One of the features of the modern approach to low-rise construction is the use of materials with simple installation technology and a minimum heat transfer coefficient. Arbolite blocks: the price of which is available to all Russians completely meets these requirements. Suffice it to say that this building material repeatedly surpasses brick, slag blocks and concrete in terms of heat transfer coefficient, and is only slightly inferior to wood.
What is arbolit and its main properties
First of all, consider the composition of arbolita. It is based on dried sawdust. At the same time, certain requirements are imposed on wood chips for arbolit. Its particles must have a needle shape and fit into these sizes:
- width from 10 to 12 mm;
- thickness from 2 to 3 mm;
- length – not less than 15 and not more than 25 mm.
Chips are mixed with cement-binders and other additives that improve the quality of the final product – wood concrete blocks. Immediately on the preparation of wood concrete (as the professionals call the mixture obtained), it is poured into molds and compacted using a vibrating table. After 30-40 hours in the next stage of the production of arbolite building material, these blocks are removed from the molds and placed on a special site where they gain strength. It will take up to 30 days. And only then this building material can be used.
Helpful advice! Creating arbolit their hands in the form of blocks, put them in a wet state under the film. The process of hydration at a temperature of 15 ° C for 10 days will give them the maximum possible strength.
This technology allows you to create different-sized arbolitovye blocks. They can be both wall and partition. As for the specific size of the building block of this type, the modern industry adheres to the production of the following characteristics:
- height from 20 to 25 cm;
- width from 5 to 25 cm;
- length not more than 60 cm.
In addition, also produced “complementary” products. Proceeding from the name, it becomes clear that such arbolite blocks, having the form of angles, halves, and other “irregular” geometry, make it possible to do without fitting and trimming ordinary elements. Thanks to this technical solution, the buyer can choose the wood-concrete building material of the most suitable configuration.
Let’s stop your attention on thermal conductivity of wood concrete. It is useful to know people seeking to save as much as possible on the construction of a country cottage. The wall of the house of arbolitovyh blocks, thickness of 20 cm, the heat transfer coefficient corresponds to a brick wall of 1 meter thickness. Therefore, in the cold regions of our country, the cost of building insulation will be significantly less compared to the use of bricks.
Another significant advantage of the blocks of sawdust and cement is their low weight. After all, they are 80-90% composed of dried chips. For this reason, the bearing capacity of the foundation can be about the same as for a wooden structure.
In order to understand whether arbolite blocks are suitable for construction, it is worth making a comparative analysis of the properties of the most popular building materials.
Comparison of properties of wood concrete, timber, cellular concrete and brick:
| Material property | Brick | Cellular concrete | Wooden beam | Arbolit |
| The degree of difficulty of fixing the home structure to the wall | Special fixture | Expensive special fasteners, designed to work with fragile material | Perfectly fastens with screws, nails, ordinary dowels. | Excellent fixing with screws, nails, ordinary dowels |
| Construction and commissioning period | It is a long and expensive process because it requires insulation and finishing. | Rapid walling. A lot of time is spent on exterior facade insulation. This is a time consuming and expensive process. | Due to the shrinkage of the material in the event of a year after construction, finishing work will be required | Rapid walling, add. insulation is not required, you can finish immediately |
| Foundation cost | Expensive massive | Costly massive monolithic strip foundation | Economical, easy | Lightweight, economical |
| Microclimate at home | Will require the organization of forced ventilation | Weak breathing | Excessive moisture removes, breathes | Excessive moisture removes, breathes |
| Bending resistance | Fragile, bending not working | It is deprived of plasticity, fragile, gives massive cracks during vibrations of the foundation, does not tolerate transportation | Bending works well | Bending works well, does not crack when the foundation vibrates, transporting perfectly |
| Biostability | Biostable | Biostable | Rotting | 5 group of biostability |
| Fire resistance | The material is not combustible | The material is not combustible | Flammable | Fire does not support |
| Heat conductivity, Watt / (mX ° C) | 0.560-0.850 | 0.140-0.320 | 0.150 | 0.07-0.17 |
| Density, kg / m? | 1150-1950 | 200-1200 | 450-600 | 400-850 |
The vapor permeability of arbolite blocks is only slightly less than the wood index. Due to this property in the houses of wood concrete the humidity level is always optimal. The strength of wood concrete blocks does not depend on the degree of absorption and evaporation of moisture, therefore, when it is transferred, the walls are not destroyed.
Helpful advice! When choosing products, pay attention to the sides of the products. If one of their butts is smooth, and all the others are significantly different from it, it is better to reject the purchase of the proposed batch, since this sign indicates that the production technology of the wood concrete was broken, and the cement simply stacked down.
The quality of wood concrete is significantly affected by the degree of drying of sawdust. If only dry wood chips were used, then the value of the internal moisture of the blocks will never become critical, so the wall will not be afraid of frost erected from them. When wet sawdust was used, it is possible that after a few winters arbolit will begin to lose strength. After all, at negative temperatures, the water will freeze, while increasing in volume, which leads, in turn, to the destruction of the binder component.
Of the other practical properties of this material is to highlight:
- tensile loads are not terrible;
- resistance to mold and rot;
- not afraid of fire.
Due to the last property, the fire hazard level of the arbolit houses is closer to this indicator of stone and brick buildings than wooden structures. However, if a large-scale fire occurs inside the building, or it is in the area of a large fire, the walls will lose a significant part of their strength. Reinforced concrete, stone and brick are less prone to such consequences, which cannot be said about other types of light concrete.
Modern industry produces two types of wood concrete – structural and thermal insulation. The material of the second type is not used in the construction of external and internal walls, since it is characterized by relatively low density and relatively low weight. It is successfully used for insulation of buildings, houses built of brick, expanded clay, as well as other building elements.
Structural type blocks are required to create bearing walls. Their indicators of strength and density are higher than those of similar products made of heat-insulating wood concrete.
Comparative characteristics of thermal insulation and structural arbolita:
| Type of wood concrete | Application in construction | Compressive strength class | Durability, kg / cubic meter | Density, kg / cubic meter |
| Thermal insulation | Wall insulation | B 0.35-1.5 | M5, M10, M15 | 400-500 |
| Constructional | Wall construction | B1,5-B3,5 | M25, M35, M50 | 500-700 |
The most popular types of this product are arbolite blocks of the following types:
- large wood products. They are used for masonry walls exposed to loads. The dimensions of the samples – 500X300X200 mm. It is possible to buy arbolitovy blocks of this kind at the price of 120 rubles / piece. They are marked like this: D500, D600;
- small arbolitovy blocks. They are mainly used for laying insulating rows and for erecting non-bearing light walls. The size of the block is 190X190X300 mm. Stamps – D500, D600. As for the price of arbolit blocks of this type, it fluctuates around the mark of 60 rubles / pcs.
The cost of the product in question is also affected by what it is used for, as well as the configuration of a single product.
Helpful advice! Buy arbolitovy blocks on which surface there is no white scurf. This is evidence of the addition of glue that the technology is not allowed.
Consider the data on the brands of wood products with an indicator of 600-650 kg / m ?. The indicators present in the table are indicative, since they may differ in different regions of the country.
The cost of different types of blocks and their characteristics:
| Type of | Price for 1 cubic meter, rub. | Pieces in 1 cube | Approximate weight pcs / kg | Sizes, mm |
| U-shaped block for recess for armpoints or window lintels | 4900 (148.48 per 1 pc.) | 33 | 12 | 500X200X300 |
| Partition wall | 5100 | 53.3 | 11.5 | 150X250X500 |
| 5000 | 40 | 15 | 200X250X500 | |
| Wall | 4300 | 26,6 | 22.5 | 300X250X500 |
| 4200 | 20 | thirty | 400X250X500 |
The main components of wood concrete are aggregates, chemical additives, mineral binders, water.
The function of organic additives is performed:
- wood waste (pine, fir, poplar, spruce, aspen, beech, birch);
- waste processing raw materials – flax or hemp fire;
- stalks of rice straw, cotton.
Wood material, in particular, sawdust with shavings (1: 1, 1: 2), sawdust with shavings and chips (1: 1: 1), shavings, chips, crushed stone are among the most demanded aggregates. The aforementioned proportions of aggregate in arbolit are taken by volume, not by weight. Usually those who are engaged in the manufacture of building blocks with their own hands, use a standard bucket as a unit of measure. For example, the proportion of arbolitovy components 1: 2 refers to 2 buckets of chips and one bucket of sawdust. Instead of the last ingredient, you can use flax fire or hemp stalks.
Requirements for the placeholder are formulated as follows:
- the concentration of bark impurities in the crushed raw materials should not exceed 5% of the needles and 10% of the leaves;
- particles should not be too small. Otherwise, greater cement consumption will be required.
The main disadvantage of the material is its chemical activity.
Note! In preparing the mix, the use of larch and freshly cut wood of all species without exception is not allowed.
The flax campfire is a complete filler, but only if the following technological requirements are met:
- particle length not more than 40 mm;
- obligatory introduction of chemical additives due to the presence of sugars in the composition;
- in order to improve the quality of wood concrete, the technological process includes the procedure of processing the material with lime milk (50 kg of lime per 200 kg of this aggregate);
- after treatment, before being put into the dough, the campfire is aged for up to 2 days.
Konstantin Savushkin, St. Petersburg.
After reviewing the information on the properties of arbolitovyh blocks, as well as user reviews, you can choose the most suitable in size and cost option for building a house or a bath.
