House construction diary. Part 3. The subtleties of the masonry of the first row of blocks

Previous part: House construction diary. Part 2. The best way to mark corners and masonry corner blocks

So, the corners of the house are set by several blocks, set in one horizontal level. Next, you need to lay out the first row of blocks in the same horizon on the mortar (3 to 1). All other rows of wall masonry will depend on the accuracy of the masonry of the first row. A lot of solution is needed, mixed in a concrete mixer.

I installed a mooring thread (as the masons call it). Made from building corners and several M4 screws with countersunk head and fixing with nuts. I fix it on the block with thin finishing nails. I also use a thin nail for more precise positioning of the rope. Once again I check the two corners with the hydro level, which are connected by the thread-mooring.

If you could not achieve accuracy in the level of the corner blocks of aerated concrete, it is fixable, but laborious. To do this, you need a grater with coarse H100 sandpaper:

I wrote about the manufacture of such graters here

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With such a simple tool, you will have to erase a layer of aerated concrete, starting from the highest angle, constantly checking with a hydro level or a laser level (after sunset). But I didn't have any drops and I continued laying.

The solution must be plastic. To do this, at the kneading stage, add a plasticizer to it according to the instructions. This will also help the mortar not set quickly (especially in the heat). In my case, the volume of a bucket of solution took 1-2 blocks. In the uppermost corner of the foundation, the mortar layer was 0.5-1 cm, in the lowest - 4 cm. If its layer is higher, it will float. The way out in this situation is to cut a layer of 1-2 cm from the blocks (for the uppermost corner).

The topmost corner in my foundation. Sometimes the solution fell out of the masonry (when you shift it more than necessary). In order to reuse it, I used a piece of plywood.

Control with a float level of 400 mm and straightening with a rubber mallet - this technique, after 5-10 blocks, reaches automaticity.

In these corners, the height difference on the blocks turned out to be 2 mm. This is not critical (there is an error at the hydro level, because I doubt that I have fixed the flasks with a scale on the corners with absolute accuracy). In the rest, there was no difference in levels.

It remains to lay out the internal load-bearing wall of 300 mm blocks and insert an additional block. He sawed the blocks on his machine for cutting aerated concrete. About its manufacture article here

I have not written anything about filling vertical seams. Most do it with mineral glue. But I applied the technology of applying glue-foam. And not on a flat surface, but in the grooves of the blocks. I'll talk about this in a separate article.

This important work, on which the accuracy of the masonry of the walls of the whole house depends, took me 7 days and almost 5 bags of cement (at least 15 mixes in a concrete mixer, 3 buckets of sand each), the volume of sand is not considered. But this is not all the work on laying the first row. Further - the removal of differences in the seams between the blocks with a float, grooving and reinforcement.

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