For almost two years now we have been living in a house made of aerated concrete blocks. I must say right away that I have many acquaintances living in the same houses, so at the construction stage I had no doubt that I would use aerated concrete for my future home. If earlier someone had told me about the cons of this material, I would certainly have made a different choice. Well, for now, what we have is what we have. I will share my experience, maybe it will be useful to someone in the future.
So, I will tell you about the main disadvantages of aerated concrete house. I hope that many will find this useful for making decisions during construction. There will be a lot of them, so make yourself comfortable.
1. High humidity
Humidity indicators in aerated concrete house are simply off scale. I'm talking about release moisture.
Immediately after production, the moisture content of these blocks is about 40%. It takes several years for aerated concrete to dry, eventually its equilibrium moisture content reaches 5%.
I will say that because of this, the thermotechnical characteristics of the house suffer greatly. To heat a dwelling in cold weather, you have to spend twice as much resources. In addition, humidity indicators invariably creep up due to natural factors: precipitation, various wet processes, etc.
This whole situation did not suit me much, so I found a way to deal with the problem. It took me several years to find it, but the result was achieved. I just made good ventilation in the house.
I also need to say about the insulation of the walls. Naturally, when the house is cold, this option comes to mind first. But with high humidity, insulation can only be made worse, since moisture will not find a way out of the material. The walls will take longer to dry, and therefore the exterior decoration will have to be postponed.
The best and most successful option is to organize ventilation on the facade.
2. Aerated concrete blocks are very fragile
It will not be difficult to split aerated concrete. Try it yourself if you wish. When I see houses made of aerated concrete on the street today, I pay special attention to the presence of chips. And there are always a lot of them.
You can hide the chips behind the exterior, but that won't solve the problem.
3. Insufficient heat capacity
The heat capacity of aerated concrete is simply scanty, especially when compared with concrete or brick. It is possible to increase the thermal inertia at least a little. For this, internal walls should be built from the above heavy materials.
4. Fasteners do not hold well in aerated concrete
I will not say that this causes a lot of inconvenience, but in some cases it turns out to be very inappropriate. Various types of fasteners are sold today, so you can find the right one, but this will take time, effort and, most likely, more money than planned. Something lightweight aerated concrete can easily withstand, but something massive and heavy may not.
5. Soundproofing is poor
Naturally, concrete and brick have the best sound insulation. You will hardly be able to hide from prying ears in a house made of aerated concrete. Households will perfectly hear everything that happens in the neighboring rooms.
6. You won't be able to get too big on the sale of an aerated concrete house
Selling a house made of aerated concrete for a large sum is unlikely to succeed. Although some exhibit their homes with exorbitant price tags. I'm not sure there will be buyers.
A digression from the topic for "smart guys" ...
I have heard several times that you can easily make a hole in an aerated concrete block even with a fingernail. It even sounds unrealistic, let alone doing it. If someone tried it, I look forward to comments!
There is also an opinion that houses made of aerated concrete are more likely to fall under the actions of thieves, because it is easy to make a hole in the walls. Maybe this can be done with a sledgehammer, but it is certainly not so simple. And it is unlikely that thieves will be able to act quietly, wielding a sledgehammer.
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