The outer walls of the buildings are made of... Structures of external walls of civil and industrial buildings

An individual developer is necessarily faced with the question of choice optimal material for the construction of a residential building. Choice building materials for walls takes into account climatic features, relief nuances, financial capabilities, etc. There is no single formula for this. All construction materials have varying strengths and require the use of unique technology construction, do not have the same levels of thermal conductivity.

  • What determines the choice of material for a home?

    The construction of walls accounts for a quarter of all costs of building a house. A careless attitude to the choice of material will entail additional subsequent expenses. Therefore, it is worth considering and considering all important criteria and factors when choosing the best material for building the walls of a house:

      Labor costs. For example, the cost of time and effort is reduced if you build a house from panel blocks, rather than from bricks and other small elements. Modern panel houses can be done several times faster, especially if it frame structures.

      Thermal insulating properties of the material. When choosing a deliberately cold material for walls, the developer will pay a high price in winter for such a reckless step. The owner will also have to deal with insulating the outside walls of the house. When calculating this indicator, current climatic conditions.

      Price issue. If you give preference to a durable and lightweight version of the material for the walls, then you can save on the construction of a powerful foundation, which is expensive to build.

    Taking into account also the subsequent costs of Finishing work. Today there are smooth materials for walls modern style which do not require finishing.

    A log house is one of the options for walls that do not require finishing

    Types of wall materials

    The building materials market offers wide choose various options for building the walls of your home. There are several types of bricks alone: ​​silicate, clinker, ceramic, fireclay. And wood has been one of the most popular and sought-after building materials for many years. The cost of such raw materials depends on the type of wood (pine, oak, birch, cedar) and the type of material (logs, boards, beams). A very popular and more economical option are different kinds blocks: foam blocks, ceramic blocks, thermoblocks, lightweight concrete blocks, etc. In Europe, for example, houses are most often built frame method, which goes very quickly and is inexpensive. About 70% of the private housing stock in Europe is occupied by frame building construction technology. Builders also note the cost-effectiveness and energy efficiency of SIP panels.

    Let's consider the main types of materials:

    Log houses and log houses

    A log house is an object made from cut trunks of a solid tree. Work such as cutting corners, adjusting joints and grooves is always done manually.

    Such houses look presentable, well built and have many advantages:

    Architectural version of a log house

    The disadvantages of log buildings include:

    House made of timber

    Glued or profiled timber is a cheaper building material for house walls, which is in great demand today.

    Advantages of timber:

    In addition, such material is relatively inexpensive.

    However, timber:

    They say that such a structure can be built alone, with certain knowledge and skills. But its construction scheme is more complex and ornate than, for example, a brick one.

    Frame house under construction

    All the advantages frame houses:

    The disadvantages of frame structures include:

      Resonance of walls and ceilings;

      The need to have a competent construction project, which will contain all the drawings and diagrams of fasteners and components.

      The disadvantages of such houses can also be attributed to the conservative mentality of our citizens, who look at frame structures with caution, considering them unreliable.

    SIP panels

    Canada and America have been actively using frame-panel technologies in construction for more than half a century. In our country this method is not yet so popular. SIP panel is a three-layer building material, which is made from two layers of OSB and internal insulation expanded polystyrene.

    This is what a SIP panel looks like

    Advantages of SIP panels:

    In addition, SIP panels are an environmentally friendly building material.

    This is what a house built from SIP panels looks like without façade finishing

    Its disadvantages include the following aspects (of which, by the way, there are many):

    Brick walls

    Brick is the most familiar and most available material for building the walls of a house outside. It is usually made from clay and is enhanced with various impurities. All the advantages of brick:

    The disadvantages of building materials include:

    Expanded clay blocks

    Ceramic blocks are made from red clay, just like bricks. But the blocks differ from them in their larger dimensions. This option for constructing walls from ceramic blocks is very similar to the technology for constructing brick houses.

    Advantages of ceramic blocks:

    The disadvantages of ceramic blocks include:

  • By purpose walls are external and internal, and by load perception - load-bearing and non-load-bearing.

    Depending on the materials used share the following types of walls:

    wooden from logs, beams, wooden frames;

    brick made of solid and hollow clay, ceramic and silicate bricks and blocks;

    stone made from cobblestone, limestone, sandstone, shell rock, tuff, etc.;

    lightweight concrete made of gas silicate, expanded clay concrete, polystyrene, slag concrete, wood concrete, sawdust concrete;

    soil concrete made of adobe, compacted pear.

    By constructive decision walls are:

    chopped from logs and assembled from wooden beams;

    small block made of bricks and small blocks weighing more than 50 kg;

    panel or panel made from ready-made wall elements per floor high;

    framed from racks and frames covered with sheet or molded materials;

    monolithic from concrete and soil;

    composite or multilayer with used various materials and designs.

    Materials for the construction of walls and their constructive solution are chosen taking into account local climatic conditions, economics, the specified strength and durability of the building, internal comfort and architectural expressiveness of the facades.

    Natural stones and solid bricks have the greatest strength and durability. At the same time, in terms of their heat-protective qualities, they are significantly inferior to lightweight concrete, efficient brick and wood. Their use in “ pure form“Without combination with other, less thermally conductive materials, it is justified only in the southern regions of the country.

    When building brick walls, you should strive for lightweight masonry, using effective bricks and creating voids using warm solution. Solid brick walls made of solid brick a thickness of more than 38 cm is considered impractical.

    Reliable in operation and 1.5 - 2 times cheaper than brick, lightweight concrete walls based on slag, expanded clay or sawdust using cement. If you use pre-fabricated lightweight concrete blocks, you can significantly reduce the seasonal construction time.

    The traditional material for the walls of low-rise buildings is wood. According to sanitary and hygienic requirements, chopped and cobblestone walls are the most comfortable. Their disadvantages include low fire resistance and sedimentary deformations in the first 1.5 - 2 years.

    If lumber is available and effective insulation materials Frame walls are quite justified. They, like chopped ones, do not require massive foundations, but unlike them they do not have post-construction deformations. When facing frame walls with bricks, their fire resistance and capital strength are significantly increased.

    In southern regions with sharp changes in day and night outside air temperatures, walls made of soil concrete (adobe) “behave well”. Due to their great thermal inertia (they heat up and cool down slowly), they create an optimal thermal regime in such a climate.

    You watched: Types of walls

    Structures of external walls of civil and industrial buildings

    The structures of external walls of civil and industrial buildings are classified according to the following criteria:

    1) by static function:

    a) load-bearing;

    b) self-supporting;

    c) non-load-bearing (mounted).

    In Fig. 3.19 shown general form these types of external walls.

    Load-bearing external walls perceive and transfer to the foundations their own weight and loads from adjacent building structures: floors, partitions, roofs, etc. (at the same time they perform load-bearing and enclosing functions).

    Self-supporting external walls perceive vertical load only from their own weight (including the load from balconies, bay windows, parapets and other wall elements) and transfer them to the foundations through intermediate bearing structures– foundation beams, grillages or plinth panels (simultaneously performing load-bearing and enclosing functions).

    Non-load-bearing (curtain) external walls floor by floor (or through several floors) they rest on adjacent supporting structures of the building - floors, frames or walls. Thus, curtain walls perform only a fencing function.

    Rice. 3.19. Types of external walls according to static function:
    a – load-bearing; b – self-supporting; c – non-load-bearing (suspended): 1 – building floor; 2 – frame column; 3 – foundation

    Load-bearing and non-load-bearing external walls are used in buildings of any number of floors. Self-supporting walls rest on their own foundation, so their height is limited due to the possibility of mutual deformations of the external walls and internal structures of the building. The taller the building, the greater the difference in vertical deformations, so, for example, in panel houses It is allowed to use self-supporting walls with a building height of no more than 5 floors.

    The stability of self-supporting external walls is ensured by flexible connections with the internal structures of the building.

    2) According to the material:

    A) stone walls They are built from brick (clay or silicate) or stones (concrete or natural) and are used in buildings of any number of storeys. Stone blocks are made from natural stone (limestone, tuff, etc.) or artificial (concrete, lightweight concrete).

    b) Concrete walls made of heavy concrete of class B15 and higher with a density of 1600 ÷ 2000 kg/m 3 (load-bearing parts of the walls) or light concrete of classes B5 ÷ B15 with a density of 1200 ÷ 1600 kg/m 3 (for thermal insulation parts of the walls).

    For the production of lightweight concrete, artificial porous aggregates (expanded clay, perlite, shungizite, agloporite, etc.) or natural lightweight aggregates (crushed stone from pumice, slag, tuff) are used.

    When constructing non-load-bearing external walls, cellular concrete (foam concrete, aerated concrete, etc.) of classes B2 ÷ B5 with a density of 600 ÷ 1600 kg/m 3 is also used. Concrete walls are used in buildings of any number of floors.

    V) Wooden walls used in low-rise buildings. For their construction, pine logs with a diameter of 180 ÷ 240 mm or beams with a section of 150x150 mm or 180x180 mm are used, as well as board or glue-plywood panels and panels with a thickness of 150 ÷ ​​200 mm.

    G) walls made of non-concrete materials mainly used in the construction of industrial buildings or low-rise civil buildings. Structurally, they consist of outer and inner cladding made of sheet material(steel, aluminum alloys, plastic, asbestos cement, etc.) and insulation (sandwich panels). Walls of this type are designed to be load-bearing only for one-story buildings, and with a higher number of storeys - only as non-load-bearing.

    3) according to a constructive solution:

    a) single-layer;

    b) two-layer;

    c) three-layer.

    The number of layers of the building’s external walls is determined based on the results of thermal engineering calculations. To comply with modern standards for heat transfer resistance in most regions of Russia, it is necessary to design three-layer external wall structures with effective insulation.

    4) according to construction technology:

    a) by traditional technology Hand-laid stone walls are being erected. In this case, bricks or stones are laid in rows over a layer of cement-sand mortar. The strength of stone walls is ensured by the strength of the stone and mortar, as well as the mutual bandaging of vertical seams. To further increase the load-bearing capacity of masonry (for example, for narrow walls), horizontal reinforcement is used welded mesh after 2 ÷ 5 rows.

    The required thickness of stone walls is determined by thermal calculations and linked to standard sizes bricks or stones. Brick walls with a thickness of 1; 1.5; 2; 2.5 and 3 bricks (250, 380, 510, 640 and 770 mm, respectively). Walls made of concrete or natural stones when laid with 1 and 1.5 stones have a thickness of 390 and 490 mm, respectively.

    In Fig. Figure 3.20 shows several types of solid masonry made of brick and stone blocks. In Fig. 3.21 shows the design of a three-layer brick wall 510 mm thick (for the climatic region of the Nizhny Novgorod region).

    Rice. 3.20. Types of solid masonry: a – six-row brickwork; b – two-row brickwork; c – masonry from ceramic stones; d and e – masonry made of concrete or natural stones; e – masonry of cellular concrete stones with external brick lining

    The inner layer of the three-layer stone wall supports the floors and load-bearing structures of the roof. Outer and inner layers brickwork connect with each other reinforcing mesh with a vertical pitch of no more than 600 mm. The thickness of the inner layer is assumed to be 250 mm for buildings with a height of 1 ÷ 4 floors, 380 mm for buildings with a height of 5 ÷ 14 floors and 510 mm for buildings with a height of more than 14 floors.

    Rice. 3.21. Stone wall three-layer construction:

    1 – internal load-bearing layer;

    2 – thermal insulation layer;

    3 – air gap;

    4 – outer self-supporting (cladding) layer

    b) fully assembled technology used in the construction of large-panel and volumetric block buildings. In this case, the installation of individual elements of the building is carried out by cranes.

    The external walls of large-panel buildings are made of concrete or brick panels. Panel thickness – 300, 350, 400 mm. In Fig. Figure 3.22 shows the main types of concrete panels used in civil engineering.

    Rice. 3.22. Concrete panels external walls: a – single-layer; b – two-layer; c – three-layer:

    1 – structural and thermal insulation layer;

    2 – protective and finishing layer;

    3 – load-bearing layer;

    4 – thermal insulation layer

    Volume-block buildings are buildings of increased factory readiness, which are assembled from separate prefabricated block-rooms. The outer walls of such volumetric blocks can be one-, two-, or three-layer.

    V) monolithic and prefabricated-monolithic construction technologies allow the construction of one-, two- and three-layer monolithic concrete walls.

    Rice. 3.23. Prefabricated monolithic external walls (in plan):
    a – two-layer with an outer layer of thermal insulation;

    b – the same, with an inner layer of thermal insulation;

    c – three-layer with an outer layer of thermal insulation

    When using this technology, the formwork (mold) is first installed into which the concrete mixture. Single-layer walls are made of lightweight concrete with a thickness of 300 ÷ 500 mm.

    Multilayer walls are made prefabricated monolithic using an outer or inner layer of stone blocks made of cellular concrete. (see Fig. 3.23).

    5) by location window openings:

    In Fig. 3.24 shown various options location of window openings in the external walls of buildings. Options A, b, V, G used in the design of residential and public buildings, option d– when designing industrial and public buildings, option e– for public buildings.

    From considering these options, it can be seen that functional purpose building (residential, public or industrial) determines the design of its external walls and appearance generally.

    One of the main requirements for external walls is the necessary fire resistance. According to the requirements of fire safety standards, load-bearing external walls must be made of fireproof materials with a fire resistance limit of at least 2 hours (stone, concrete). The use of fire-resistant load-bearing walls (for example, wooden plastered walls) with a fire resistance limit of at least 0.5 hours is allowed only in one- and two-story houses.


    Rice. 3.24. Location of window openings in the external walls of buildings:
    a – wall without openings;

    b – wall with a small number of openings;

    V - panel wall with openings;

    d – load-bearing wall with reinforced partitions;

    d – wall with hanging panels;
    e – fully glazed wall (stained glass)

    High requirements for the fire resistance of load-bearing walls are caused by their main role in the safety of the building, since the destruction of load-bearing walls in a fire causes the collapse of all structures resting on them and the building as a whole.

    Non-load-bearing external walls are designed to be fireproof or difficult to burn with lower fire resistance limits (from 0.25 to 0.5 hours), since the destruction of these structures in a fire can only cause local damage to the building.

    The types and thickness of the walls of the house may be different, but in any case they must be strong, durable and provide the necessary thermal protection and sound insulation. You can learn about the types of walls and the choice of their thickness from this article.

    Types of house walls

    The main purpose of the external walls of a house is to protect premises from atmospheric factors and act as load-bearing structures.

    Walls are classified according to their purpose:

    • external;
    • internal.

    In addition, depending on the loads they experience, they can be:

    • load-bearing structures on which floors or roof elements rest;
    • non-load-bearing ones, which perform only a separating function.

    The purpose of the walls also determines the features of their design.

    Exterior walls They are almost always load-bearing; they are usually constructed of greater thickness, often multi-layered, using insulation.

    Internal walls houses divide it into separate rooms and can sometimes be used as load-bearing ones. They are usually thinner, especially if they are not load-bearing. For them, sound insulation is more important than thermal insulation properties, which determines the choice of appropriate building material.

    Types of walls according to construction material

    When choosing a building material for building a house, efficiency, comparative labor intensity and ease of construction are also important. Each building material from which the walls of the house will be built has its own advantages and disadvantages, so your choice must be based on the requirements that you place on your future home and, of course, based on your financial capabilities.

    Based on the building material, the most common types of walls are:

    • brick continuous or effective masonry;
    • from lightweight concrete blocks(gas blocks, foam blocks);
    • from ceramic blocks;
    • from natural stones(from blocks of sawn shell rock or rubble stone - limestone, sandstone, granite, etc.);
    • wooden;
    • monolithic (concrete, expanded clay concrete or slag concrete);
    • adobe(adobe);
    • glass
    • combined(from two or three materials in different combinations).

    Brick walls

    Brick walls are strong, durable and fire-resistant; they are not susceptible to insects and rot. They are usually chosen during construction big houses(with an area of ​​at least 100 m2), intended for year-round residence in them.

    A wide variety of bricks, both ordinary and shaped, make it possible to build structures of complex configurations from them, to implement a variety of architectural solutions and decorative elements.
    The walls of a house built of brick, due to its fire resistance, can be quite safely adjacent to stoves and fireplaces. Inside brick walls, unlike walls made of many other materials, smoke and ventilation ducts can be laid.

    The disadvantage of such walls is their relatively large weight, so they require a solid foundation. It is advisable to begin finishing them no earlier than a year after laying them - to give them the opportunity to “settle”. They have a fairly large heat capacity and thermal inertia - they retain heat for a long time and warm up for a long time (they keep cool in summer, warm in winter), but on the other hand, if the house has cooled down in winter, it will take a long time to heat it up.

    Walls made of ceramic blocks

    Due to their porous structure, ceramic blocks made of porous ceramics, in comparison with bricks, have advantages: lower volumetric weight and lower thermal conductivity coefficient. Volume weight ceramic blocks are approximately 2 times lower than bricks, and their thermal conductivity coefficient is approximately 1.6 times less. This material allows you to make the walls of the house lighter, warmer and reduce the load on the foundation. In addition, thanks to the porous structure of the ceramic block, the walls “breathe”.

    Even comparatively thin wall made of ceramic block is not inferior in thermal properties to thicker brick and meets building regulations. Its thickness can be 35-54 cm, and this will be quite suitable existing standards on thermal protection of buildings.

    Walls made of ceramic blocks can be single-layer, two-layer or three-layer. Just like brick ones, they can be built with insulation (preferably external), followed by brick cladding or plaster.

    The water absorption of porous ceramic blocks is usually on par with that of conventional bricks. Also, they are characterized by good sound insulation, are non-flammable, and are practically not susceptible to fungi and mold.

    Ceramic blocks can be used for the construction of load-bearing walls (in houses no more than three floors high) and for internal partitions.

    Wooden walls

    Walls made of wood have been erected for centuries. Wood is the traditional and most environmentally friendly material for the home: it “breathes”. Up to 30% of the air per day can circulate through wooden walls in a closed room. In dry weather, they give up accumulated moisture, and in damp weather, on the contrary, they absorb its excess.

    In addition, the resins and oils that wood contains unobtrusively fill the house with a pleasant aroma and have antiseptic properties.

    Flaws wooden walls:

    • they are flammable, can be damaged by insects and pests, and can also be subject to rotting, and therefore require treatment with all kinds of impregnations (and this is “chemistry”) and structural protection from all these factors;
    • before finishing begins, they must “settle” (especially from logs), and the settlement is up to 10%, which is significantly more than that of stone or frame (3-1%);
    • their construction requires certain qualifications and experience.

    If you do not have the skills to build wooden walls, then it is better to entrust it to professionals. If you decide to build wooden house on our own, then you need to hire at least one person as an assistant who has experience in such construction and carpenter skills.

    Frame walls

    Construction of frame houses is one of the fastest and relatively inexpensive ways build your house. Frame walls- these are practically the lightest, compared to other types. Their advantage is their resistance to deformation and the ability to withstand quite a large number of freeze-thaw cycles (virtually unlimited).

    The costs of their construction, compared to other types, are minimal, and besides, interior and exterior decoration can begin immediately after construction, without waiting for the house to settle.

    Cellular concrete walls

    Walls made of cellular concrete (aerated concrete or foam concrete, etc.) are distinguished by increased thermal insulation, since all types of this material contain air in closed pores. They are 2.5-3 times warmer than those of similar thickness ceramic bricks and 3-3.5 times - from silicate. Enclosing structures made of this material are fireproof (do not burn at all) and have good sound insulation properties.

    Blocks made of cellular concrete can be easily sawed (even with a regular hacksaw), planed and drilled. You can easily screw screws into them, hammer in nails or dowels (although you can just as easily pull them out). Thanks to this ease of processing, cellular concrete allows the production of walls of various configurations.

    Also, in gas and foam blocks you can quickly cut grooves and channels for installing electrical wiring or pipes for heating or water supply, holes for sockets, switches, distribution boxes etc.

    Walls made of cellular concrete are resistant to insects and fungi, and their vapor permeability is even higher than that of wood.

    In addition, it is worth mentioning an important fact in our time of crisis that a wall made of cellular concrete costs 2-3 times less than one made of brick, which has the same resistance to heat transfer. In addition, walls made of this material are built faster, since one such block can replace 15-20 bricks, and accordingly the laying time and required amount solution.

    Finished walls made of aerated or foam concrete do not require additional leveling or special finishing costs.

    Disadvantages of cellular concrete:

    • they can absorb moisture, especially aerated concrete;
    • low bending strength - when the house settles, cracks may form on the walls.

    For the construction of walls, the following types of cellular concrete are most often used: aerated concrete, foam concrete and gas silicate. They differ from each other in composition and manufacturing technology.

    The non-autoclave method of producing foam concrete causes higher shrinkage during operation (2-3 mm/m) than that of aerated concrete produced by the autoclave method (0.3 mm/m).
    It is more expedient to use foam concrete blocks for the construction of internal partitions and outbuildings (garages, sheds, etc.).

    For load-bearing walls of residential buildings, it is better to choose autoclaved aerated concrete, as it has a higher load-bearing capacity.

    Gas and foam concrete also differ in the nature of the surface. Foam concrete has a smooth surface and plaster does not adhere well to them - it is necessary to use a plaster mesh or various primers.
    Aerated concrete walls have a porous surface, since during production such blocks are not poured into molds, but are cut with special strings. The plaster fits perfectly on such a surface.

    Expanded clay concrete walls

    For expanded clay concrete, the starting material is expanded clay (foamed and fired clay), water and cement. Expanded clay has fairly high strength with low weight.
    Walls made of expanded clay concrete, due to the peculiar structure of the material, have higher sound and heat insulation and chemical resistance to exposure to them than conventional concrete aggressive environments, as well as low weight.

    Disadvantages of expanded clay concrete:

    • fragility compared to conventional concrete, which leads to a narrowing of the range of their use;
    • relatively high surface porosity and, as a consequence, increased moisture absorption and the need for reliable waterproofing of such walls.

    Walls made of monolithic expanded clay concrete are constructed in almost the same way as those made of slag concrete. This requires special collapsible formwork, which is usually made of wooden panels.

    In addition, ready-made expanded clay concrete blocks are used for construction.

    Walls made of natural stones

    Limestone – shell rock

    Walls made of shell rock used to be erected mainly in the areas where it was mined, but nowadays they are also building from this building material in other places, the main thing is that delivery should not be too expensive.

    Limestone - shell rock is a natural environmentally pure material, which are used for laying walls in the form of blocks, which are cut out in the following sizes - 390x190x188, 490x240x188 and 390x190x288 mm or in the form of rubble stone from sawing waste.

    Shell rock walls are erected one block thick (400-500 mm). The masonry is carried out in a two-row manner with alternating spoon and butt rows. When laying, sand-cement, lime or clay mortars are used. The laying of internal walls (not load-bearing) and partitions is carried out in half a block.

    In addition, combined masonry is often made of shell rock and brick: the inner row is made of shell rock, and the outer row is made of brick (regular or facing) with insulation (mineral wool or polystyrene) placed between them.

    Rubble stone

    Such walls are sometimes built during construction ground floors. For these purposes, dense types of natural stones are usually used: granite, sandstone, limestone (recrystallized), etc. In some cases, the entire walls of a house are built from rubble stone (for example, from waste from sawing shell rock).

    The laying of such walls is usually carried out using cement or lime mortar (laying tiled limestone or waste shell rock) with bandaging of the seams, carefully selecting stones with or without jointing (for plaster).

    Adobe walls

    Walls made of adobe blocks have been built since time immemorial. Until recently, it was believed that such walls were a thing of the past. But due to the increasing interest in our time in the construction of ecological housing, interest in adobe is returning, especially since the building material is literally under your feet (you just have to put your hands on it).

    To make adobe, clay or loam and even black soil are used, as well as organic additives - straw (translated from Turkic adobe actually means “straw”).

    Walls made of adobe can be of several types:

    • from rectangular blocks;
    • from hand-molded adobe (usually oval shape);
    • frame - adobe.

    Walls made of rectangular adobe blocks

    In the first case, adobe blocks are made using wooden rectangular shapes, dried, and if the required quantity is available, the laying of walls begins. As a masonry mortar, you can use a mixture of sand and the material from which the adobe blocks were made (clay, loam).

    Walls made of hand-molded adobe

    In the second case, adobes are formed by hand, usually of an oblong oval shape (loaf shape) and the walls are laid with fresh, not dried adobes. In this case, the laying of the wall is carried out in three stages, constructing a third of the wall at one time, followed by drying the laid mass. Laying with this method is most often performed not horizontally, but at an angle to each other in the form of “braids” or “spikelets”.
    This the old way construction of walls made of adobe, which, nevertheless, was used in the construction of houses even in the 60s of the last century, and the constructed houses are successfully used today.
    This method requires a large number of people to simultaneously produce a sufficient volume of adobes. Clay or loam is soaked in advance and mixed with fine straw or chaff. Subsequently, adobes were made by adding long straw to the clay (chernozem) prepared in this way and shaping them by hand.

    Frame adobe walls

    In the third case, it is first made wooden frame at home, and after that the entire space between the frame elements is gradually filled with clay mixed with straw with a tamper, using wooden formwork. Such houses, built at the beginning of the last century, decorated with modern exterior finishing, are still in use today.

    Adobe is a warm, environmentally friendly material. A house with adobe walls is always cool in hot weather and warm in winter. This type of wall is the most environmentally friendly.

    Glass walls

    The walls of a house that are entirely made of glass are quite rare. Although it may well be an option.

    An example of this type could be a “showcase wall,” when one of the walls of the room is made in the form of continuous glazing, such as a window on the entire wall.

    Another option could be a wall made of glass blocks, familiar from Soviet times and returning in our time in a new quality. Glass blocks are hollow glass blocks weighing from 2.5 to 4.3 kg, consisting of two pressed parts, each of which is made of thick glass (6-7 mm).

    Thanks to the air inside the glass blocks, their walls have enough good warmth- and sound insulation.

    The outer surface of glass blocks can be varied: corrugated and smooth, transparent and matte, as well as multi-colored. Typically glass blocks are square or rectangular in shape, but can be of other shapes geometric shapes. and even round.

    Glass blocks can withstand significant changes in outside air temperature. They are quite durable and quite difficult to break, and their sound insulation is at the level of a brick wall of the same thickness.

    Another option for glass walls can be structures made from bottles. This is, of course, an unusual and very original building material - bottles cemented into blocks, but such walls and entire houses exist and function perfectly.

    House wall thickness

    The thickness of the walls depends on their design, material and calculated winter temperature - the average temperature of the coldest five-day period during the year. Their minimum thickness is accepted provided that the temperature in the living room will not be lower than +18 o C with normally operating heating.

    The thickness of the internal walls must be at least 1/15 of the height of the wall from the waterproofing to the bottom of the floor beams.

    To reduce the thickness of the walls and at the same time increase thermal protection, thermal insulation materials (insulation) are included in their design ( mineral wool, polystyrene foam and others). Moreover, they are located both inside and outside.

    Laying the walls of a house requires certain skills, but anyone can master masonry with the necessary theoretical knowledge and some practical skills.

    Video on the topic

    Below you can watch a video about choosing materials for building a house.