How to reinforce gas silicate and aerated concrete blocks

Aerated concrete and gas silicate blocks are a popular building material today. However, in the process, you almost always have to resort to reinforcement to make the building really strong and stand for many years. Our tips site will tell you how to reinforce masonry from such blocks.

The portal has already written in detail about the advantages and disadvantages of aerated concrete blocks. Gas silicate is a “close relative” of aerated concrete, the difference is that it contains more lime. Therefore, they are reinforced using the same technology..

Let us list the cases when it is simply impossible to do without reinforcement, strengthening of masonry, including from aerated concrete and gas silicate blocks:

• The first row, the foundation of the masonry, which carries the greatest load;
• Lintels, places where they rest on the masonry;
• Window and doorways;
• Overlapping when the building has several floors;
• Long walls that are subject to high stress, including ground pressure or wind.

In addition, experts advise be sure to reinforce every third or fourth row of masonry, as well as to strengthen all structures that have additional pressure.

Consider the most popular, affordable and reliable way to reinforce gas silicate and aerated concrete masonry:

• We buy corrugated metal rods, fittings. Diameter – at least 8 mm. The number of rods can be calculated in advance or asked to make calculations by the metal warehouse specialists;
• You will need a manual or electric curtain cutter to cut the grooves in the blocks. It is not difficult to do this, aerated concrete and gas silicate are easily sawn and exposed to other mechanical influences. The depth of the grooves should be such that the metal rods are completely recessed in them, and with a margin for a layer of adhesive;
• The strobes are cleaned of dust, first a small layer of glue is poured into them, and then the fittings are laid. To bend the rods at the corners of the building, special hand tools, machines are used;
• An adhesive solution is also poured from above, which should completely cover the rods;
• Actually, that’s all, now you can continue laying, lay the next row of aerated concrete or gas silicate blocks. As you remember, you will have to repeat the reinforcement every three to four rows..

Video – How to bend an armature:

The number of rods required to reinforce the wall depends on the thickness of the blocks:

• If they are thinner than 250 mm, one rod is enough;
• Up to 500 mm – two rods. This is the most common option;
• Over 500 mm – already three rods.

Important! The reinforcement must necessarily protrude beyond the window and door openings by at least 90 cm!

Important! According to the standard, the reinforcement should be located at least six centimeters from the facade surface!

Instead of metal rods, fiberglass reinforcement is increasingly used today. It allows you to make thinner grooves, although it costs more than metal.

Sometimes for reinforcing masonry made of aerated concrete and gas silicate, you can use a special mesh, which is called masonry. Suitable sizes are 50x50x4 and 50x50x3 mm. In this case, the grooves do not need to be made at all, the mesh is laid between the rows of blocks. However, it can be used only if the masonry is not planned to be insulated with heat-insulating plates. This significantly reduces the scope, because houses made of gas silicate and aerated concrete are often additionally insulated.

In addition, the use of a mesh increases the thickness of the layers between the blocks, because it is placed on a layer of mortar or adhesive composition and is also poured completely from above to prevent metal corrosion and the appearance of cold bridges..

In addition, reinforcing belts will strengthen the building structure, to which we have devoted a separate article. They are found everywhere in construction..

As you can see, the reinforcement of aerated concrete and gas silicate masonry is not such a complicated process. Yes, these are additional costs for the purchase of fittings, additional time spent, but the process is simply necessary for the building to stand for many years without cracks and other problems..