ᐅ House Built with Aerated Concrete – Experiences

Created on: 7 Jul 2009 20:50
M
meli28
M
meli28
7 Jul 2009 20:50
Hello!
What do you think about a house built from aerated concrete? Would you generally recommend it or advise against it? Can I easily hang kitchen cabinets so that they don’t come loose once loaded?

Best regards, Melanie
6
6Richtige
7 Jul 2009 21:29
Hello meli28,

You will need to make your own decision about building a house with aerated concrete based on the points below; it’s not possible to give a clear recommendation for or against.

Advantages:
  • Good thermal insulation
  • Easy to work with and handle
  • Solid material, allows for simple anchoring of objects that are not too heavy
  • Good environmental profile (low energy consumption, low resource use) and healthy building characteristics
Disadvantages:
  • Low density results in limited sound insulation compared to other solid building materials
  • Porous nature can lead to moisture-related damage; not suitable for exterior walls without additional protective coatings
  • If water penetrates, its moisture behavior is less favorable than other solid materials (releases moisture slowly)
  • Low point load capacity, which can cause difficulties when anchoring heavy items
W
wabe
15 Jul 2009 12:40
In my opinion, the issue of external sound insulation is overrated, as most windows and doors let in more noise anyway, and there are also people who like to open their windows.
I have lived in an aerated concrete house for more than 30 years and have never regretted this choice, although today I would probably choose a thicker wall.
C
Cmajere
15 Jul 2009 15:07
Hello,

In the course of our building project, I have researched various building materials, including aerated concrete, clay blocks, calcium silicate blocks (KSV), and clay construction methods.

Overall, we have now decided on calcium silicate blocks (KSV), as long as the structural engineer has no objections.

Sound insulation was important to me since we are building a multi-generational house with my in-laws. Also, I have handled aerated concrete myself and worked with it during an art class project, and I found it somewhat crumbly. Looking at my fully loaded kitchen cabinets, I dread the idea of hanging them on an aerated concrete wall.

Therefore, we chose calcium silicate blocks (KSV) with standard wall plugs, and that’s it.
J
JOERG24
20 Jul 2009 13:10
Anchoring is straightforward when using the appropriate wall plugs. For higher loads, chemical anchors with epoxy glass cartridges have proven effective.

The material's real advantages lie mainly in its ease of handling and thermal insulation.

For additional partition walls, etc., we also used aerated concrete.

It is common to have dense concrete blocks (also known as KS blocks) in the basement and aerated concrete in the upper floors.
H
hausmausi
9 Feb 2011 20:46
Hello,
we are currently in the process of deciding as well. The company suggests using aerated concrete for the exterior walls and lightweight concrete blocks for the interior walls, mainly due to sound insulation and other factors. They say these materials work well together.

Some acquaintances also built with aerated concrete; they mentioned that special anchors are needed for shelves and cabinets. But that’s no different than with clay blocks, or it might even be more challenging there.

If you, for example, use 24cm (9.5 inches) aerated concrete plus 12cm (5 inches) insulation, you will also get better soundproofing.
We were thinking of either doing something like that or using 36cm (14 inches) aerated concrete with insulating plaster to save on adhesive work.