How to build a garage from foam blocks yourself

Building garage walls from foam concrete can be classified as a new technology, and it has also become quite popular among owners of country houses.

The material has technical characteristics that are much better than those of other monolithic and piece structures.

Private traders build a garage of foam blocks with their own hands from the base to the roof, because the process does not require great professionalism, and expenses for paying hired workers are excluded.

General information

Material properties

Garages from a material such as foam block can be quickly built due to the size of building materials. Porous blocks have a cellular structure due to bubbles in the volume. A foam former is added to the mixture of cement, sand and modifiers, as a result, the expanded mass will harden. Air microscopic pores are closed, which will affect the resistance of foam concrete to moisture. The degree of strength will depend on the composition of the raw material, density, and also the processing mode. Additives will affect drying shrinkage, thermal conductivity and frost resistance. There are such brands of foam concrete:

• Bearing structures — D1200, D1100, class B10 and B12.5.
• For the construction of lightly loaded canopies and thermal insulation — D1000, D800 and D700, class B3.5, B5 and B7.5.
• For wall thermal insulation — D600, D500 and D400, strength class B0.75, B1 and B2.5.

With an increase in the degree of density, strength will increase, and the protection of the material from cold will also decrease. By production organic and artificial frothers are used. Foam concrete with an additive based on real protein has the highest quality characteristics.

Advantages and disadvantages of a foam block garage

The heat-shielding qualities of even constructive grades are much better than those of concrete / brick, and are also almost on the same level with wood. In production, much less cement is used due to the voids that have appeared, which will take up space in the mass. Positive properties of building a garage from special blocks:

• Fire resistant material.
• The walls will block out noise from the street side.
• Condensation does not accumulate on the walls, and in the summer it will be cold in the garage, and warm in the winter.
• The use of components of natural origin will put foam concrete on the list of environmentally friendly building materials.
• The material can be easily processed by drilling and sawing.
• The walls are quite light, so you do not need to build an expensive foam block foundation for a garage.

The disadvantage of such a structure is that the wall strength is lower than that of bricks or concrete, but foam concrete blocks do not resist bending well. For bearing-type elements in the ceiling, a concrete reinforced belt is made along the wall perimeter.

Material calculation

The total volume of building materials will be affected by the area of ​​​​the walls, as well as the size of the blocks. As initial parameters, you need to take the thickness of partitions, walls, and also measure the height and perimeter of the block masonry according to the project. For a competent calculation, you should know the size of doors and windows (i.e. openings). Walls need to be categorized, for example, vertical fences with a thickness of 0.2 and 0.4 meters, when the calculation of the volume has to be done separately. The volume in cubic meters is calculated by multiplying the height, length and width. From the obtained value, the volume of voids for openings should be subtracted, and it is also worth multiplying the height of the opening for doors and windows by depth + width to calculate. Next, the volume is divided by the cubature of the block, and this way it will be possible to calculate the number of stones for one or another segment of the garage wall, and then such indicators for external, internal fences and partitions are added together. There are construction tables that indicate the number of blocks depending on the size in 1 cubic meter of masonry. You can use this data. The foam block can be easily cut, which means that all parts of the block are used with virtually no waste. The number of foam blocks is multiplied by 1.1 (coefficient) so that when buying, take into account the broken elements during transportation, as well as other waste.

Process

Preparation

List of tools for the job

Stones are laid with a notched trowel and a construction trowel. Next, apply the adhesive composition with a trowel, and level with a spatula so as to get rid of excess from the surface. Notched trowels are held at the same angle to maintain the thickness of the mortar. Tools to build your own block garage:

• Container for dilution of the adhesive composition.
• Electric drill with a mixing attachment and a set of drills.
• Carpenter’s square, cord, building level, plumb line and tape measure.
• Hacksaw with large teeth, wall chaser and grater.
• Capture for foam blocks.
• Kiyanka.

A grater is needed when the stone geometry is inaccurate, and the glue seam will be sealed. Using a tool, level the surface to get a minimum layer. A wall chaser is needed to excavate grooves when installing a reinforcing belt, communications and electrical wires. When leveling, you need to tap with a hammer with a rubber / wooden head so that there are no dents on the plane of the foam concrete elements. The grip helps to comfortably carry the blocks. Moreover, it is very useful when working with wide (from 0.3 to 0.5 meters) and heavy stones (D700 and more).

Foam block garage projects + dimensions

There are garage projects for 1-2 cars, and the building is made one- and two-story. Structures are created in different sizes, which determines the type of foundation, the height of the building. There are no rules for choosing a roof — it is made gable or single-slope. Average garage size:

• Length from 4.5 to 6 meters.
• Height 3 meters.
• Width 3, 3.5 and 4 meters.

Despite the ease of construction, the drawings and the project should be done by a master with an engineering education. It is required to calculate the structural elements, reasonably choose the depth of the base, wall thickness, overlap and slope — the operational life of the structure will depend on this. A garage made of porous blocks can be freestanding or attached to the house. By the way, the second option is more difficult in terms of design, because you have to take into account the house foundation located nearby. Under the same roof, a utility block is placed, or a terrace is attached, and a parking shed is also provided. Exits from the garage are made only to the street or they make a passage to the courtyard / residential part of the house. You can even build a garage combined with a bathhouse, on the second tier of which there is a guest unit.

Base

Foundation pouring

When choosing the type and depth of the foundation for building a garage from foam blocks, one should take into account not just the weight of the walls, but also a lot of equipment + ceilings.

The parameters of the base will be affected by the level of freezing of the soil, as well as the height of standing moisture in the ground. Bearing indicators depend on the composition of the soil. Stages of creating a monolithic base:

1. Dig a belt trench with an excavator, and the bottom of the pit must be manually leveled.
2. At the bottom, make a sand cushion (0.1 meters), pour 0.2 meters of rubble, tamp and pour water.
3. Install slab or plank formwork, or lay longitudinal rods.
4. The upper part of the formwork should be connected with bars so that it does not begin to disperse under weight.
5. Pour concrete that will vibrate all the time when laying or bayonet with rebar / shovel.

The top must be covered with a layer of sawdust or polyethylene, which are watered a couple of times a day with water (the frequency of watering depends on the heat).

How to dig a viewing hole

In reality, it is not difficult to make a viewing hole if the level of standing water in the soil on the site is within 2.5 meters from the surface of the earth. If the liquid begins to rise higher, then a system of drainage and waterproofing of the walls of the pit is needed. The depth must be taken according to the calculation: a person’s height is + 10 … 15 cm. The width will depend on the dimensions of the wheelset of the car, and the length will make it possible to inspect the bottom of the car and the place under the stairs at the end. Step by step building instructions:

• It is necessary to dig a hole, taking into account the «cushion» and its thickness (from 0.5 to 0.6 meters), the concrete bottom of 0.1 meter.
• Lay a geotextile layer on the bottom.
• At the bottom, make a sand and gravel bedding, and wrap the geotextile edges up.
• A drainage trench should be cut along the general perimeter, sometimes pipes are needed to drain water.
• Next, make waterproofing 2 layers of roofing material on the mastic for the bottom and walls to the top with an overlap at the joints.
• The bottom needs to be concreted.
• The walls must be lined with bricks.

The top of the pit needs to be decorated with metal, as a rule, a corner No. 50 is installed.

Wall reinforcement

It is not difficult to make a garage from foam blocks with your own hands, and vertical block fences are always reinforced, even if constructive stone marks are used. Wall sections where fittings are installed:

• Areas under and near window/door openings.
• Beam or slab floor support in the form of a reinforced concrete belt.
• Wall base (first row), and after 3 days to the top.

For reinforcement, a stamping mesh is used or metal longitudinal rods are placed. The thickness of the reinforcement will be 0.4-0.6 cm. So that the thickness of the seam is not increased, a selection is made for the rods in the body of the block using a wall chaser. There is a special type of foam blocks, where reinforcement is carried out vertically, and passages are drilled with a drill in stones for rod standing reinforcement. Modern technologies offer non-metallic materials for the reinforcement process, for example, plastic rods, polymer fibers, stacks, different types of fibers. They are placed in the glue line in order to increase the ductility, strength and degree of resistance to cracks.

Removing the roof and walls

The usual wall thickness is 0.4 meters, and a reinforced concrete belt with a width of 0.3 meters is cast at the top to support the ceiling. The remaining 0.1 meters are designed for mounting an insulator from the cold. If wooden beams are used, the concrete can be exchanged for brickwork with longitudinal seam bars. When laying, door and window openings up to 1.3 meters (length) are covered with U-shaped blocks along the wall width. The lintels of a larger opening are taken according to the calculation, and sometimes concreting with insulation on the side is necessary. The laying is carried out from the corner of the building, beacons-blocks are set up, and a cord is pulled along the top for mounting the ordering elements. During installation, the principle of dressing the seams vertically is observed. For a shed ordinary roof, a Mauerlat, rafters are laid along the walls and girders are placed. The ends of the load-bearing elements are sealed into the walls with a ruberoid screwdriver.

Foam block garage roof

The plane is covered with a profiled sheet, metal tiles on a crate of laths or a solid OSB layer impregnated with wax, and do not forget about insulation and waterproofing. Profiled flooring is much cheaper than metal tiles, and it is also chosen from those brands that are advised for the roof, taking into account the height of the stiffness waves. The crate step will depend on the slope of the slopes, the estimated wind and windage strength and the average annual snow volume. For rafters, beams made of wood with a cross section of 8 * 12 cm are used. Foam plastic is chosen as a heater, which is not able to absorb moisture. If mineral wool is installed, then another layer of control crate is made so that the material does not come into contact with waterproofing (condensate) and a ventilation gap is made between the layers.

Interior decoration and arrangement

In a garage built of blocks, a ventilation system is required. This can be a collector system, a separately installed extractor hood or a channel for natural air circulation. The forced option is more efficient because natural ventilation cannot always cope with toxic odors and exhaust gases in summer. The walls inside the garage should be finished with plaster and painted, sheathed with saddle and plastic. The bottom in the form of panels is made as durable as possible, and the top can be puttied and painted with a water-based agent. A tile (ceramic) finish that can be washed lasts a long time. The ceiling is finished with plaster or plastic, and when finishing the top, consider the placement of guide skids for the movement of lifting-type gates.

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