Foam concrete is a very practical and cheap material for the construction of private structures: houses, cottages, garages. He has certain merits. Before you are going to make a foam concrete yourself, you need to understand its advantages. First of all, the material is relatively light and inexpensive. Houses constructed from such blocks, practically do not require any additional use of heaters. And the material is an excellent soundproofing device, which has good resistance to negative influences.
The next advantage of the blocks is that it is possible to manufacture foam concrete with their own hands. And the procedure will not be very expensive. For work you will need sand, cement and water (to mix the solution); Hardener and foaming agent. To connect all these ingredients you need a concrete mixer. Naturally, you will need forms in which you will lay out the solution, as well as a place where it can dry.
The production of foam concrete by one's own hands is not an easy task. The work consists of several procedures: kneading a concrete solution and a foaming agent, pouring molds and drying the finished product. During the manufacturing process, the proportions of the components should be precisely maintained. In order to obtain a block of medium density, it is necessary to dilute only 4 g of foaming agent in 1 kg of cement. If more heavy blocks are needed, the amount of concrete can be slightly larger.
So, let's take a closer look at how to make foam concrete with our own hands. For the preparation of concrete should be used high-quality cement grade M500. The sand should be fine-grained. Water should be maximally purified from various impurities. Now let's start preparing the foaming agent. In principle, the substance can be made alone, but you can buy it in the form already prepared. The mixture should be passed through the foam generator. Only after that you can add it to the cement slurry and mix it well.
Next, we make foam concrete with our own hands using a hardener. A couple of minutes after mixing all the ingredients, the mass can be poured into molds. It should be noted that in this way it is possible not only to prepare individual blocks, but also to build a monolithic structure. The mold for pouring can be made of metal or plywood. The easiest option is the formwork. But at its construction it is necessary to pay attention to geometrical parametres of the form: they should be very exact that the material turned out equal. The inner walls of the formwork must be greased with a special tool, which will not contain fat. Thus, you can easily pull out the block from the mold and subsequently cover it with plaster.
Further, the production of foam concrete with their own hands is made by drying the mixture at a temperature of up to 50 degrees. The process lasts about 48 hours. After this, the blocks can be removed from the molds and used in construction, and a new portion of the solution should be poured into the mold.