The foam block is a porous cellular material that has such a structure due to air bubbles distributed throughout the volume. These products are the most affordable and easy among those that are offered by the market today and are intended for the construction of buildings and structures. The foam block is also used for heat and sound insulation of walls.
If you also decided to use this material, you should know what the composition of the foam block is, as well as what technology it is made of.
Ingredient composition
In order to get a durable and high-quality foam block, you should adhere to state standards and production technology. The foam block contains the following ingredients:
- Portland cement;
- sand;
- blowing agents;
- additives.
As for Portland cement, it acts as an astringent. Used brand in barotechnology - M-500. If classical technology is at the heart of production, then the following grades of Portland cement can be used:
- M500 D20.
- M400 D0.
- M400 D20.
Sand acts as a filler; it can contain clay impurities in a volume of up to 3% and quartz - from 75% and above. One of the components is water. Foaming agents are also used. They can be synthetic or protein. The former are used in barotechnology, while the latter are used in the classical method of production. Protein foaming agents, which are also called protein foaming agents, are the best, because they make it possible to obtain high-quality foam concrete, which is not capable of harming human health.
Additional ingredients
In order for the material to harden as quickly as possible, special additives are used. Depending on the technology, various mold greases may also be used. Getting acquainted with the composition of the foam block, you will find out that the foaming agents are made on the basis of bone glue, pine rosin, coarse glue, caustic soda, scrubbing paste and other components.
An example of the composition of the foam block
It will be interesting for consumers to find out what is the approximate composition of foam concrete to produce one cubic meter of material. The basis will be Portland cement grade PC 500 D0. In order to get the M400 foam block, 300 kg of cement, 160 liters of water and 0.85 kg of foaming agent should be used. Sand is not applied in this case.
To obtain the foam concrete of the M-600 brand, 210 kg of sand, 330 kg of cement, 180 l of water and a foaming agent of 1.1 kg should be taken. It is important to study the composition of the foam block, if you plan to get material brand M-800. In this case, 340 kg of sand, 400 kg of cement, 230 l of water and a foaming agent, the amount of which is 1.1 kg, are used.
Production of foam block
The production of foam blocks provides for compliance with the technology. It involves the preparation of a solution of sand and cement, mixing the foam composition and the formation of blocks. For the work you will need the following tools and materials:
- concrete mixer;
- foam generator;
- shape or capacity;
- cement;
- hardener or sand;
- foaming agent.
At the first stage, water, cement and sand are prepared. It is necessary to follow the classical mixing scheme of a traditional solution. In the next step, a foaming agent is gradually added. Some experts recommend the use of its synthetic variety or analogue, which is prepared from wood glue, rosin and sodium hydroxide.
For an additive, the ingredients are mixed and heated. Such a mixture can be prepared only in the presence of a foam generator. The composition is combined with concrete, and then foam blocks are formed. The production of foam blocks involves the use of fine sand, which has no clay impurities. Water can be used tap water, it should not have acids and salts.
Features of the preparation of the solution for the foam block
For the manufacture of foam blocks, you should use a factory concrete mixer, since home-made devices are not always able to help achieve the desired result. Plywood is suitable for the manufacture of molds, while it is important to comply with the dimensions. In order to accelerate the hardening of the composition, appropriate substances should be used. Among them, calcium chloride is especially popular. It is added to the finished mixture of foaming agent and concrete. The volume of this substance is approximately 2% of the total mass.
The composition is distributed by forms, and finished products are laid out on pallets to go to the construction site. The method of mixing the solution involves filling river sand and cement into a concrete mixer; water and a foaming agent are gradually added to the composition. The mixture is well mixed, a hardener is added to it. After 2 minutes, the solution will be ready for molding. Before proceeding to the formation of products, containers should be prepared. Forms are cleaned of residual dirt or mixture, and after that the inner walls are treated with a special composition without oils. If you apply grease, then the finished block can be easily removed from the mold. For these purposes, the containers are covered with polyethylene inside. Products can also be made by cutting.
Dimensions and density of the foam block
What foam blocks are made of, you already know. However, it is important to know also about other parameters, for example, density. The latter characteristic affects the purpose. If the material refers to a density within M1000-M1200, then it is structural. Structural and heat-insulating blocks have a density of M500 to M900. As for thermal insulation products, their density is equal to M300-M500.
According to the manufacturing method, the described blocks can be divided into shaped and cut. The latter allow you to get individual products from a single array of foam concrete. Molded foam blocks are poured in forms with partitions. A foam block of 600x300x200 mm is standard, and its weight varies from 11 to 19 kg, which is true for thermal insulation products. For structural foam blocks, the weight is from 39 to 47 kg.
House projects
Foam blocks, the sizes and prices of which are mentioned in the article and should be known to the consumer, quite often form the basis of one-story houses. Before drawing up the project, you will need to determine only the load-bearing walls. Usually it is the central and external walls, which is true for the case when the house is no more than 6 m. All other partitions can be adjusted according to your wishes.
If the width of the house is quite impressive and exceeds 12 m, then you should think about the location of the supporting structures, because with such a width the roof will have a significant mass, which will cause increased pressure on the external load-bearing walls. In this case, experts recommend considering projects with an attic or making houses less wide.
When designing one-story houses from foam blocks, it must be remembered that the bearing walls should be located on the foundation. It’s just that partitions are usually installed on the floor, because they do not carry much load. In this case, you will provide stability to the walls. As an example, consider a house that will have three living rooms, one common corridor and a bathroom. One of the smaller rooms has an area of 8 m 2 , the large bedroom has a capacity of 9.1 m 2 . As for the living room, its area can be equal to 11.1 m 2 . The common corridor is located on an area of 5.2 m 2 . The bathroom can be located in the corner of the house, it will have an area of 7 m2.
When designing single-storey houses of foam blocks, experts quite often make living rooms large. One example would be the option of a house with a hall of 26.3 m2. The bathroom is separate according to the project, the toilet has an area of 2.7 m 2 , while the bathroom is 4 m 2 . The latter is located next to the kitchen on 7 m 2 . The common corridor is located on an area of 4.6 m 2 , it goes into a small corridor that connects the living room and bedroom. The last room has an area of 12.1 m 2 .
Instead of a conclusion: the cost of foam blocks
The sizes and prices of foam blocks are the characteristics that consumers are most interested in. You can purchase a product with dimensions of 600 x 250 x 375 mm for 3600 rubles per cubic meter. For a block weighing 120 kg, the dimensions of which are 600 x 250 x 200 mm, you will have to pay 120 rubles. If you are planning to build a house out of foam blocks, you can purchase products in the following sizes: 600 x 250 x 150 mm and 600 x 250 x 125 mm. The price of such building materials will be 90 and 80 rubles apiece, respectively.