar layer is made quite thin: this significantly reduces the cost and speeds up the construction process.
Concrete blocks are strong (withstand from 3 to 100 kg / cm2), fireproof, moisture resistant and resistant to the formation of fungi. Another undoubted advantage of the described technology is that anyone can master it: special literature, several expert consultations and you can safely take on the construction of a building. The main disadvantages include the ability to absorb moisture and brittleness of the material. The absorbed moisture during freezing can even destroy the walls, so they should certainly be waterproofed, at least by applying a thin layer of mortar to them.
Thermohouse.
Durability: for example, in Germany, thermal houses are insured for 100 years or more.
Approximate cost: about $500 per 1 m2 (construction of a “box” – from $250 per 1 m2).
Ability to retain heat: the wall of the thermal house with a thickness of 0.25 m, in terms of heat saving, is equivalent to a wall with brickwork with a thickness of 1.8 m.
The thermal block is a hollow block made of expanded polystyrene with a size of 1.0×0.25×0.25 m. It has horizontal and vertical ones, which are filled with concrete during the construction process (plastic consistency of class not lower than B-15 with a crushed stone fraction of 20 mm). As a result, a monolithic wall is formed.
The hollow thermoblocks used in construction are connected using special grooves (locks): the assembly accuracy is extremely high. A house built using this technology can have walls and cuts of various configurations. If necessary, the thermoblock can be easily cut at the desired angle using a conventional hacksaw. Working with thermoblocks is very convenient, which greatly reduces labor costs and significantly reduces construction time. Thermohouses can also be built at sub-zero (up to -10°C) temperatures.
This technology allows you to significantly save energy resources due to low energy consumption for heating houses. In fact, the need for heating the house arises only with the advent of frost. Houses made of adobe Longevity: hundreds of years.
The synagogue built of adobe in the town of Bershad, Vinnytsia region, has been operating for more than two centuries.
Approximate cost: approximately $500/m2 (self-construction – about $100/m2).
Ability to retain heat: this building technology is the basis for the construction of the so-called “zero energy houses”. Adobe is one of the oldest composite building materials, which consists of earth, sand, straw and clay. This is the simplest construction method using only natural materials, the least industrial and the safest.
It is used in free architecture, devoid of direct forms – curved arches, walls, vaults. From heavy adobe, which consists of about 2-3 parts of clay and 1 part of straw, the main supporting structures of the house are made. After complete hardening and final drying, heavy adobe literally becomes a stone. The material is not layered, and the straw gives the effect of reinforcement. Light adobe in its composition has a much larger content of straw and is used as a heater or material for filling a wooden frame. Walls insulated with light adobe breathe wonderfully, keep heat well and are absolutely not afraid of fire. To protect the adobe house from rodents, its walls are treated with lime. The roof is made of reeds or straw. This material can be easily found, but for its weaving, which border on art, you will have to pay at least $ 200 / m2. Cob houses are resistant to cold, they are cool in summer and warm in winter. They are “quiet”, as the walls perfectly absorb external and internal noise.
Saman is refractory, it is often used for the manufacture of chimneys and furnaces. This is a very strong material, unlike other technologies used, the walls of an adobe house are held together by a three-dimensional structure that is formed from intertwined straw stalks. One of the disadvantages of a house built of adobe is that it is afraid of exposure to a large amount of moisture and therefore they are built mainly on hills, so that water flowing from the roof does not wash away the bottom of the walls. It is imperative to arrange effective drainage. As you can see, with various construction technologies used, the final cost of 1 square meter of housing is approximately the same ($500). Conclusion: everyone should choose for himself an individual construction plan, based primarily on specific opportunities and needs, as well as taking into account the characteristics of the terrain and climate.
The choice is yours. Good luck in construction.