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Today, there are more than 20 technologies by which private houses are built. It is impossible to say unequivocally that this technology is the best in construction, and this one is completely bad. All of them are imperfect, they all have positive and negative points. In order to correctly answer the question “What kind of house to build”, you need to decide on the basic requirements that you place on a home. Under them to choose technology. Everyone has their own definition of the best home, material and technology too.
What are houses built from?
All external walls can be divided into two large groups: inertial and non-inertial. Inertial houses are built from materials with high heat capacity. They tend to accumulate heat, and then radiate it. Moreover, the radiation is in the infrared range. In such houses, even at a relatively low air temperature, it is warm. Infrared heat is better perceived by our body.
The walls of non-inertial houses are a “pie” of materials of different composition and sequence. But they all have one property: the materials have good or excellent thermal insulation properties, but have a low heat capacity. The main difference between houses of this type is that it is not the walls that heat up, but the air and it warms up quickly, but it also cools down. In order to keep warm for a long time, the rooms are sealed. And this has its drawbacks. Let’s talk about the properties of materials in more detail.
Inertial materials
The material of the walls of such houses tends to accumulate heat and remove moisture. To keep the accumulated heat as long as possible, they must be externally insulated. The advantage of rooms made of these materials is that in the absence of heating they “keep” the temperature for quite a long time. It follows that such technologies are more appropriate for permanent residences. For a temporary visit, for example, a summer residence, they are inconvenient. It will take a long time to warm up the walls, and if they are cold, it is chilly in the rooms.
Materials for the construction of inertial houses:
- ceramic brick (solid and hollow);
- straw;
- ceramic blocks;
- foam block and monolith from it;
- gas block;
- expanded clay concrete blocks and monolith;
- adobe houses;
- cinder block.
The main disadvantage of houses of this type is the rather high cost and duration of construction. Somewhere these shortcomings are more pronounced, somewhere less, but, in general, they are like this: a powerful foundation is required, the walls take a long time to build.
Inertia-free materials
Inertial-free houses are built from materials with low energy intensity. Basically, these are modern materials and technologies that provide for a multi-layer cake for walls. The main point is that almost all of them have low vapor permeability or do not conduct vapor at all. It’s the same with air, it doesn’t pass through walls. This means that in order to regulate humidity and ensure the flow of fresh air, removal of carbon dioxide, a competent ventilation system is needed in the house.
Inertial-free houses are built from the following materials:
- 3 Dpanel, MDM, SOTA – there is expanded polystyrene inside the system, and densely reinforced concrete outside;
- Termodom, Izodom – concrete is poured into a fixed formwork made of expanded polystyrene;
- polystyrene concrete – a new type of material – concrete with polystyrene filler;
- sandwich panels – more often they build industrial facilities from them, but sometimes, in order to save money, country houses are built;
- SIP panels – insulation (mineral wool or polystyrene) between two OSB boards;
- frame houses – insulation between plywood or OSB boards:
- on a wooden frame;
- on metal;
- Vacuum panels are a new building technology that is not yet used in private housing construction, but already exists.
The main advantage of non-inertial houses is the short time and low cost of construction. Since the walls are light, the foundations for such structures are inexpensive. They account for a significant part of construction costs, and the overall reduction in the cost of construction is significant. If you are deciding which house to build and the key constraint is money and/or time to build it, you may need to choose from these materials. But at the same time, we must not forget about the design of ventilation systems and be sure to take into account its cost in the calculations. Otherwise, life will be very uncomfortable, and in some cases impossible.
Log houses & cabins
Wooden houses stand apart. These are houses made of logs or timber (regular, profiled, glued). On the one hand, the walls breathe, on the other hand, their inertia is small. Previously, such buildings could be attributed to partially inertial due to the fact that in the center of the building there was a stove with a large heat capacity. The heat accumulated in it warmed the house until the fire burned.
Building wooden houses today, few people put a brick stove for heating. Basically it is water heating. Therefore, they can be classified as non-inertial. If a log of large diameter still has at least some significant inertia, then the heat stored in a beam of 150 * 150 mm is definitely not enough. It is necessary either to add fuel at night, or to install combined boilers that run on electricity at night. There is another way out – to make external insulation. The measure is understandable and quite effective, but only subject to the vapor permeability of the insulation and finishing material.
Another important aspect is that in order for wooden houses to have a normal appearance, they require annual maintenance. This means that every year or every two years (depending on the type of processing) you will either have to work with a brush yourself or hire workers. Without this, a beautiful structure will turn into black and unattractive. Actually, then there is a way out – to make an exterior finish, and this is still an expense, like the maintenance of wood – impregnations, paints cost a lot.
As you can see, there really are no ideal technologies. To properly build a house, you need to proceed from your situation. Decide on the key points that will allow you, with an awareness of all the nuances, to choose the material for the walls and the technology of its construction. Let’s take a closer look at a few of the most typical home requirements. Read about the features of building wooden houses from timber in this article.
Which house is cheaper to build
Let’s start with the fact that the cost of building a foundation and a box of a house from all inertial materials of industrial production is definitely more expensive than from non-inertial ones. They have a high density, and this is reflected in the mass of the building, which leads to an increase in the cost of the foundation.
The most expensive house is brick. We will take it as a standard and the cost of construction using other technologies will be compared with it. The next in cost is from ceramic blocks, about 90% of the price of brick. The most inexpensive of this group are adobe and adobe houses.
If you have time and the weather permits, over the summer you can make and dry adobe bricks for a very large house. At the cost of materials, they can compete with many modern technologies. Especially if there is an opportunity to mine clay on your own. The rest of the fillers – straw, manure, etc., are free or cost a little. The only point is that it takes time to make bricks, and it is sometimes more expensive than money. After all, they are not industrially produced. Another limitation is the climate, not everyone will have the weather to dry the clay to stone density. So this technology is available for budget construction in regions with hot summers.
More expensive than adobe, but decently cheaper than brick, block buildings. Aerated concrete, expanded clay concrete and foam concrete blocks require approximately 70–75% of the estimate for the construction of a brick house. But aerated concrete requires excellent waterproofing and it is risky to use it in areas with a high level of groundwater. Cinder block is inexpensive. By the way, you can do it yourself. But the service life of slag concrete is about 50 years. Next, it will collapse. Read about building a house from aerated concrete here.
Even less, about 30-50% of the cost of a brick house is required for the construction of non-inertial houses. The cheapest house of SIP panels. They take no more than a third of the price of brick construction. About 40% will be required for carcasses. But at the same time, the service life is about 25-50 years, depending on the quality of the materials and the accuracy of the technology. However, for this entire group, compliance with technology is key, even small deviations can have disastrous consequences.
In addition, about building a house on a wooden frame and about houses on a metal frame in this article.
Once again, we draw your attention to the fact that the cost of the ventilation system must be added to the cost of all non-inertial boxes. If it turns out natural, but not, then it will be necessary to install a forced one. It is much more expensive to set up and maintain. But there must be ventilation, and it must be calculated correctly.
The construction of a wooden house will require about 60-70% of the cost of a brick one. But here it is still necessary to include caulking and polishing the log house. You can’t get by without them. Although, if a wooden house is immediately planned for finishing, grinding is not required.
What is faster to build
The longest construction period for a brick house. It will take at least a year to build. This is if all technical processes will go without delay. It will take about 6 months to distill the box of building blocks from the finished adobe. It is possible to build a house from all types of panels for 1-3 months. The same amount will be required for the assembly of frame houses.
Wooden houses do not fit into any group. If you cut corners on the spot, you will collect the walls for about a month or two. If you ordered a finished project and brought a layout with cut bowls to the site, you can fold it in a few days. Add time to the foundation and roof. As a result, it will take up to six months. But it will not be possible to enter immediately after the forcing of the walls; before the start of finishing, you need to wait at least another six months or even a year. Depends on the original importance of the material.
Only a house made of glued laminated timber can be finished immediately. All other wooden houses must stand for at least six months. The wood should dry out, sit down and take its operational dimensions. The difference in height can be up to 15–20 cm per frame, and this is a lot. Therefore, finishing begins only after 9-12 months. So put the box and quickly move into it in this case will not work.
So, the features of the sea. But if you decide which house to put in the country, and you plan to stay there only during the season and you don’t want to spend a lot of money, then pay attention to frame houses or SIP panels. They are inexpensive and are built quickly. Just study the technology thoroughly, they don’t like mistakes.
My home is my castle
Fortress walls, brick houses in the first place. These are definitely bulletproof walls and quite strong: expanded clay concrete, cinder block, adobe technologies. With other building blocks, it is a little more difficult to look at the density.
Sufficiently strong are obtained at home with concrete components 3 Dpanel, MDM, SOTA, Termodom, Izod. All other technologies are in no way an obstacle to serious shock loads.
As you can see, it is definitely impossible to say that some technology is the best. Weigh the advantages and disadvantages, choose the most important points and determine for yourself which house to build to meet your requirements.