Either way, aircrete solid walls with rebar inside should be a lot better if you are somewhere that hurricanes, tornadoes, or earthquakes are an issue…. There are lots of videos and websites about how to properly build a concrete wall, and with aircrete the forms don’t have to hold back as much weight! If you build aircrete walls in this fashion you can also use rebar in them, helping the stability and load bearing (but I would still stick with single story unless you have an engineer go over your plans with you)…. Assemble and remove forms instead of making and assembling bricks. Since you are the person manufacturing the bricks, take making and setting the bricks out of the equation and build concrete walls. THAT SAID, I think that tries to fix a problem the wrong way. There are YouTube videos showing large aircrete blocks being made this way, but small aircrete blocks with interlocking capabilities are more work and the blocks easier to chip/break until set in the wall…. HOWEVER, were you to make/use blocks with a shape providing for interlocking than the issues would be minimalized. Also the blocks are flat rectangles so the shape doesn’t lock the blocks together, contributing to the problem. Much of that problem is there is no void to fill with rebar and binder (concrete). The problem with most aircrete blocks, as has been discussed here, is load bearing (which affects natural disaster survivability). I have not seen what the r-value of a cinder block that had its void filled with aircrete but I think it could be a good solution and would be cheaper than using rigid foamboard insulation.įor the folks who don't think aircrete is good enough to build a house with I would suggest you check out the videos linked, they have been using aircrete to build conventional houses in Europe and Asia for decades. In the end the cinder block house would cost about $6,300 for just the walls and insulation with an r-value of about 20, the aircrete house would cost $2,600 with an r-value of 48. That adds $1,200 to the cost of the house for the rigid foam board insulation alone. This cost does not include siding and sheetrock which is essential to meet that 20 r -value. Just to bring the cinder block wall up to code for my local area which is r-value 20 for a wall you would need to add at least another $1.02 per block for insulation just to meet code. The R value of 8" wall of cinder block is about 2 on it's own, aircrete is 48. The cost for aircrete is 67 cents each for a solid block the same size and comes to about $2,600 with sand and mortar.Īt first I thought I would just build with the cinder blocks since I didn't have to make the blocks like with aircrete, but after looking at insulation I am not sure anymore. That includes mortar and sand in the cost. I calculated that a 2000 sq ft ranch style house would cost $5112 for just the 8 x 8 x 16 cinder block (standard cored or hollow concrete block, also called CMU) walls at $1.73 each.
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