Q
quattro12310 Oct 2019 17:27Hello everyone,
I am planning the construction of a house with a partially basemented area. The house is built on a slight slope, and the rear half directly adjoins the soil. This means the earth is exerting pressure on the house, and rainwater will likely flow toward the building.
So far, I have spoken with structural shell contractors who work with Poroton masonry. Without exception, they all immediately said that the area in contact with the soil should be formed with cast concrete. That seemed reasonable to me as well.
Recently, I visited someone who plans to build their entire house using a Ytong kit, and their colleague mentioned that it is also possible to build this area with Ytong blocks or that there are solutions available for that.
In general, my question is: What do you think about basements made from Ytong blocks? Are there specific Ytong systems designed for basement construction? Or should this approach be approached with caution?
What is interesting is that this colleague is a certified structural engineer and will definitely handle the structural calculations himself (we have done the plans with an architect who is supporting us through the building permit / planning permission process).
Best regards
I am planning the construction of a house with a partially basemented area. The house is built on a slight slope, and the rear half directly adjoins the soil. This means the earth is exerting pressure on the house, and rainwater will likely flow toward the building.
So far, I have spoken with structural shell contractors who work with Poroton masonry. Without exception, they all immediately said that the area in contact with the soil should be formed with cast concrete. That seemed reasonable to me as well.
Recently, I visited someone who plans to build their entire house using a Ytong kit, and their colleague mentioned that it is also possible to build this area with Ytong blocks or that there are solutions available for that.
In general, my question is: What do you think about basements made from Ytong blocks? Are there specific Ytong systems designed for basement construction? Or should this approach be approached with caution?
What is interesting is that this colleague is a certified structural engineer and will definitely handle the structural calculations himself (we have done the plans with an architect who is supporting us through the building permit / planning permission process).
Best regards
As a principle, I would never bury a water-absorbing/porous brick. Neither Ytong nor Poroton.
Otherwise, follow the structural engineer’s instructions.
Concrete is the standard (or calcium silicate brick). Precast concrete basements are usually more cost-effective than special custom solutions.
Otherwise, follow the structural engineer’s instructions.
Concrete is the standard (or calcium silicate brick). Precast concrete basements are usually more cost-effective than special custom solutions.
N
nordanney10 Oct 2019 19:02quattro123 schrieb:
Generally, the question is: What do you think about basements made of Ytong blocks? Are there specific systems from Ytong for basement construction? Or should one approach this with caution?You can certainly do a lot. However, I would only trust it if I am shown suitable reference projects that have been dry for 20 years. Since you probably won’t know of any, go with concrete!I can only say that we are building an outdoor kitchen, where one side is in contact with the ground up to about 60–70 cm (24–28 inches) in height, and my husband originally wanted to build it entirely with Ytong blocks. However, our mason immediately advised against this due to moisture concerns, as it would be difficult to keep water away from the blocks effectively. Now it will be built with shuttering blocks (and Ytong placed in front of them). I would be very surprised if such a small structure would be problematic while an entire basement could be constructed without issues.
Aerated concrete (porous concrete) in direct contact with soil is probably the worst possible choice of building material. I don’t know if there is any material less suitable for this purpose.
However:
You can waterproof almost anything. With a sufficiently thick EPDM membrane, the concrete block probably won’t ever come into contact with water, and everything will last. There are even people who build houses with basements and basement slabs made of wood @Climbee, I think.
Aerated concrete does not forgive mistakes. Unlike solid concrete or calcium silicate blocks, aerated concrete absorbs a lot of water and is not permanently stable when exposed to moist soil.
In cases where rising seepage water on a slope is a concern, I would personally opt for a safer approach.
However:
You can waterproof almost anything. With a sufficiently thick EPDM membrane, the concrete block probably won’t ever come into contact with water, and everything will last. There are even people who build houses with basements and basement slabs made of wood @Climbee, I think.
Aerated concrete does not forgive mistakes. Unlike solid concrete or calcium silicate blocks, aerated concrete absorbs a lot of water and is not permanently stable when exposed to moist soil.
In cases where rising seepage water on a slope is a concern, I would personally opt for a safer approach.
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