Houses made of foam blocks: interior decoration and design

Foam block homes provide a special combination of affordability, energy efficiency, and durability. These characteristics make them a well-liked option for contemporary homeowners. But foam block houses offer unique opportunities and challenges when it comes to interior design and decoration.

A foam block house’s interior design can be very adaptable, supporting a variety of aesthetics from modern to rustic. But because foam blocks are porous, you have to be very selective about the materials and methods you use to finish walls, floors, and ceilings. In your foam block home, you can create a beautiful and long-lasting environment by knowing the best practices for interior decoration.

Properties of foam concrete blocks

A relatively new building material is foam concrete. Its original purpose was to insulate buildings and other structures from heat. However, after a while, it proved to be a strong and long-lasting material, and it was put to good use. Thus:

• Thanks to the porous structure of foam blocks, the walls of the house built from them breathe. It is this property that ensures a high level of thermal insulation of such houses.
  Foam concrete absorbs moisture more strongly than ordinary concrete, so you need to take this feature into account when working with it.
• In order for the interior decoration of a house made of foam blocks to be of high quality, first of all, the laying of the walls must be done without errors. The most common mistake made during the construction of such a house can be the use of the wrong masonry mortar.
  There is a special type of mortar for laying foam blocks, which is essentially an adhesive mixture.

• The second mistake that can nullify all your efforts in interior decoration of the house is the absence of reinforcing belts in the block masonry. And they need to be done not only in the window sill areas, but also along the entire height of the wall, every four to five rows.
  A block house, like any other, shrinks. The reinforcement in the masonry securely fixes the walls and reduces the likelihood of cracks appearing on them.

• Due to the fact that the block sizes are larger than those of the same brick, it takes half as much time to build a house. Therefore, the construction budget is saved not only due to the cheaper cost of foam blocks, but also due to the reduced labor costs for their installation.
• There is another chance to build a house with the least financial costs. Foam concrete blocks can be made with your own hands right on the construction site.
  Of course, this will require equipment: a steam generator, a mixer, a compressor.
• But its purchase is more than compensated by the savings on the cost of the material and the cost of its transportation. Foam concentrate for making blocks is sold dry and is simply diluted with water, as stated in the manufacturer"s instructions.

Either way, it makes sense to produce blocks on-site if you plan to build a large two-story house like the one shown in the above photo. Visit the manufacturer’s website, study the relevant technical documentation, and view the video if this is a problem that interests you. While there are many ways to finish the exterior of these types of homes, today we’ll focus on finishing a foam block home from the inside.

Preparing walls for finishing

Finishing foam-block houses has its own subtleties. There is no need for double-sided waterproofing on walls made of brick, wood, or reinforced concrete, for example. Foam concrete block walls are an exception to this rule. Granted, this variety of concrete absorbs moisture more than other wall materials, but not as much as aerated concrete. Thus:

• Interior finishing works are carried out first, the facade cladding is done after them. This applies to all buildings erected from cellular concrete.
• It is advisable to finish a house made of foam blocks in the summer, at least all wet processes: screeds, self-leveling and warm floors, laying tiles. Then the moisture coming out through the concrete cells will dry out, and not freeze in them.
• The surface of the block wall is cleaned from mortar drips and primed. In this case, primer compounds specially designed for cellular concrete are used.
  The soil penetrates into the thickness of the block from 1 to 5 mm, creating a barrier to moisture penetration.

The next step is to use the assembly adhesive mixture we previously mentioned to putty the seams between the blocks. This needs to be done under the frame sheathing as well as under the plastering.

Plastering and finishing

Block walls are similar to brick walls in terms of surface irregularities. Numerous lightweight construction mixtures are available for use in plastering foam concrete block walls. It is important to inquire about the best plaster type for cellular concrete before making a purchase. Thus:

• After the primer layer has dried, a fiberglass mesh must be mounted on the wall. Fasten it with dowels so that the mesh fits tightly and without gaps to the wall.
• Of course, you can do without a mesh, making notches on the surface of the blocks – fortunately, they are soft enough for this. But, firstly, notches can only be made on cut blocks.
  And a cast block does not lend itself well to such processing. In addition, they are very smooth, and the plaster will not adhere well to them.

• It is even recommended to pre-treat cast blocks with a file to make their surface rough. The mesh not only facilitates the plastering process – it serves to strengthen the wall itself.
  Especially if the wall has a large area. Therefore, saving on buying a mesh is inappropriate here.
• As for the finishing of plastered walls, there are many options. We offer you a good example of such finishing – this is the interior decoration of a foam block house by painting the walls.

• For such walls made of cellular concrete, ordinary acrylic paints are not suitable. It is better to take paints on a silicate or silicone basis – they have higher vapor permeability.
• In this case, together with matte paint, decorative interior paint of a similar shade was used, which was applied fragmentarily, inside the figure made on the walls with a polyurethane frieze. A frieze was also used in the decoration of the ceiling of the room.
• Block masonry is perfect for decorating a room in the "loft" style. That is, the decorative surface of the walls is unplastered masonry.
  It is carefully cleaned, sanded, primed, decorative jointing is performed. The surface of the blocks can be covered with a clear varnish and a hydrophobic impregnation on top.

• Usually, in a room decorated in this style, only one wall is left unplastered. The rest of the surfaces are finished according to all the rules.
  Such an interior should also have ultra-modern design elements that contrast with the roughly finished wall. In our example, this is an original staircase leading to the second floor.

Of course, wallpaper can also be used to decorate the interior of a foam block home (see.Wallpaper finishing: making the right choice). You should not use vinyl or lincrusta options if they are going to be pasted on plastered walls. The best kind of breathing wallpaper for this application is non-woven paper or fabric. It is much simpler to apply wallpaper adhesively to plasterboard-covered walls. We will continue our conversation about this.

GKL in home decoration

Cellular concrete homes dislike interior decoration techniques involving water. Furthermore, plastering such walls is not inexpensive. Plasterboard sheets are much faster and more convenient to use to cover the walls. Additionally, it can be used to create ornamental and functional interior partitions.

• You can use not only gypsum boards, but also gypsum fiber sheets (GVL). Their strength is much higher, which allows you to create working niches for household appliances, freeing you from the need to buy certain types of furniture.
  And this is also a fair amount of savings.
• It should also be noted that with the help of plasterboard you can create a magnificent suspended ceiling with lighting, in the interior of which all the wires and cables will be hidden. So the answer to the question: "What is the best way to decorate a house made of foam blocks?» – is obvious. Of course, with plasterboard!
• As we have already said, the walls must be primed and the seams between the blocks filled. It is better to insulate the walls of block houses from the outside.
  But if you plan to plaster them or cover them with stone or ceramic tiles, the thermal insulation will have to be done from the inside.
• In the southern regions, this is unlikely to be necessary, because foam concrete itself is an excellent thermal insulation material. But in areas with harsh climatic conditions, insulating the walls will not be superfluous.

• In order not to seal the breathable surface of the walls, there is no need to install a waterproofing film on the block masonry. Primer for cellular concrete is itself a good insulating agent.
• It is also better to choose a breathable insulation. The best choice for walls made of cellular concrete will be basalt or fiberglass wool. Only it is better to take not a roll material, but in the form of slabs – it will be much more convenient to mount it on the wall.
• The work on the device of the heat-insulating layer will be much simpler if you choose the insulation option with a vapor barrier layer applied to it in factory conditions.

• A frame is mounted from an aluminum profile, into the cells of which the insulation is laid. The width of the slabs should correspond in size to the pitch of the profile.
  And even better, be wider by one or two centimeters. Then it will tightly fill the space of the frame.
  The insulation slabs are laid with foil inside the room and fixed to the wall with glue.
• After which the gypsum board sheets are mounted on the frame. We will not talk about all the nuances of the frame device, its cladding and preparation of the drywall surface for further finishing now. There is a detailed article on this topic on our website.
• We will only say that for the final finishing it is better to take dense relief wallpaper for painting. Then you will not have to putty the entire surface of the drywall – it will be enough to carefully seal the seams between the sheets.

• Painting the walls can be done without using paintable wallpaper. But in this case, it is necessary to putty the plasterboard over the entire surface.
  These two types of finishing can be combined in the interior, and also use self-adhesive film to finish some fragments of the wall or ceiling structure.

The goal of interior design and decoration for foam block homes should be to maximize the material’s inherent insulation qualities and structural benefits while producing a cozy and aesthetically pleasing living area. Complementary colors and textures, appropriate wall treatments, and other straightforward yet stylish design decisions can turn these houses into contemporary, comfortable spaces that showcase the homeowner’s personal taste.

Foam block homes are a great option for both traditional and modern interior design styles because they provide a special combination of robustness and design flexibility. In addition to creating a comfortable living space, their inherent insulating qualities also lessen the requirement for additional insulation when finishing.

Planning the interior design requires taking into account the unique qualities of foam blocks. They go nicely with many different types of finishes, from paint and plaster to more ornate ones like stone or wood cladding. Due to its adaptability, homeowners can design a space that is uniquely their own.

Smart design decisions can also improve the foam block home’s practical and aesthetic value. You can create a stunning and long-lasting interior that is in line with your vision by choosing finishes that play to the structure’s natural advantages.

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