I worked in germany 30 years ago, their construction was far more advanced than we are now. We used to build a floor of a block of apartments and the waste wouldnt fill a mortar tub. Here a lift fills a skip with waste. I cant believe that main contractors have never addressed the waste material here. We used a 250mm cube block, kalksandstein, every opening measured multiples of 250mm, width/ height so there was next to no waste material. Architects, manufacturers still design with metric equivalents of imperial dimensions, instead of designing all openings etc to work brick/ block dimensions. Comical
When I did my first own build I was annoyed at the lack of standardisation of measurements in anything, causing masses of waste, 2m2 of brick and block went in to the soak away which the builder explained was a saving for me. This will not happen on the next, I think I'll do the designing and drawings.
@sresto7943 many yrs ago I was building an Aldi in Kettering, raked out brickwork. We were really struggling with brick sizes and maintaining uniform joints. They called a rep out for the brick company with regards this. I kid you not, he strung out bricks across the car park for close to 100 yards, measured it and said it was within their tolerances. Material quality control by manufacturers is a joke. I've lay bricks that vary in length by +10mm, -10mm around the standard of 215mm. Height can vary from 60mm-72mm around a standard height of 65mm. Our coursing is 75mm, imagine what that shit looks like.
I work in electro mechanical assembly, and it's the same with us. The deviation from design by clueless management is truly shocking, unit upon unit is returned, how they make money beats me. If the customer doesn't see it, it's considered OK!
I worked on site around Berlin a few years back and these were all the brickies used, We used 300mm wide blocks, so no cavity and external wall insulation (EWI) on top. Later I specfied them for a self build in Wales and distribution was the biggest problem but we bought a whole lorry load and the suppliers gave my customer some training to set the job up level.....the build flew up. Only downside was fixing downpipes on through the EWI. I love em. Trouble is if you are building an extension and can get the blocks.....what are you going to do in the afternoon? :-)
I am building my own house with clay blocks, they're very common around here (Slovakia). I used 44cm thick blocks for outer load bearing walls, 25cm for internal load bearing walls and 14 cm for the interior walls. The thick blocks have about the same thermal properties as Ytong of the same thickness. You can also get them pre-filled with mineral wool or EPS for even better thermals. They're easy to cut with a large circular saw (the thick ones) and with reciprocating saw or angle grinder for the thinner ones. There is some waste as some arrive cracked, others crack while cutting, my estimate is up to 1% based on the extra orders I had to make. I am currently finishing the wiring, no issues with the grooves for the wires - I did all of them with a cheap Parkside wall chaser. Drilling is no issue either, although you have to be more careful and use better quality drill bits. We built the external walls last year and left the exterior untouched for over a year now and absolutely no issues. Even longer periods of rain make the blocks wet only on the outside for a short amount of time, even in winter. However, I strongly recommend covering the top of the unfinished walls while laying them. Once a lot of water gets inside from the top, it takes a long time to dry. Also, I used a bitumen reinforced membrane for the rising damp, we get a lot of it around here. You can use PVC as well. I have a concrete flat roof on them with insulation and an extensive green roof on top of these blocks weighing around 35t in total and no cracks or issues there either. Overall it's been a pleasant system to work with, especially for a self-builder.
What fixings do you use if you want to hang something heavy on the wall? It seems like these blocks would crack very easily with expanding anchor bolts as they'd only be held by a thin outside wall of the block.
@@ferrumignis ua-cam.com/video/xc4IK3O4SBI/v-deo.htmlsi=5-JeBbyoog63fHyh&t=106 Injektionsmörtel FIS AB 300 fischer if need puling force 5-10000 kg epoxy but normally you need static calculation and permit from local building office.or when you build new building this must be in plan and be approved by government.but this is not your problem this is problem architect who make project and calculation.
Historically the UK has often been miles behind in adopting modern building materials. ICF, pipe-in-pipe plumbing, etc. Even PIR-type insulation is relatively recent here. Lots of builders put things up in the manner they were taught by builders who were taught in the 1980s and don’t stay on top of what’s possible. I find there’s more expertise on decent DIY forums these days in terms of what’s new versus what your average tradesman carries around in their head. (And yes this is a generalisation, if it doesn’t describe you then that’s great.)
Demand also dictates what the vendors supply. If it's not in sight, it won't be seen! Building regs can be so retar oops -extremely backwards indeed. I helped build a eco-house using a brick called Ziegle Block that has additional U-value than the blocks cited by SB. Same type of system. Excellent thermal property... and moisture control with the use of a 'breathable' lime based render. Prenominally quick - no need for cladding. Also having worked on an 'experimental' build with hay bails was very impressive, but the building regs benchmark couldn't measure the Uvalue since the scale calibration was too small. 'Insulate Britain' are really missing a trick eh
Er, 'Relatively recent?' I don't know what your interpretation of recent is but it's been in use in the UK since the mid sixties. I've been using it for 30 years and I wouldn't have called it recent even back then.
@@user-fq2cf6xf2s Like I say: if I'm not describing your work, I'm not talking about you. Sounds like you were a quality builder using quality materials, which is great and I wish we had more of you. But the same loft roll that was stuffed into my parents' house in the 1980s is still the most common type of insulation in this country - low R value, cheap, not great. Blown polystyrene beads into cavities that have to be taken out a decade later because they're trapping damp.
I didn't even know these bricks are not a thing in the UK. I'm so used to them here in Belgium that I just assumed they're everywhere. I can literally go buy some at my local hardware store. We have some left over lying around in our garden. I've also seen them used as an insect hotel. I find them very effective at blocking any holes in our rabbit runs.
I have a large 350m2 house in Eastern Europe built with Porotherm blocks. They are typically externally covered with 10cm of insulation, then rendered. These blocks are also available with insulation built in.
Very interesting. I had a house built in Switzerland. The main load bearing areas are concrete, non load bearing looked like this. Inside is plastered, outside 20cm foam insulation then rendered. Door jambs are steel. Here building regs dictate triple glazing. Windows are aluminium outside, wood inside. Downstairs ceiling height 2m60 upstairs standard 2m40. Underfloor heating, heat pump, hot water tank, electrical panel in the cellar. I think we could learn a lot from continental (Swiss, German) house building. All the best, Rob in Switzerland
Hi Roger, in Czechia these are generally all they use for internal & external skins! They then have to be rendered or cladded. Rendering or cladding helps attract moisture and prevents moisture from evaporating. Therefore when you travel throughout Czechia, you will see the rising damp at the bottom of the buildings and the render falling off, and same at top of buildings where water is able to get behind the render/cladding. The rendering and brickwork therefore suffer. As soon as you drive into Poland, you start seeing traditional bricks being used again. The biggest problem is that it is now very hard to find a Czech bricklayer that can do face work, which obviously look great when done right. There are almost no brickwork buildings in CZ which is a shame. I'm sure the cost saved with such material is not passed onto the home-buyer but the future repair bills are! Not being able to get good fixes into the wall is a deal breaker for me and many others!
Clay blocks are superior building material compared to solid bricks. Nobody uses solid bricks in CZ/SK for decades. You can build energy efficient house using clay blocks filled with rockwool or polystyrene. No need for stupid cavity wall.
Everytime we vist Cz, (Mrs is Cz) I always get stressed by the state of exterior walls and general maintenance, there are lovely properties, but the volume of repairs, cost and time needed by property owner does put me off :(
Hi all, did a build with these about 10 years ago, yes on a slab, yes on a sand cement first joint. What is available is a u shaped channel that you can lay at each story height and cast a ring beam in which gives you a really good opportunity to correct any issues. Loved the stuff.
I used these on two houses including external walls and one house done with a single block with insulation. Laid the blocks myself. Happy to discuss the experience. Won’t use anything else.
i used these for the renovation of my slovenian house with a ytong inner lining to the blockwork with no cavity. it was easy to do and the thermal efficency is incredible. our house is warm in winter and really cool in summer while facing -15 to +40 degree temperature swings outside. i really dont understand why they are so rare in the UK. love this product, also weinberger roof tiles are amazing quality
Our house in France is built with them. They're rendered on the outside with self-coloured crépi - a rough-cast plaster. The walls are around 400mm thick and this provides decent insulation in winter and summer. The upstairs floor is made of beams with these tile bricks slid in between, then 100mm or reinforced concrete it laid on top. This provides excellent soundproofing, so makes a very pleasant dwelling. The building is 30+ years old and there are no cracks inside.
Been in the construction industry for 60 years and have experience of house build in many countries all build techniques are dependant on the skill and ability of the builder and also taking into account the circumstances and location and weather. Traditional build in the UK and building regulations serve a practical purpose. Kind regards Tim
We have used these on a few small projects for over 15 years. Agree with some of the other comments in that they can be a pain to drill into as they are strong but brittle. We've used them for external walls as well with render finish and they are still totally fine 10 years later. Bricklayers hate them which is the main issue. You can't get them specified unless the main contractor fully buys into training up some lads to do it. The whole point is to use semi-skilled labour and actually folks trained from nothing were better at it than the bricklayers. They even have a 365 wide block which you can use without a cavity and with external insulation and render. Used right, these are an excellent product.
Every tradesman hates DIYable products that require no skill. They see it as manufacturers or stores competing with them. Overall England has an allergy for new.
switch off the hammer function of your drill, done. If you know what you're doing, porotherm is so superior and efficient, it's not even funny anymore.
While I am currently building with 30 cm standard porotherm on the outside walls, my friend is using the newer version which has its airpockets filled with insulation. These are way more expensive but you save on insulation.
I live in the UK, but in Croatia we build with these, and then just simply finish outer with external insulation(rock woll is best option since it is breathable and fire resistant, but many people use cheaper polystirene). Only difference is, since it is an earthquaqe prone area, building regs require vertical (every 3-4 meters if I remember corectly), and horizontal (above openings like doors and windows, load bearing walls, and top of blocks every floor all around) reinforced concrete pours, width of the block and 25-50 cm in height, depending of the structure
Used them on my house in italy. Used 30cm thick ones, rendered with sand and cement on outside and inside. Render sticks well. I also 10cm thick ones for internal walls and used a gun adhesive for those. Can put up an internal wall very quickly this way. Took me a few attempts to buy the right wall anchors to hang things but I eventually found ones with a picture of the blocks on the packaging and they worked well.
@@broxton579 my house is built with them, as shown here wienerberger 25cm if I'm not mistaken + 15cm graphite styrophoam insulation outside. Had 6.2 earthquake a few years ago, not a crack anywhere. For comparison the wall mounted IKEA kitchen cupboards were rocked off
3:42 Theres a passivhaus terrace built with (the thickest version) these with no additional insulation. Plaster inside, render outside and thats it, electrical services in the blocks. Tomas Gartner was the architect, it's a really interesting project
I own a house in Western New York State, USA built in the early 1920’s. This house was built with poured concrete basement foundation walls, terracotta tile exterior walls, and clad with brick. The bricks and tiles were made in Bradford Pennsylvania, about 35 miles away.
I had a house in turkey for 12 years all the building was fine apart from the first meter internally, it was sucking up moisture but I think it was because the builders didn’t give a flying frigment as to how it was built, i put it down lack of dpc because i did dig up part of the lovely looking patio slabs ( o how very nice ) made to look good for the buyer and no DpC. Every body just needs to the job property.
Both my houses in Germany were built with these 300mm wide. The secnd house built in 2017 had these but the air spaces inside were filled with rockwool. Render on the outside, plaster on the inside. No Styroform or cavity wall required and they support concrete floors too so you can have underfloor heating upstairs too. Oh yes and each floor takes about one day to lay.
A friend in Wales built his house using these, seems very happy with the result some years later. He had a sound raft base with membrane. Looks a good system .
Hi Roger, we built a couple of care homes with. The main issues we found were: 1. Reveals and steps in the structure were based on traditional block sizes so there was excess cutting. 2. It de-skills block laying. Once the first course is laid, precisely, a well drilled gang of labourers could build witMmmh a foreman. As a result the bricklayers hated it. Contrary to your film a trowel is not a tool that is needed. Telling the brickies to leave their trowels at home did not go down well! If I was building my own house I would seriously consider these. They do one filled with insulation too. Unfortunately price, availability, and a lack of labour willing to embrace them means we will be stuck gluing concrete blocks together for years to come!
As a retired brickie I can confirm. One look at these makes me wince. If god wanted us to build walls like this he wouldn't have invented trowels. It's the devils work.
I dont think it de-skills block laying. In Eastern-EU this is still a bricklayer's job and they dont have to leave trowels at home. Also building code requires skilled worker to do that specific job not labourers. We used standard mortal as "adhesive", on site mixed cement, sand, lime . Some extrem cases I have seen foam used as glue (similar to expanding foam). That tool in the video efficient but we never used such thing or seen used while I was a labourer.
3:35 rising damp on your conkret slap the first layer is always a mambrane there are special ones for these stones and after the 2 or 3 row depending on stone highth ther should be a second mambrane installed to prevent any rising damp
There are lots of different methods that they use in house building in Europe which we don t seem to take on here. Would be good if you did a dedicated series on things like that.
I had a house built in the Toulouse region of France when I was living there, and it was built using clay bricks and then covered french crepe which is a type of rendering used extensively in France. They are great at keeping the building warm in the winter and cool in the summer. I am still amazed we haven't progressed in the UK past using concrete block!
I used those in my renovation, added a new extention and some new internal walls. Everything was done in 1 days work, i used the dryfix its the foam, its crazy strong that bond i was in disbelieve. Also no mortar or adhesive like in the video needed with the foam, really fast.
I fitted two windows in my Spanish villa, used these block to block up around the windows, they were double thickness and used them installed to the exterior outer skin, and then skimmed over with capa fina and they are perfectly waterproofed. I bedded between courses with mortar and not adhesive and also fine. 👍
The reason I'm sat at home watching this video is 40 years of laying concrete blocks, I layed a lot of poroton blocks in Germany once you get used to it it’s easy but they were better set up for it large bench cutter on most jobs various sizes of blocks to reduce cuts as well I think training is the main problem most people try it once it’s a struggle and don't bother again, regarding training Celcon were doing a push on thin joint around 2001 and a site near me was using it so the subbie sent me there as I had worked in Germany , it was a nightmare a proper slash gang I tried to explain to the forman the importance of getting the first course right but no there were guys proping walls with scaffold boards trying to get them back to plumb, the cherry on the cake for me was when the weasely guy from celcon came around with the site agent and told me not to use my tools bought and used in Germany as they weren't any good and I had to use the supplied trowel a simple U about 100mm square
Hi Pete That is interesting. I made the first training video for Celcon thin joint. The trouble was that they are not the same blocks that the merchant stocks. They have to be manufactured to fine tollerances. I built one place from them and they cracked like mad because there was no give in the courses. I think there is a good reason they didn't catch on.
My mate in Spain has had a house built by a large builder catering for the higher end houses. He's from Belgium and the builder is Spanish. His house is built with UK style blocks because they consider them to be superior albeit a bit more expensive.
Dense concrete blocks are superb for *_thermal mass._* Thermal mass keeps internal temperatures more stable as they absorb heat and coolth. They are strong and superior for drilling into. Best used on an internal brick cavity wall, or sold with external insulation.
American here - we have many historic buildings made of this type of product which we call “structural clay tile.” I just worked on a 110 year old 2 story high school built from it. Pros - Fireproof, very long lasting, accepts plaster finishes well. Unitized construction goes up quickly if you have a local skilled masonry workforce. Material should last forever. Cons - cant build without skilled masons (our case), US building codes don’t recognize it as a modern building material (we list it as an “archaic” building material, lol), and it is brittle making it difficult to drill into it to alter the structure in the future. Seismic reinforcement is difficult in high seismic zones. Most of our buildings built out of this material have NO rebar! Question - how do you guys typically insulate structures built from this material? Interior or exterior insulation?
I want to know how they are Earthquake rated since they basically have no adhesive between layers. Their lateral force resistance can't be particularly impressive because of that without very high compressive force on them. Their interlocking nature is minimal and I can't see it holding them together well enough to make up for the lack of adhesive material. Also with been clay they must be fairly fragile when it comes to direct impacts, so heavy falling debris is a potential issue.
Used to see these a lot in France and they used them a lot for stud walls aswell. What was more impressive is the ones they used for stud walls were only about 50mm thick!! They also made ceilings out of them but didn’t see much of that for obvious reasons. As an inside skin I would favour them over Thermalites because they are a lot stronger. It always seems mental to me that you can put massive RSJ’s onto Thermalites and 9 times out of 10 they only specify a padstone for the beam to go on. I always put a spreader lintel under the pads, makes me feel better 😅
In Portugal these can be used both for outisde and inside walls but probably the most common use case scenario is to use them on the inside wall and for the outside, you would use concret blocks or stone.
Have something similar in internal walls of our 60s property. Seems they have been used in the UK on and off in the past but not very widely. Seems to be a good alternative to other types of blocks as long as they're laid properly. Some structural engineers aren't too keen on them though. Certainly no damp problems or structural issues in our place, nor any issues securing fixings to them.
I use them in Spain.... really good. Easy effective and very flexible... And a variety of sizes.. Once dry and solid easy to cut a channel for electricity cables.. So when people say they are rubbish... It's probably due to the fact they really know little on using them.. However, yup one needs to use a membrane... Here in Spain they all laughed...when l insisted they put one down... Years later, showed some, look no dampness...
Our house in spain and the extension was built with these we used from out wallpaper the building and inner wall and the air gap cavity exterior finish is a water proof render.
I did a job on an ex LA house built in 1947, and found these, or something very similar, were used for some of the internal walls. Whether this was a post war shortage, not sure, but the main structure was both leaves brick.
In the Netherlands we use Ytong, which are made of aerated concrete. Ytong blocks offer optimal construction options, are lightweight, heat-insulating, able to accumulate heat (and later release it), insensitive to moisture, sound-insulating, fire-resistant and frost-resistant. Moreover, they are environmentally friendly and sustainable. I’ve heard they are pretty popular in Germany also.
we have Ytong in the U.K too. They started in Sweden but are now made in several factories including Greece and Turkey/ We have quite a lot of autoclaved aerated block brands in the U.K but cracking is a common problem. From what I have seen Ytong seems to crack less.
@@RichardEnglander The factory say they will last 50 to 100 years on average. Pretty comparable to normal concrete. If you can protect them from the elements I think you can expand that lifespan quite a bit. Never seen any crumbling, just don’t let them drop. You can even cut them with a hand saw and are easy stackable and you simply glue them together. There’s even curved ones, so you can make some interesting constructions.
I'd be surprised if these weren't earthquake rated. The UK and Ireland are probably the least earthquake prone areas in Europe and also the ones that aren't using these blocks.
These blocks are in stock in the UK with EH Smith at Hemel Hempstead Ley Hill Road, Bovingdon, Hemel Hempstead, HP3 0NW United Kingdom There are a few other EH Smith locations that stock but you should call ahead as they aren't at all locations and for some reason not available to order on line.
Worked in Australia for a few years and they used these . Different variation but essentially the same block much easier to lay than normal blocks . Elbow sings after a day on uk blocks now ha
It does get surprisingly cold and wet in southern spain in the winter but they build their houses for the summer when it's 40+ in the shade and dry'n'crispy.
I live in Spain and work in Gibraltar. Over here they are often used as a single external skin and also for internal party walls. The porosity is indeed a problem in the case of the external use. I have seen rising damp but also moisture ingress from outside is commonplace and condensation thanks to the thermal bridge. Internally they are good for airborne acoustics, but terrible for impact. So in Gibraltar now we tend to use them with an insulated render system externally and for party walls we often use a composit system with a thin layer of thermo brick and on one side a layer or insulation and a LG frame with plasterboard.
Just started a house in Cambridge with these blocks. I must say I'm looking forward to using this style of block to see if its as good as they say. The first course is in, had to cut down every block to get the floor height correct but hopefully from now on it should be plain sailing to first floor slab.(Lets hope).
Like you saw on the Belgian construction site. They are bonded with very heavy duty PU these days. No more making mortar or glue. It’s crazy strong and fast.
Houses made of these used to be a nightmare for me, I used to install sky TV in France for British expats that missed coronation street, getting a good fixing for the dish was a pain.
Did a job using these they were 360mm deep so no cavity. Although totally level on the flat the upright could be slightly out so had to use a 6ft level to get the overall level. Could walk up the corner on the blocks straight after being laid as you could go as high as you like. Supposed to go up quickly but window openings were all in a half course and big windows so had to use u blocks filled with concrete and steel for lintels. The house was in a cross section so 4 gables. Then u blocks all under wall plates filled with concrete that also had to go up and over gables as well. Overall a great product but a lot of cutting. By the way had to drink plenty of water on this house as i am convinced the blocks were sucking the moisture out of me
I'm a carpenter now living in Spain, and they are used everywhere AND THEY ARE CRAP!! There is damp everywhere, they are brittle and you can't fix anything to them because they simply fall apart once you try to drill them.
That is an interesting perspective. Do you think there is a Spanish bloke making a video asking why the Spanish don't use aircrete? As for the damp , it confirms what I said about the Spanish not using DPCs. I think some nut job told them that there is no such thing as rising damp.
@@SkillBuilder very often they just lay the first course directly to bedrock or even loose ground! I have a lot of clients who are ex pats living in relatively new villas....and they ALL have damp around the first 500/600 mm of the internal walls. None of them can understand why because of the obvious weather, and there's nothing they can do that stops it. Cracked walls are common because of movement, and they will sometimes use just 50mm thick bricks for dividing walls. Which means it's very easy to simply come through the other side when drilling. I've learned to deal with them these days........but I hate them.
Maybe you are talking about the normal clay bricks they are using everywhere in Spain and Portugal? Not the thermo clay bricks? It's not the same product
I was wondering about the issue of fixing to them. Maybe we just take it for granted that we can hang things on the wall but that's not what walls are made for.
There's a block of flats going up near me and they are using these blocks on the inner skin. They have also placed a course of concrete brick to support the block & beam system. I guess that could solve a couple of issues, extra load bearing and resetting the level.
In the North, we call them "snel bow" - Fast construction. I dip one end in the glue to make them airtight (same idea at 7:52) and put swimming pool additive in the base layer.
One of the main reasons they are so widely used in Europe is that large parts of Europe are under Eurocode8 Siesmic regulations for earthquakes. This means most new buildings are monolithic concrete structures and porothem, or similiar, are just infill blocks. You can get expanding foam for laying them on now. It has been the norm for donkeys years to fill the gap between the blocks and the slab with expanding foam.
Many houses (especially single family homes) in Europe are built with just Porotherm blocks as the load bearing structure. It's especially common with self builders and gives you great thermal performance out the door before adding any insulation (especially if you go with the 50cm wide ones).
There are a lot of houses in Portugal build with Porotherm, but they use a frame from steel reinforced concrete than is than filled in with Porotherm. Rather like in the middle ages, when a oak framed houses was filled in with bricks or clay mixed with straw.
Porotherm is mostly used as natural thermal insulation. External walls need to be at least 25 cm width to get the best thermal inertia. They're much more expensive than concrete blocks but you need a bit less insulation. Cost wise, it's a bit more expensive for a finished building. At least here in France. It's more popular in the south as thermal inertia is crucial in summer. And not wide spread because of French construction laws that sum up as the thicker the wall, the smaller space you get. Of course it also depend on local regulations on the surface ratio you can build and the size of your property.
Looking the video wondering where was recorded, namely in my country even before Euro code it was not alowed to build outer walls tinner than 20cm for a single story building, higher building need min 30cm
As a beginner, I used Porotherm for the inner and outer skin, with a 150mm fully filled cavity. Worked like a dream, building control were very happy, and a thin render on the outer skin is perfect. Just make sure the right mix is used fot the render - it is different to standard blocks.
I stayed with friends who have property in Corfu. I noticed them used extensively in new buildings there. It does have a dry hot climate most of the time. But they get a lot of stormy weather in winter.
Like the multi layer building in your example video most, also used in France, have the airgaps on the side, so horizontal instead of vertical. So as you can see they are cemented all arround. On the flat/long side you can use a tool that lays a thinner layer 0.5-0.7cm of cement because the blocks are very straight. Disadvantage to concrete block is that they are more expensive however do better in insolation, speed/easy and steadiness.
Hi Roger, we are about to start building our own home in Poland with Porotherm. From what I have read I think it is an excellent system, much better than the thermoblocks and cement blocks of our previous home in the U.K. (Taylor wimpey) Very excited to see this home develop. Natural material as well so healthier inside. I will sheet it with clay board, clay plaster then paint it in yosima.
Hi comments on your video are inactivated. I'm interested to see the content about porotherm system you will be using. what is clay boards? I'm in Portugal right now. the have these kind of bricks here but I never seen or heard about clay boards.
@annashealthylifeeverything8583 many thanks for the message. I need to figure how to activate them! All new to this. Any suggestions? The clay boards are exactly how they sound. It is clay pressed into a board like gypsum/plasterboard. Bonded or screwed on. I wanted further thermal mass on the inside wall and to help regulate humidity and air quality. Have a look at claytec although on the more expensive side it will give you an idea 😀
There are several thin joint systems. Celon for example. The main advantage claimed is that you can build more than 1.5m per day because the joints become load bearing faster.
6 місяців тому
Have a look as Iso Span. It is a wood-concrete material manufactured in Austria but available for shipping to the UK as well. Very easy to work with, can even be premade into wall segments, very good insulation. My house was built from it in the early 1960s and is still holding up perfectly. Newer variations are availbable with builtin insulation. R-Values of up to 6,51 are available. U-Value is 0,148 for those blocks then. They allow for very rapid construction with great thermal and accoustic properties.
These are widely rendered, Wienerberger do system renders specifically for this for example their Baumit range. The UK is sometimes so backwards in its building practices, a combination of our regulatory and control system and maybe trades being ingrained in their ways too. These blocks are no magic bullet, it's possible to screw anything up given have a chance of course but I'm sure they will become more widespread once minds are opened.
In UK traders learn trade from older traders, no proper construction/building schools like abroad and all the time they teach new things as they come, but here in UK if you have guy from 80's, 90's, 00's(trade expertise) who teaches you in your job, then that's it, you just learn most old things. Even exterior composite panels right now are like WOW, when they are like everywhere else for ages, same about clay blocks, ecotherm blocks etc.
Would you take a look at T-studs next? 5:10 I've also found every few feet or about 2m you can check for plumb & level to make those small correction rows. Going too far before checking for true is a way to get out without being able to correct it can cost a lot more than the few minutes to check it.
My house which was built in the1940s was constructed using clay pot bricks, essentially the same thing, I would say though the biggest issue is that they are just so damn hard... even drilling in a screw is a nightmare, makes every diy job a real pain.Shelves, picture hooks, anything becomes a full on mission.
Very interesting and well scripted examination of one of lifes great mysteries- why not in the UK? I always thought that they were weedy and not as efficient for heat insulation in our country, and would allow a lot more sound through, and that the only plus was that the builder spent less time and money on the erection of new builds. Seems like I was wrong. Good video, not sure about the tootly lift music in the background, tends to grind the ear after a while, and detract from learning about the subject. Thank you again.
Worked with them in Germany, excellent blocks too work with, go up very quick, compared to your British block, ie no perp joints, except on the quoins.
Hi Roger, this is really interesting. What’s a “parj coat” please? (sorry for misspelling). You applied it to the interior face of the blocks as a treatment before dot and dab
My house has them, indeed the whole development has them - Kent, UK, built circa 1970 The only difference being they were laid with the usual mortar not the mix shown in your video
I asked this question on your London brick video, but if you were to design a classical house today, to last 1000 years, would you go for brick, a product like porotherm, or some sort of cast concrete blocks?
obv things like river courses and earth creep will be accounted for during that time and build location (and many other things that can happen in 1000 years)
They are thicker versions with many more air pockets.. these act as a thermal insulation.. We built our house in France with these.. those heavy concrete blocks offer no insulation and are hard to work with.. No regrets at all
I love this, get back from work smashing down blockwork, talking about building all day long and straight into an interesting look at how it is done differently. Roger you should ask for people to send in funny dodgy stuff on site, there is a bloke on youtube that has got millions of views you've been framed style like sort of thing.
@@SkillBuilder you could even go round sites looking for bad practice to film and document. It might make a few enemies but also a few friends and do a lot for housing standards in the UK. But publicity wise... auditing sites...
Can anyone please explain properly the use of fixings on these.....the video shows the guy using, what looks like, a hammer fixing but these are a hollow block so how does that work? Really interesting concept of building though....I'd love to try them
Come to Australia and see how we build…. Rammed earth included, We have far higher thermal daily temperature variations a building has to take temperature changes of 20c in 30 minutes… during weather changes.. In my new steel frame house you can put the heating on one day, switch it off and it’s still the same temperature 2 days later inside… half the house walls are double glassed windows.. floor to ceiling jobs…. Windows are from Germany. One thing we do badly is the use of 1000’s of different fitting types screws etc…. It’s a bloody nightmare working out what’s best to use.
Was on a site near Birmingham in 2014 that built houses with these blocks. We were there to fit the kitchens and what a nightmare it was. Had to use very expensive special fixers to secure the units to the wall. It was also a nightmare for plumbers and sparkies.
Go to Spain, Portugal etc to see their plumbing. All inside the walls with supplyvalves nicely on rosettes, just tidy looking everything. Time will tell if and when construction will/can go that way, as our latest houses now are just a brick skin over a wooden property.
My house is built with these, plus dense (HE) 20cm styrofoam insulation outside with silicone render. We have -20C to +42C temperature range, and I only need heating or airco on the coldest or hottest extremes, and even then, on low-power eco mode. BUT, putting a plug in the inside walls is a pain. Best use long concrete self-tappers and a hammer drill.
Well this video took me back a few years, nice one! I helped a friend put up a house with these bricks/blocks in Austria. Poured concrete basement and ground floor slab. The first course was bedded on cement, perfectly levelled. The remaining courses were bonded with special expanding spray foam, specifically for this type of brick -> this gave us perfect angles. Cutting was using a huge wet saw (around 100cm diameter blade). The experience was much as you describe aside from those points. Some bricks have glass wool insulation in the cavities - what are your thoughts on those?
We attempted to use these on a few houses on a site I was on a few years ago. As a carpenter, to try and fix things to these was an absolute nightmare.
Got some similar bricks upstairs in my 1959 house. Rewired it a few years ago and agree was a bu$£er to fit any sockets. Really brittle, then shattered to sharp edges leaving a big void. Had to use loads of gripfill and battons to mount the back boxes.
The only potential problem with internal hollow blocks is - if you want to mount something on the wall, like a flat screen TV bracket, you’re drilling into air.
Not really, my 85 inch television is mounted to bricks like these. You would be amazed at how much weight these ‘hollow’ bricks will hold. Chasing out for recessing electrical cable etc is a breeze.
@@garryseery3865I’ll take your word for it. I can definitely see that chasing for cables and galvanised boxes would be a lot easier as the channels are already there, just break the surface. 🙂
Great to see you highlighting alternatives in building materials . A “ new product “ sometimes needs special attention to get the builders onsite to understand how to use them correctly. People are normally reluctant to embrace new materials / working methods especially when there’s money involved 😂
I was in a building merchant's yard one day (25 years ago) looking around I saw these, they had all kinds of versions, corners, capped (closed tops) rounds, cheeses etc, I am sure the passageways were bigger, more than double the size of these as I remember. Could have been a different manufacturer, the finish on them impressed me, you could easily use them as interior walls and leave them as they are, no dry lining, plaster or paint,
Apparently successive government's didn't realise that the ash that is the main ingredient of Thermolite and Celcon blocks. The ash comes from coal fired power stations. The last coal powered power station is Ratcliffe on Soar near East Midlands Airport. It is scheduled to shut down this year. While they do have a pile of ash stored over the years when it's gone it ain't coming back. What will we build with then?
@@copperweaveYes, we used to build houses with solid walls using traditional clay bricks, that's why they're so badly insulated. The calcium sulphate from Ratcliffe on Soar was also used as a feedstock for the nearby plasterboard and plaster products factory. Yes, we can go back to old-fashioned building methods if you don't mind old-fashioned standards of energy-efficiency
Love to see these on the market in the Uk more readily. Too many big builders set in their ways (std details etc), and its the smaller more independent ones that can adapt, so why not stock them at more builders merchants...?
You must cover the wall if its going to rain they hold the rain water in the cells if this happens you plaster the house it starts to effect the plaster inside and out this happened to a client of a builder in kinsale in Ireland not a happy customer
Have met these, or the local equivalent, at my home in Portugal. Heat and sound insulation just done. The only problem is with an internal wall you drill in to put up a shelf and hit a void. Bust be a trick for when it happens.
Amazing piece of kit. 20 years old house didn't sink at all, no cracks on the walls. House is cold in summer and warm in winter. Far superior than anything I saw in England.
Just some context about Spanish weather: while the Mediterranean coast and the south is generally warm, Madrid gets much hotter in summer but also colder in winter than London due to its altitude on the meseta at 650m (but is drier) and La Coruña in Galicia gets a good deal more annual rainfall than Leeds (1040 cm v 640 cm).
I think you answered your own question, they aren't used because they need to be layed level and plumb, a task that seems beyond many building companies
I am glad you like our products. In Czechia together with the University of Prague they developed a special porotherm brick that can be used by a robot building walls. Might be interesting to have a look at.
Seen them in Spain and often wondered why we don’t use them. However those I’ve seen in Spain are single course rendered outside and in winter the homes a freezing 🥶 but used as an internal block with insulation I’d say they’re worth using if they were available.
There are some blocks like this I have come across in old 60's council housing in London. Wind up for fitting back boxes in. Not the end of the world if you have bonding on the van to bed them in but you do have to wait for it to set before you can second fix.
We used bricks like these since 80's in Greece. We exported them too, I remember trucks and trucks full of bricks like these get in a ferry in Volos going to Syria and from there to S. Arabia or Kuweit.
I worked in germany 30 years ago, their construction was far more advanced than we are now.
We used to build a floor of a block of apartments and the waste wouldnt fill a mortar tub. Here a lift fills a skip with waste. I cant believe that main contractors have never addressed the waste material here.
We used a 250mm cube block, kalksandstein, every opening measured multiples of 250mm, width/ height so there was next to no waste material.
Architects, manufacturers still design with metric equivalents of imperial dimensions, instead of designing all openings etc to work brick/ block dimensions. Comical
When I did my first own build I was annoyed at the lack of standardisation of measurements in anything, causing masses of waste, 2m2 of brick and block went in to the soak away which the builder explained was a saving for me.
This will not happen on the next, I think I'll do the designing and drawings.
@sresto7943 many yrs ago I was building an Aldi in Kettering, raked out brickwork. We were really struggling with brick sizes and maintaining uniform joints. They called a rep out for the brick company with regards this.
I kid you not, he strung out bricks across the car park for close to 100 yards, measured it and said it was within their tolerances.
Material quality control by manufacturers is a joke. I've lay bricks that vary in length by +10mm, -10mm around the standard of 215mm. Height can vary from 60mm-72mm around a standard height of 65mm.
Our coursing is 75mm, imagine what that shit looks like.
@@richarddavey7884 "Material quality control"
We don't tolerate tolerances round 'ere mate.
🙂
@@richarddavey7884 As a fellow bricky, i feel your pain. Construction waste is completely out of control in the uk.
I work in electro mechanical assembly, and it's the same with us. The deviation from design by clueless management is truly shocking, unit upon unit is returned, how they make money beats me. If the customer doesn't see it, it's considered OK!
I worked on site around Berlin a few years back and these were all the brickies used, We used 300mm wide blocks, so no cavity and external wall insulation (EWI) on top.
Later I specfied them for a self build in Wales and distribution was the biggest problem but we bought a whole lorry load and the suppliers gave my customer some training to set the job up level.....the build flew up. Only downside was fixing downpipes on through the EWI. I love em. Trouble is if you are building an extension and can get the blocks.....what are you going to do in the afternoon? :-)
Beer garden 🍺 😁
In Germany do they still have a beer break in the mornings when a lad comes around the site with bottles of beer in a milkman's crate,
I am building my own house with clay blocks, they're very common around here (Slovakia). I used 44cm thick blocks for outer load bearing walls, 25cm for internal load bearing walls and 14 cm for the interior walls. The thick blocks have about the same thermal properties as Ytong of the same thickness. You can also get them pre-filled with mineral wool or EPS for even better thermals. They're easy to cut with a large circular saw (the thick ones) and with reciprocating saw or angle grinder for the thinner ones. There is some waste as some arrive cracked, others crack while cutting, my estimate is up to 1% based on the extra orders I had to make. I am currently finishing the wiring, no issues with the grooves for the wires - I did all of them with a cheap Parkside wall chaser. Drilling is no issue either, although you have to be more careful and use better quality drill bits. We built the external walls last year and left the exterior untouched for over a year now and absolutely no issues. Even longer periods of rain make the blocks wet only on the outside for a short amount of time, even in winter. However, I strongly recommend covering the top of the unfinished walls while laying them. Once a lot of water gets inside from the top, it takes a long time to dry. Also, I used a bitumen reinforced membrane for the rising damp, we get a lot of it around here. You can use PVC as well. I have a concrete flat roof on them with insulation and an extensive green roof on top of these blocks weighing around 35t in total and no cracks or issues there either. Overall it's been a pleasant system to work with, especially for a self-builder.
Thanks I will contact you. It would be good to see.
What fixings do you use if you want to hang something heavy on the wall? It seems like these blocks would crack very easily with expanding anchor bolts as they'd only be held by a thin outside wall of the block.
@@ferrumignis no problem to 500-600 kg over this make steel plate.but who hange 500-600 kg on wall.
@@MoreSplit But what fixings are used?
@@ferrumignis ua-cam.com/video/xc4IK3O4SBI/v-deo.htmlsi=5-JeBbyoog63fHyh&t=106 Injektionsmörtel FIS AB 300 fischer if need puling force 5-10000 kg epoxy but normally you need static calculation and permit from local building office.or when you build new building this must be in plan and be approved by government.but this is not your problem this is problem architect who make project and calculation.
Historically the UK has often been miles behind in adopting modern building materials. ICF, pipe-in-pipe plumbing, etc. Even PIR-type insulation is relatively recent here. Lots of builders put things up in the manner they were taught by builders who were taught in the 1980s and don’t stay on top of what’s possible. I find there’s more expertise on decent DIY forums these days in terms of what’s new versus what your average tradesman carries around in their head.
(And yes this is a generalisation, if it doesn’t describe you then that’s great.)
Demand also dictates what the vendors supply. If it's not in sight, it won't be seen! Building regs can be so retar oops -extremely backwards indeed. I helped build a eco-house using a brick called Ziegle Block that has additional U-value than the blocks cited by SB. Same type of system. Excellent thermal property... and moisture control with the use of a 'breathable' lime based render. Prenominally quick - no need for cladding. Also having worked on an 'experimental' build with hay bails was very impressive, but the building regs benchmark couldn't measure the Uvalue since the scale calibration was too small. 'Insulate Britain' are really missing a trick eh
Er, 'Relatively recent?'
I don't know what your interpretation of recent is but it's been in use in the UK since the mid sixties. I've been using it for 30 years and I wouldn't have called it recent even back then.
@@user-fq2cf6xf2s Like I say: if I'm not describing your work, I'm not talking about you. Sounds like you were a quality builder using quality materials, which is great and I wish we had more of you. But the same loft roll that was stuffed into my parents' house in the 1980s is still the most common type of insulation in this country - low R value, cheap, not great. Blown polystyrene beads into cavities that have to be taken out a decade later because they're trapping damp.
That’s why sites like this are important
@@JT-si6bl
"Building regs can be so retar oops -extremely backwards indeed"
Conservative is a perfect description.
I didn't even know these bricks are not a thing in the UK. I'm so used to them here in Belgium that I just assumed they're everywhere. I can literally go buy some at my local hardware store. We have some left over lying around in our garden. I've also seen them used as an insect hotel. I find them very effective at blocking any holes in our rabbit runs.
I have a large 350m2 house in Eastern Europe built with Porotherm blocks.
They are typically externally covered with 10cm of insulation, then rendered.
These blocks are also available with insulation built in.
Some barbarian from UK will now try to explain the 'superiority' of their methods. Lol
Here in Austria most get built with 25cm blocks and 16cm insulation or even the 50cm blocks from Wienerberger.
@@Aengrod Not really. I see most people in the comments are saying we're years behind in that respect.
Very interesting. I had a house built in Switzerland. The main load bearing areas are concrete, non load bearing looked like this. Inside is plastered, outside 20cm foam insulation then rendered. Door jambs are steel. Here building regs dictate triple glazing. Windows are aluminium outside, wood inside. Downstairs ceiling height 2m60 upstairs standard 2m40. Underfloor heating, heat pump, hot water tank, electrical panel in the cellar. I think we could learn a lot from continental (Swiss, German) house building. All the best, Rob in Switzerland
Hi Roger, in Czechia these are generally all they use for internal & external skins! They then have to be rendered or cladded. Rendering or cladding helps attract moisture and prevents moisture from evaporating. Therefore when you travel throughout Czechia, you will see the rising damp at the bottom of the buildings and the render falling off, and same at top of buildings where water is able to get behind the render/cladding. The rendering and brickwork therefore suffer. As soon as you drive into Poland, you start seeing traditional bricks being used again. The biggest problem is that it is now very hard to find a Czech bricklayer that can do face work, which obviously look great when done right. There are almost no brickwork buildings in CZ which is a shame. I'm sure the cost saved with such material is not passed onto the home-buyer but the future repair bills are! Not being able to get good fixes into the wall is a deal breaker for me and many others!
Same in Portugal
That (damp-loosened render)'s presumably due to using cheap cement render instead of acrylic or silicone (or lime) renders which are vapour permeable.
Clay blocks are superior building material compared to solid bricks. Nobody uses solid bricks in CZ/SK for decades. You can build energy efficient house using clay blocks filled with rockwool or polystyrene. No need for stupid cavity wall.
Everytime we vist Cz, (Mrs is Cz) I always get stressed by the state of exterior walls and general maintenance, there are lovely properties, but the volume of repairs, cost and time needed by property owner does put me off :(
@@MrTurboSAAB1 Try using them as outside walls only here in wet Netherlands.. You will have plenty of work, and mold without a cavity wall.
Hi all, did a build with these about 10 years ago, yes on a slab, yes on a sand cement first joint. What is available is a u shaped channel that you can lay at each story height and cast a ring beam in which gives you a really good opportunity to correct any issues. Loved the stuff.
I used these on two houses including external walls and one house done with a single block with insulation. Laid the blocks myself. Happy to discuss the experience. Won’t use anything else.
i used these for the renovation of my slovenian house with a ytong inner lining to the blockwork with no cavity. it was easy to do and the thermal efficency is incredible. our house is warm in winter and really cool in summer while facing -15 to +40 degree temperature swings outside. i really dont understand why they are so rare in the UK. love this product, also weinberger roof tiles are amazing quality
Our house in France is built with them. They're rendered on the outside with self-coloured crépi - a rough-cast plaster. The walls are around 400mm thick and this provides decent insulation in winter and summer. The upstairs floor is made of beams with these tile bricks slid in between, then 100mm or reinforced concrete it laid on top. This provides excellent soundproofing, so makes a very pleasant dwelling. The building is 30+ years old and there are no cracks inside.
0
Been in the construction industry for 60 years and have experience of house build in many countries all build techniques are dependant on the skill and ability of the builder and also taking into account the circumstances and location and weather. Traditional build in the UK and building regulations serve a practical purpose. Kind regards Tim
You said it Captain. Peace and goodwill.
Yeah but what is that and how is it applicable to this product?
Saying we use this product because we do isn't helpful.
@ItsFriscoBaby England is cold. THATS WHY WE USE THERMAL blocks
They use these in Germany and it get a lot colder there than it does in the UK most of the time
@@JohnJohn-cu7nk lol, they use those blocks are used in countries where it easily gets to -30*C
We have used these on a few small projects for over 15 years. Agree with some of the other comments in that they can be a pain to drill into as they are strong but brittle. We've used them for external walls as well with render finish and they are still totally fine 10 years later. Bricklayers hate them which is the main issue. You can't get them specified unless the main contractor fully buys into training up some lads to do it. The whole point is to use semi-skilled labour and actually folks trained from nothing were better at it than the bricklayers. They even have a 365 wide block which you can use without a cavity and with external insulation and render. Used right, these are an excellent product.
The go up to 50 cm wide in Europe, gives you quite the nice baseline thermal performance without doing anything (a pain to carry though).
Every tradesman hates DIYable products that require no skill. They see it as manufacturers or stores competing with them.
Overall England has an allergy for new.
Why bricklayers hate them?
@@VanyaYani
*Britain, not just England.
switch off the hammer function of your drill, done. If you know what you're doing, porotherm is so superior and efficient, it's not even funny anymore.
While I am currently building with 30 cm standard porotherm on the outside walls, my friend is using the newer version which has its airpockets filled with insulation. These are way more expensive but you save on insulation.
I live in the UK, but in Croatia we build with these, and then just simply finish outer with external insulation(rock woll is best option since it is breathable and fire resistant, but many people use cheaper polystirene). Only difference is, since it is an earthquaqe prone area, building regs require vertical (every 3-4 meters if I remember corectly), and horizontal (above openings like doors and windows, load bearing walls, and top of blocks every floor all around) reinforced concrete pours, width of the block and 25-50 cm in height, depending of the structure
In the UK it all depends on what the mortgage insurance companies accept.
Used them on my house in italy. Used 30cm thick ones, rendered with sand and cement on outside and inside. Render sticks well. I also 10cm thick ones for internal walls and used a gun adhesive for those. Can put up an internal wall very quickly this way. Took me a few attempts to buy the right wall anchors to hang things but I eventually found ones with a picture of the blocks on the packaging and they worked well.
How about any need to earthquake proof. Did you need to follow regulations?
@@broxton579 my house is built with them, as shown here wienerberger 25cm if I'm not mistaken + 15cm graphite styrophoam insulation outside.
Had 6.2 earthquake a few years ago, not a crack anywhere. For comparison the wall mounted IKEA kitchen cupboards were rocked off
3:42 Theres a passivhaus terrace built with (the thickest version) these with no additional insulation. Plaster inside, render outside and thats it, electrical services in the blocks. Tomas Gartner was the architect, it's a really interesting project
I own a house in Western New York State, USA built in the early 1920’s. This house was built with poured concrete basement foundation walls, terracotta tile exterior walls, and clad with brick. The bricks and tiles were made in Bradford Pennsylvania, about 35 miles away.
I had a house in turkey for 12 years all the building was fine apart from the first meter internally, it was sucking up moisture but I think it was because the builders didn’t give a flying frigment as to how it was built, i put it down lack of dpc because i did dig up part of the lovely looking patio slabs ( o how very nice ) made to look good for the buyer and no DpC. Every body just needs to the job property.
Both my houses in Germany were built with these 300mm wide. The secnd house built in 2017 had these but the air spaces inside were filled with rockwool. Render on the outside, plaster on the inside. No Styroform or cavity wall required and they support concrete floors too so you can have underfloor heating upstairs too. Oh yes and each floor takes about one day to lay.
A friend in Wales built his house using these, seems very happy with the result some years later. He had a sound raft base with membrane. Looks a good system .
Hi Roger, we built a couple of care homes with. The main issues we found were:
1. Reveals and steps in the structure were based on traditional block sizes so there was excess cutting.
2. It de-skills block laying. Once the first course is laid, precisely, a well drilled gang of labourers could build witMmmh a foreman. As a result the bricklayers hated it. Contrary to your film a trowel is not a tool that is needed. Telling the brickies to leave their trowels at home did not go down well!
If I was building my own house I would seriously consider these. They do one filled with insulation too. Unfortunately price, availability, and a lack of labour willing to embrace them means we will be stuck gluing concrete blocks together for years to come!
As a retired brickie I can confirm. One look at these makes me wince. If god wanted us to build walls like this he wouldn't have invented trowels. It's the devils work.
I dont think it de-skills block laying. In Eastern-EU this is still a bricklayer's job and they dont have to leave trowels at home.
Also building code requires skilled worker to do that specific job not labourers.
We used standard mortal as "adhesive", on site mixed cement, sand, lime .
Some extrem cases I have seen foam used as glue (similar to expanding foam).
That tool in the video efficient but we never used such thing or seen used while I was a labourer.
3:35 rising damp on your conkret slap the first layer is always a mambrane there are special ones for these stones and after the 2 or 3 row depending on stone highth ther should be a second mambrane installed to prevent any rising damp
There are lots of different methods that they use in house building in Europe which we don t seem to take on here. Would be good if you did a dedicated series on things like that.
I had a house built in the Toulouse region of France when I was living there, and it was built using clay bricks and then covered french crepe which is a type of rendering used extensively in France. They are great at keeping the building warm in the winter and cool in the summer. I am still amazed we haven't progressed in the UK past using concrete block!
I used those in my renovation, added a new extention and some new internal walls.
Everything was done in 1 days work, i used the dryfix its the foam, its crazy strong that bond i was in disbelieve.
Also no mortar or adhesive like in the video needed with the foam, really fast.
I fitted two windows in my Spanish villa, used these block to block up around the windows, they were double thickness and used them installed to the exterior outer skin, and then skimmed over with capa fina and they are perfectly waterproofed. I bedded between courses with mortar and not adhesive and also fine. 👍
The reason I'm sat at home watching this video is 40 years of laying concrete blocks, I layed a lot of poroton blocks in Germany once you get used to it it’s easy but they were better set up for it large bench cutter on most jobs various sizes of blocks to reduce cuts as well
I think training is the main problem most people try it once it’s a struggle and don't bother again, regarding training Celcon were doing a push on thin joint around 2001 and a site near me was using it so the subbie sent me there as I had worked in Germany , it was a nightmare a proper slash gang I tried to explain to the forman the importance of getting the first course right but no there were guys proping walls with scaffold boards trying to get them back to plumb, the cherry on the cake for me was when the weasely guy from celcon came around with the site agent and told me not to use my tools bought and used in Germany as they weren't any good and I had to use the supplied trowel a simple U about 100mm square
Hi Pete
That is interesting. I made the first training video for Celcon thin joint. The trouble was that they are not the same blocks that the merchant stocks. They have to be manufactured to fine tollerances. I built one place from them and they cracked like mad because there was no give in the courses. I think there is a good reason they didn't catch on.
I first saw these in the Frankfurt Home and gardening show 35 years ago and was impressed with the speed of laying.
My mate in Spain has had a house built by a large builder catering for the higher end houses. He's from Belgium and the builder is Spanish. His house is built with UK style blocks because they consider them to be superior albeit a bit more expensive.
What, like our superior plastic guttering etc, etc😂😂
@@Mindersonagainhow did you get plastic from concrete blocks?
Dense concrete blocks are superb for *_thermal mass._* Thermal mass keeps internal temperatures more stable as they absorb heat and coolth. They are strong and superior for drilling into. Best used on an internal brick cavity wall, or sold with external insulation.
I would give them a go, not for a client yet but on my own home to test the water
American here - we have many historic buildings made of this type of product which we call “structural clay tile.” I just worked on a 110 year old 2 story high school built from it.
Pros - Fireproof, very long lasting, accepts plaster finishes well. Unitized construction goes up quickly if you have a local skilled masonry workforce. Material should last forever.
Cons - cant build without skilled masons (our case), US building codes don’t recognize it as a modern building material (we list it as an “archaic” building material, lol), and it is brittle making it difficult to drill into it to alter the structure in the future. Seismic reinforcement is difficult in high seismic zones. Most of our buildings built out of this material have NO rebar!
Question - how do you guys typically insulate structures built from this material? Interior or exterior insulation?
They are used here in Italy a lot too. Just had the builders use them to block off an old chimney. They are also rated for earthquakes.
I want to know how they are Earthquake rated since they basically have no adhesive between layers.
Their lateral force resistance can't be particularly impressive because of that without very high compressive force on them. Their interlocking nature is minimal and I can't see it holding them together well enough to make up for the lack of adhesive material.
Also with been clay they must be fairly fragile when it comes to direct impacts, so heavy falling debris is a potential issue.
Used to see these a lot in France and they used them a lot for stud walls aswell. What was more impressive is the ones they used for stud walls were only about 50mm thick!! They also made ceilings out of them but didn’t see much of that for obvious reasons. As an inside skin I would favour them over Thermalites because they are a lot stronger. It always seems mental to me that you can put massive RSJ’s onto Thermalites and 9 times out of 10 they only specify a padstone for the beam to go on. I always put a spreader lintel under the pads, makes me feel better 😅
In Portugal these can be used both for outisde and inside walls but probably the most common use case scenario is to use them on the inside wall and for the outside, you would use concret blocks or stone.
Have something similar in internal walls of our 60s property. Seems they have been used in the UK on and off in the past but not very widely. Seems to be a good alternative to other types of blocks as long as they're laid properly. Some structural engineers aren't too keen on them though. Certainly no damp problems or structural issues in our place, nor any issues securing fixings to them.
I use them in Spain.... really good.
Easy effective and very flexible... And a variety of sizes..
Once dry and solid easy to cut a channel for electricity cables..
So when people say they are rubbish...
It's probably due to the fact they really know little on using them..
However, yup one needs to use a membrane...
Here in Spain they all laughed...when l insisted they put one down...
Years later, showed some, look no dampness...
Our house in spain and the extension was built with these we used from out wallpaper the building and inner wall and the air gap cavity exterior finish is a water proof render.
I did a job on an ex LA house built in 1947, and found these, or something very similar, were used for some of the internal walls. Whether this was a post war shortage, not sure, but the main structure was both leaves brick.
In the Netherlands we use Ytong, which are made of aerated concrete. Ytong blocks offer optimal construction options, are lightweight, heat-insulating, able to accumulate heat (and later release it), insensitive to moisture, sound-insulating, fire-resistant and frost-resistant. Moreover, they are environmentally friendly and sustainable. I’ve heard they are pretty popular in Germany also.
I am with you. Compare to the clay-blocks the aerial concrete is much better. But also has some nuances.
How long does that last before it crumbles?
we have Ytong in the U.K too. They started in Sweden but are now made in several factories including Greece and Turkey/
We have quite a lot of autoclaved aerated block brands in the U.K but cracking is a common problem. From what I have seen Ytong seems to crack less.
@@RichardEnglander The factory say they will last 50 to 100 years on average. Pretty comparable to normal concrete. If you can protect them from the elements I think you can expand that lifespan quite a bit. Never seen any crumbling, just don’t let them drop. You can even cut them with a hand saw and are easy stackable and you simply glue them together. There’s even curved ones, so you can make some interesting constructions.
@@SkillBuilder mmm we used to build from stone...
It's amazing seeing how things are built in places without earthquakes. I'd love to be able to build like this.
I'd be surprised if these weren't earthquake rated. The UK and Ireland are probably the least earthquake prone areas in Europe and also the ones that aren't using these blocks.
Wienberger also makes a special earth quake resistant variant, the Porotherm seismic clay block.
@@peglor Indeed, parts of southern europe such as Italy, Greece and the Balkans are earthquake prone enough to be a concern.
These blocks are in stock in the UK with EH Smith at Hemel Hempstead Ley Hill Road, Bovingdon, Hemel Hempstead, HP3 0NW
United Kingdom
There are a few other EH Smith locations that stock but you should call ahead as they aren't at all locations and for some reason not available to order on line.
Worked in Australia for a few years and they used these . Different variation but essentially the same block much easier to lay than normal blocks . Elbow sings after a day on uk blocks now ha
It does get surprisingly cold and wet in southern spain in the winter but they build their houses for the summer when it's 40+ in the shade and dry'n'crispy.
I live in Spain and work in Gibraltar. Over here they are often used as a single external skin and also for internal party walls. The porosity is indeed a problem in the case of the external use. I have seen rising damp but also moisture ingress from outside is commonplace and condensation thanks to the thermal bridge. Internally they are good for airborne acoustics, but terrible for impact. So in Gibraltar now we tend to use them with an insulated render system externally and for party walls we often use a composit system with a thin layer of thermo brick and on one side a layer or insulation and a LG frame with plasterboard.
Just started a house in Cambridge with these blocks. I must say I'm looking forward to using this style of block to see if its as good as they say. The first course is in, had to cut down every block to get the floor height correct but hopefully from now on it should be plain sailing to first floor slab.(Lets hope).
Like you saw on the Belgian construction site. They are bonded with very heavy duty PU these days. No more making mortar or glue. It’s crazy strong and fast.
Houses made of these used to be a nightmare for me, I used to install sky TV in France for British expats that missed coronation street, getting a good fixing for the dish was a pain.
Did a job using these they were 360mm deep so no cavity. Although totally level on the flat the upright could be slightly out so had to use a 6ft level to get the overall level. Could walk up the corner on the blocks straight after being laid as you could go as high as you like. Supposed to go up quickly but window openings were all in a half course and big windows so had to use u blocks filled with concrete and steel for lintels. The house was in a cross section so 4 gables. Then u blocks all under wall plates filled with concrete that also had to go up and over gables as well. Overall a great product but a lot of cutting. By the way had to drink plenty of water on this house as i am convinced the blocks were sucking the moisture out of me
Design the home with the brick dimensions as a guide ?
@dwwolf4636 yes. Live in Ireland myself and a few lidl or aldi did this and they went up in no time
I'm a carpenter now living in Spain, and they are used everywhere AND THEY ARE CRAP!!
There is damp everywhere, they are brittle and you can't fix anything to them because they simply fall apart once you try to drill them.
That is an interesting perspective. Do you think there is a Spanish bloke making a video asking why the Spanish don't use aircrete?
As for the damp , it confirms what I said about the Spanish not using DPCs. I think some nut job told them that there is no such thing as rising damp.
@@SkillBuilder very often they just lay the first course directly to bedrock or even loose ground!
I have a lot of clients who are ex pats living in relatively new villas....and they ALL have damp around the first 500/600 mm of the internal walls.
None of them can understand why because of the obvious weather, and there's nothing they can do that stops it.
Cracked walls are common because of movement, and they will sometimes use just 50mm thick bricks for dividing walls. Which means it's very easy to simply come through the other side when drilling.
I've learned to deal with them these days........but I hate them.
Maybe you are talking about the normal clay bricks they are using everywhere in Spain and Portugal? Not the thermo clay bricks? It's not the same product
Same as that here in Portugal. Taken me 5 years to learn how to deal/work with them.
I was wondering about the issue of fixing to them. Maybe we just take it for granted that we can hang things on the wall but that's not what walls are made for.
There's a block of flats going up near me and they are using these blocks on the inner skin. They have also placed a course of concrete brick to support the block & beam system. I guess that could solve a couple of issues, extra load bearing and resetting the level.
Interestingly my 1957 house in Manchester UK, has the internal walls made of these blocks. I was surprised to find them during recent renovation.
when i worked in manchester we used to call them salamander blocks, i used them quite often
In the North, we call them "snel bow" - Fast construction.
I dip one end in the glue to make them airtight (same idea at 7:52) and put swimming pool additive in the base layer.
One of the main reasons they are so widely used in Europe is that large parts of Europe are under Eurocode8 Siesmic regulations for earthquakes. This means most new buildings are monolithic concrete structures and porothem, or similiar, are just infill blocks. You can get expanding foam for laying them on now. It has been the norm for donkeys years to fill the gap between the blocks and the slab with expanding foam.
Many houses (especially single family homes) in Europe are built with just Porotherm blocks as the load bearing structure. It's especially common with self builders and gives you great thermal performance out the door before adding any insulation (especially if you go with the 50cm wide ones).
There are a lot of houses in Portugal build with Porotherm, but they use a frame from steel reinforced concrete than is than filled in with Porotherm. Rather like in the middle ages, when a oak framed houses was filled in with bricks or clay mixed with straw.
@@mjoelnir1899That sounds like a nice sturdy type of structure.
Porotherm is mostly used as natural thermal insulation. External walls need to be at least 25 cm width to get the best thermal inertia.
They're much more expensive than concrete blocks but you need a bit less insulation. Cost wise, it's a bit more expensive for a finished building. At least here in France.
It's more popular in the south as thermal inertia is crucial in summer. And not wide spread because of French construction laws that sum up as the thicker the wall, the smaller space you get. Of course it also depend on local regulations on the surface ratio you can build and the size of your property.
Looking the video wondering where was recorded, namely in my country even before Euro code it was not alowed to build outer walls tinner than 20cm for a single story building, higher building need min 30cm
As a beginner, I used Porotherm for the inner and outer skin, with a 150mm fully filled cavity. Worked like a dream, building control were very happy, and a thin render on the outer skin is perfect. Just make sure the right mix is used fot the render - it is different to standard blocks.
I stayed with friends who have property in Corfu. I noticed them used extensively in new buildings there. It does have a dry hot climate most of the time. But they get a lot of stormy weather in winter.
Like the multi layer building in your example video most, also used in France, have the airgaps on the side, so horizontal instead of vertical. So as you can see they are cemented all arround. On the flat/long side you can use a tool that lays a thinner layer 0.5-0.7cm of cement because the blocks are very straight. Disadvantage to concrete block is that they are more expensive however do better in insolation, speed/easy and steadiness.
Hi Roger, we are about to start building our own home in Poland with Porotherm. From what I have read I think it is an excellent system, much better than the thermoblocks and cement blocks of our previous home in the U.K. (Taylor wimpey) Very excited to see this home develop. Natural material as well so healthier inside. I will sheet it with clay board, clay plaster then paint it in yosima.
I have just had a look at your channel, great fun! Best of luck with it, I will follow you.
Hi comments on your video are inactivated. I'm interested to see the content about porotherm system you will be using. what is clay boards? I'm in Portugal right now. the have these kind of bricks here but I never seen or heard about clay boards.
@SkillBuilder thanks guys… still fighting through the red tape but getting there! Hoping to start soon. Thanks for following 😊
@annashealthylifeeverything8583 many thanks for the message. I need to figure how to activate them! All new to this. Any suggestions? The clay boards are exactly how they sound. It is clay pressed into a board like gypsum/plasterboard. Bonded or screwed on. I wanted further thermal mass on the inside wall and to help regulate humidity and air quality. Have a look at claytec although on the more expensive side it will give you an idea 😀
Think I sorted the comments now - thanks
There are several thin joint systems. Celon for example. The main advantage claimed is that you can build more than 1.5m per day because the joints become load bearing faster.
Have a look as Iso Span. It is a wood-concrete material manufactured in Austria but available for shipping to the UK as well. Very easy to work with, can even be premade into wall segments, very good insulation. My house was built from it in the early 1960s and is still holding up perfectly. Newer variations are availbable with builtin insulation. R-Values of up to 6,51 are available. U-Value is 0,148 for those blocks then. They allow for very rapid construction with great thermal and accoustic properties.
These are widely rendered, Wienerberger do system renders specifically for this for example their Baumit range.
The UK is sometimes so backwards in its building practices, a combination of our regulatory and control system and maybe trades being ingrained in their ways too.
These blocks are no magic bullet, it's possible to screw anything up given have a chance of course but I'm sure they will become more widespread once minds are opened.
In UK traders learn trade from older traders, no proper construction/building schools like abroad and all the time they teach new things as they come, but here in UK if you have guy from 80's, 90's, 00's(trade expertise) who teaches you in your job, then that's it, you just learn most old things. Even exterior composite panels right now are like WOW, when they are like everywhere else for ages, same about clay blocks, ecotherm blocks etc.
i love them used them on my property in spain it is like using leggo
Would you take a look at T-studs next?
5:10 I've also found every few feet or about 2m you can check for plumb & level to make those small correction rows. Going too far before checking for true is a way to get out without being able to correct it can cost a lot more than the few minutes to check it.
My house which was built in the1940s was constructed using clay pot bricks, essentially the same thing, I would say though the biggest issue is that they are just so damn hard... even drilling in a screw is a nightmare, makes every diy job a real pain.Shelves, picture hooks, anything becomes a full on mission.
Very interesting and well scripted examination of one of lifes great mysteries- why not in the UK? I always thought that they were weedy and not as efficient for heat insulation in our country, and would allow a lot more sound through, and that the only plus was that the builder spent less time and money on the erection of new builds. Seems like I was wrong. Good video, not sure about the tootly lift music in the background, tends to grind the ear after a while, and detract from learning about the subject. Thank you again.
Worked with them in Germany, excellent blocks too work with, go up very quick, compared to your British block, ie no perp joints, except on the quoins.
Hi Roger, this is really interesting. What’s a “parj coat” please? (sorry for misspelling). You applied it to the interior face of the blocks as a treatment before dot and dab
It is really to make the stucture airtight. Parging was any slurry across the wall. It used to be lime and horsehair
My house has them, indeed the whole development has them - Kent, UK, built circa 1970
The only difference being they were laid with the usual mortar not the mix shown in your video
i wish we had distro for these here in the US.
I asked this question on your London brick video, but if you were to design a classical house today, to last 1000 years, would you go for brick, a product like porotherm, or some sort of cast concrete blocks?
obv things like river courses and earth creep will be accounted for during that time and build location (and many other things that can happen in 1000 years)
They are thicker versions with many more air pockets.. these act as a thermal insulation..
We built our house in France with these.. those heavy concrete blocks offer no insulation and are hard to work with..
No regrets at all
I love this, get back from work smashing down blockwork, talking about building all day long and straight into an interesting look at how it is done differently. Roger you should ask for people to send in funny dodgy stuff on site, there is a bloke on youtube that has got millions of views you've been framed style like sort of thing.
Thanks for the tip, it would be a good idea. We need a bit of a boost.
@@SkillBuilder you could even go round sites looking for bad practice to film and document. It might make a few enemies but also a few friends and do a lot for housing standards in the UK. But publicity wise... auditing sites...
Can anyone please explain properly the use of fixings on these.....the video shows the guy using, what looks like, a hammer fixing but these are a hollow block so how does that work? Really interesting concept of building though....I'd love to try them
Come to Australia and see how we build…. Rammed earth included, We have far higher thermal daily temperature variations a building has to take temperature changes of 20c in 30 minutes… during weather changes.. In my new steel frame house you can put the heating on one day, switch it off and it’s still the same temperature 2 days later inside… half the house walls are double glassed windows.. floor to ceiling jobs…. Windows are from Germany. One thing we do badly is the use of 1000’s of different fitting types screws etc…. It’s a bloody nightmare working out what’s best to use.
i used fastwall in australia a type of hollow clay block very easy to use that was in w.a.
Was on a site near Birmingham in 2014 that built houses with these blocks. We were there to fit the kitchens and what a nightmare it was. Had to use very expensive special fixers to secure the units to the wall. It was also a nightmare for plumbers and sparkies.
Go to Spain, Portugal etc to see their plumbing. All inside the walls with supplyvalves nicely on rosettes, just tidy looking everything. Time will tell if and when construction will/can go that way, as our latest houses now are just a brick skin over a wooden property.
I bet the mortgage insurers didn’t like it too much either.
My house is built with these, plus dense (HE) 20cm styrofoam insulation outside with silicone render. We have -20C to +42C temperature range, and I only need heating or airco on the coldest or hottest extremes, and even then, on low-power eco mode. BUT, putting a plug in the inside walls is a pain. Best use long concrete self-tappers and a hammer drill.
Well this video took me back a few years, nice one! I helped a friend put up a house with these bricks/blocks in Austria. Poured concrete basement and ground floor slab. The first course was bedded on cement, perfectly levelled. The remaining courses were bonded with special expanding spray foam, specifically for this type of brick -> this gave us perfect angles. Cutting was using a huge wet saw (around 100cm diameter blade). The experience was much as you describe aside from those points. Some bricks have glass wool insulation in the cavities - what are your thoughts on those?
We attempted to use these on a few houses on a site I was on a few years ago. As a carpenter, to try and fix things to these was an absolute nightmare.
Got some similar bricks upstairs in my 1959 house. Rewired it a few years ago and agree was a bu$£er to fit any sockets. Really brittle, then shattered to sharp edges leaving a big void. Had to use loads of gripfill and battons to mount the back boxes.
Nightmare to plaster, we used a scud coat to stop the suction but far slower process! This was 30 year’s ago, they never caught on. surprisingly!
The only potential problem with internal hollow blocks is - if you want to mount something on the wall, like a flat screen TV bracket, you’re drilling into air.
Not really, my 85 inch television is mounted to bricks like these. You would be amazed at how much weight these ‘hollow’ bricks will hold. Chasing out for recessing electrical cable etc is a breeze.
@@garryseery3865I’ll take your word for it. I can definitely see that chasing for cables and galvanised boxes would be a lot easier as the channels are already there, just break the surface. 🙂
Great to see you highlighting alternatives in building materials . A “ new product “ sometimes needs special attention to get the builders onsite to understand how to use them correctly. People are normally reluctant to embrace new materials / working methods especially when there’s money involved 😂
I was in a building merchant's yard one day (25 years ago) looking around I saw these, they had all kinds of versions, corners, capped (closed tops) rounds, cheeses etc, I am sure the passageways were bigger, more than double the size of these as I remember. Could have been a different manufacturer, the finish on them impressed me, you could easily use them as interior walls and leave them as they are, no dry lining, plaster or paint,
Apparently successive government's didn't realise that the ash that is the main ingredient of Thermolite and Celcon blocks. The ash comes from coal fired power stations. The last coal powered power station is Ratcliffe on Soar near East Midlands Airport. It is scheduled to shut down this year. While they do have a pile of ash stored over the years when it's gone it ain't coming back. What will we build with then?
Literally anything else? It's not like humans haven't been building stuff without coal plants for... Most of our existence? It's fine.
@@copperweave economical suggestions forthcoming?
@@copperweaveYes, we used to build houses with solid walls using traditional clay bricks, that's why they're so badly insulated. The calcium sulphate from Ratcliffe on Soar was also used as a feedstock for the nearby plasterboard and plaster products factory. Yes, we can go back to old-fashioned building methods if you don't mind old-fashioned standards of energy-efficiency
Imported blocks
You can get 400mm thick blocks which have amazing thermal properties. It becomes a solid wall structure so long as vapour barriers are all in place.
Love to see these on the market in the Uk more readily. Too many big builders set in their ways (std details etc), and its the smaller more independent ones that can adapt, so why not stock them at more builders merchants...?
You must cover the wall if its going to rain they hold the rain water in the cells if this happens you plaster the house it starts to effect the plaster inside and out this happened to a client of a builder in kinsale in Ireland not a happy customer
Have met these, or the local equivalent, at my home in Portugal.
Heat and sound insulation just done.
The only problem is with an internal wall you drill in to put up a shelf and hit a void.
Bust be a trick for when it happens.
Thank you very informative. I'm a plumber to . Your VLOG about the yellow stock was fantastically informative. Mick
Amazing piece of kit. 20 years old house didn't sink at all, no cracks on the walls. House is cold in summer and warm in winter. Far superior than anything I saw in England.
I didn't see any ties being used ! How would you tie these to an outer brick facing ?
There are ties, you just clip them on afterwards.
Ok ...but how do you hang things from them ....kitchen cabinets, sinks which don't have pedestals, shelves, etc?
Just some context about Spanish weather: while the Mediterranean coast and the south is generally warm, Madrid gets much hotter in summer but also colder in winter than London due to its altitude on the meseta at 650m (but is drier) and La Coruña in Galicia gets a good deal more annual rainfall than Leeds (1040 cm v 640 cm).
There’s no adhesive on vertical joints because they interlock. Very clever. Even I could do that.
what is that saw they used to cut the blocks at 3:54 ?
I think you answered your own question, they aren't used because they need to be layed level and plumb, a task that seems beyond many building companies
I am glad you like our products. In Czechia together with the University of Prague they developed a special porotherm brick that can be used by a robot building walls.
Might be interesting to have a look at.
Seen them in Spain and often wondered why we don’t use them. However those I’ve seen in Spain are single course rendered outside and in winter the homes a freezing 🥶 but used as an internal block with insulation I’d say they’re worth using if they were available.
There are some blocks like this I have come across in old 60's council housing in London. Wind up for fitting back boxes in. Not the end of the world if you have bonding on the van to bed them in but you do have to wait for it to set before you can second fix.
I use foam
We used bricks like these since 80's in Greece. We exported them too, I remember trucks and trucks full of bricks like these get in a ferry in Volos going to Syria and from there to S. Arabia or Kuweit.