Ytong or Hormicel? Prices pros and cons
In this post I tell you the differences between Ytong and Hormicel, here you will find our experience in a certified passive house work.
In case you still don’t know us, let me introduce our studio: we’re ERA architects, the English speaking green architecture studio to call in Barcelona.
Actually, I’m Esther Rovira, an architect in Barcelona and a passive house designer for new sustainable builds and big green renovations in Barcelona and Catalonia.
In this post you’ll find all the essentials from our professional point of view.
I hope this helps you!
I hope this post helps you!
Two brands of cellular concrete
Cellular concrete is a material similar to the prefabricated concrete block but much lighter.
It is made from sand, lime, cement, water and air.
As it contains air, it has a much better level of thermal insulation than ceramic billets.
oh! and it looks like a pumice stone!
Hormicel
It is a distributor of Ege Gazbeton, a manufacturer of aerated concrete located in Turkey.
Its 350kg/m3 density blocks have a thermal transmittance of 0.09W/mK.
The blocks do not have side handles to hold them and they need a vertical joint.
Hormicel is 25% cheaper than ytong.
Ytong
Ytong is a product patented by the German group Xella.
Its 350kg/m3 density blocks have a thermal transmittance of 0.09W/mK.
The blocks have side handles to hold them and do not need a vertical joint.
These handles make installation faster and safer for workers.
Conclusions
Both brands are solvents and their product is equally fire resistant, with the same levels of thermal-acoustic insulation, anti-seismic and durability.
Hormicel is 25% cheaper than Ytong, nevertheless Ytong is faster & safer to install and its parts don’t break easily.
Our experience:
For a certified passive house we use both materials.
Ytong delivered on time and with some errors.
Hormicel delivered late, with errors and with many broken pieces.
Obviously this delay was caused by the Covid + ship-stranded-in-Panama. It also helped that the plates were ordered 2 weeks after they were already paid for.
My professional recommendation:
In our Architecture studio in Barcelona we recommend both brands.
It is best to ask the construction company which of the two they prefer to work with.
If your answer is ytong, you are a builder who knows that he will go faster and that his workers will be safer.
In this case, perhaps you can negotiate (fairly and honestly -don’t be a Kaffir-) the price of its execution based on its ratios of m2/hr installed.
Hope this is helpful!
Best of luck on this adventure.
See you on the next post,
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