ᐅ Garage built with sand-lime bricks or aerated concrete blocks

Hi everyone,

Our construction company planned a garage with the following specifications:
- 6 x 9 meters (5 meters (16.4 feet) wide garage door)
- Strip foundation and paved floor
- Hipped roof with an 18° (18 degrees) pitch
- 17.5 cm (7 inch) Ytong PP6 blocks (<----- we haven’t decided on this yet)
- Plastered finish
- Unheated
- Structural engineering checked and approved

The garage will primarily be used for parking, but also as a training space and occasionally for social events. Now the question is whether sound insulation or the thermal properties of Ytong are more important.

My idea was to build the garage with 17.5 cm (7 inch) sand-lime bricks, add a ring beam at the top, and then the hipped roof. The construction company, however, recommends Ytong instead. If I don’t want the 17.5 cm (7 inch) Ytong, they suggest using 24 cm (9.5 inch) Ytong blocks.

What do you think? What would you recommend? Does anyone have a garage made of Ytong and not regretted it? Is it not too noisy? Does Ytong really keep the garage warm? Or is sand-lime brick the better option after all?

It’s my decision, of course, but I’m really struggling with it.

Thanks in advance!

Good luck

Yes, Ytong provides good insulation. No, it does not absorb sound very well. And it reduces masonry costs because it is quick to install and labor is expensive.

We want to do all the masonry work ourselves. Ytong (aerated concrete blocks) are easier to lay, yes, but Ratio plan bricks made of sand-lime stone are also not that difficult to build with, as long as the first row is properly aligned.

The question is more, if the garage is not heated, where would the heat come from? Does Ytong even make sense for an unheated garage?

Rather not. But completely unheated and used as a party basement replacement? That doesn’t make any sense.

The advantage of Ytong, its thermal insulation, is completely irrelevant for your intended use. You don’t even want to do the masonry yourself.

Build with sand-lime bricks. It saves space, gains usable area, and is similarly priced or even cheaper.
If you have a party, use a patio heater or heat cannon (but of course, make sure there is ventilation).

With 175mm (7 inches) sand-lime brick, you can easily anchor all your furniture to the wall. You can forget about that with precast concrete garages, but it’s possible with aerated concrete.

Yes, I want to do the masonry myself. We will also build the house walls ourselves using Ytong blocks with a thickness of 36.5cm (14.4 inches). The garage won’t have direct access to the house.
The party room would only be used occasionally when the weather is bad; otherwise, we would use a gazebo outside. Heating can be done with a portable heater only on the day of the party, and of course, ventilation will be ensured.

It would be great to hear from homeowners who have built with Ytong or calcium silicate bricks to know if they are satisfied with these materials.

Vote: 17.5cm (6.9 inches) calcium silicate bricks or 24cm (9.4 inches) Ytong PP6?