The difference between various 100mm blocks?

Mr. Clueless · 28 Jun 2016

This is one to just satisfy my curiosity more than anything else.

At some point in the future i will be wanting a shed built from block. I was talking with someone & when i described the 4mtr-x-3mtr-x-2.4mtr(h) build i want they called it a garage. A garage in my eyes is a building you can stick your car in & since there's no access to the rear for a car then i call this a shed. But whatever, it's still a building of some description

The (4") blocks i know of are....

* 100mm solid block - "breeze blocks" which i see people building extensions out of. 7N typically although i've seen 10N.

* 100mm "lightweight" block - a little lighter than your standard 100mm dense block but not what i would consider 'light'. I think these are also 7N. You can probably get them in other ratings.

* 100mm "ultralight" block - the construction of these isn't as 'tight' if you will & they feel noticeably lighter than the above two. You may also have heard of them as 'klinker' or 'fibolite'.

* 100mm "paint grades" - a really tight fine construction which seem to take paint well. Like the first one i mentioned but tighter construction.

* 100mm 'thermalite' blocks - can cut them with a saw. The lightest of all of these. Durox, Celcon, Quinn Lite - all the same kind of thing. I think these are maybe used on internal walls?

I know you use the standard 100mm solid for things like extension builds but i'm more interested in why/where you would use the other ones i listed & specifically what you'd use if you was to build a shed/garage out of block.

Thanks.

stuart45 · 28 Jun 2016

Mr. Clueless said:
This is one to just satisfy my curiosity more than anything
* 100mm 'thermalite' blocks - can cut them with a saw. The lightest of all of these. Durox, Celcon, Quinn Lite - all the same kind of thing. I think these are maybe used on internal walls?

Thanks.

These are AAC blocks which would normally be used on the inner leaf of a cavity wall because of the thermal qualities.
Started to get really popular in the 70's (though were around before this), but can have problems with shrinkage cracking.

tony1851 · 28 Jun 2016

I doubt proper 'breeze blocks' have been made in the UK for some years.

Mr. Clueless · 29 Jun 2016

Perhaps.

Just like I doubt your 8x4x1/2" plaster boards are really 8x4x1/2" even though it doesn't stop people referring to them as such.

^woody^ · 29 Jun 2016

Mr. Clueless said:
Perhaps.

Just like I doubt your 8x4x1/2" plaster boards are really 8x4x1/2" even though it doesn't stop people referring to them as such.

OSB 8x4 sheets are still imperial and not the metric 2.4 x 1.2m. Other sheet materials can be similar

^woody^ · 29 Jun 2016

Your choice for a shed with exposed walls is really down to concrete, and then how heavy a block you want to lift, and then if painting, how smooth you want them to appear.

tony1851 · 29 Jun 2016

Mr. Clueless said:
Perhaps.

Just like I doubt your 8x4x1/2" plaster boards are really 8x4x1/2" even though it doesn't stop people referring to them as such.

Not quite the same comparison; breeze blocks were often made from coke breeze and cement aka cinder blocks (not sure!);

8x4 plasterboard is just easier to say than "1220 x 2400" - but same product.

charliegolf · 29 Jun 2016

Coke breeze, yes. Coke is generally a by-product of the steel industry, one reason why there ain't many breeze blocks any more!

Mr. Clueless · 2 Jul 2016

So in this case which of the mentioned blocks would you use?

I guess not the thermalite, but what of the others?

The purpose of this build is just really storage. As i said - i can't get a car in there as i can't get down the side of my house with one. So there'd just be things like bikes, tools, general storage. I'd like to hang things from the wall too - shelving, tools, that kind of thing.

In the end i think i would possibly want the visible sides dashed to match the house.

tony1851 said:
8x4 plasterboard is just easier to say than "1220 x 2400" - but same product.

I'm pretty sure you get my point but let's do it another way....

explain then why i deal with people on a daily basis who refer to 65mm bricks as 2 & 5/8ths and 73mm bricks as 2 & 7/8ths. Since it is actually easier (i would argue) to say 65mm & 73mm.

23vc · 2 Jul 2016

Ultra lightweight. I built v similar 5 years ago, easy to lay, and I rendered mine and no issues. Also used the same for rendered planters/raised beds. Did the first 2 courses in engineering brick then the rest in ultra lightweight blocks rendered.
Cheers
John

kazuya · 2 Jul 2016

^woody^ said:
Mr. Clueless said:

Perhaps.

Just like I doubt your 8x4x1/2" plaster boards are really 8x4x1/2" even though it doesn't stop people referring to them as such.

Click to expand...

OSB 8x4 sheets are still imperial and not the metric 2.4 x 1.2m. Other sheet materials can be similar

since we voted to leave the EU i for one have gone back to using feet and inchs

tony1851 · 3 Jul 2016

Mr. Clueless said:
So in this case which of the mentioned blocks would you use?

I guess not the thermalite, but what of the others?

The purpose of this build is just really storage. As i said - i can't get a car in there as i can't get down the side of my house with one. So there'd just be things like bikes, tools, general storage. I'd like to hang things from the wall too - shelving, tools, that kind of thing.

In the end i think i would possibly want the visible sides dashed to match the house.

tony1851 said:

8x4 plasterboard is just easier to say than "1220 x 2400" - but same product.

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure you get my point but let's do it another way....

explain then why i deal with people on a daily basis who refer to 65mm bricks as 2 & 5/8ths and 73mm bricks as 2 & 7/8ths. Since it is actually easier (i would argue) to say 65mm & 73mm.

tony1851 · 3 Jul 2016

A lot of building work consists of extensions to older properties - built in imperial-sized bricks. So bricklayers, particularly, are used to working with
the old 2 5/8th and 2 7/8th bricks; probably just habit really.

^woody^ · 3 Jul 2016

tony1851 said:
o bricklayers, particularly, are used to working with
the old 2 5/8th and 2 7/8th bricks

Nope. You've lost me

Mr. Clueless · 14 Jul 2016

23vc said:
Ultra lightweight. I built v similar 5 years ago, easy to lay, and I rendered mine and no issues. Also used the same for rendered planters/raised beds. Did the first 2 courses in engineering brick then the rest in ultra lightweight blocks rendered.
Cheers
John

Thanks John.

That's an interesting one. I'm sure the builder would thank me for them not having to heft so many standard blocks around but i wasn't expecting the ultralights to be ok for this job. Lightweights yeah but not ultras.
They'll probably work out cheaper too. I'd have to check.

tony1851 said:
A lot of building work consists of extensions to older properties - built in imperial-sized bricks. So bricklayers, particularly, are used to working with
the old 2 5/8th and 2 7/8th bricks; probably just habit really.

Well i work for a builders merchants & deal with countless different types of bricks daily. Each & every single one of them is 65mm or 73mm. Some times but not often we will get in a 75mm brick.
But very rare is it we deal with an actual 2 & 5/8 brick & if we do then it's coming from a reclaimed pallet that has obviously come in from some building that has been knocked down.

But habit really .... that was my point.
So these may not be 'breeze blocks' but so many people refer to them as such out of habit. Generally the older people who are likely to be the same people to ask for something like 5 hundredweight of sand instead of just 1/4 ton.

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The difference between various 100mm blocks?

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