How to hang furniture on a wall covered with airblock (gasblock)?
Options and useful tips
Hanging furniture or household appliances on a wall made of air block (gas block) requires a separate approach.
Conventional methods are not accepted here.
Air block (gas block) is already the most profitable and convenient material in construction today, and its popularity is gradually growing. It was considered a rigid heat insulator, unsuitable for full-scale construction work. However, a deeper study of the material has shown its effectiveness and economy.
Airblock has many advantages over traditional concrete blocks, but many builders still have a prejudice against it. This is due to the specific characteristics of the material – for example, it does not hold standard fasteners – nails or screws.
For an inexperienced user, this feature can cause significant problems – for example, when it is necessary to hang a gas boiler on the wall, a strong and immovable fastening is necessary.
This also applies to hanging furniture and other interior elements.
A particular problem is created by a kitchen set, half of which consists of wall cabinets and requires durable mounting on the walls.
Why doesn't the airlock hold regular fasteners?
Airblock is a porous concrete building material. It was first produced 100 years ago, but appeared in its current form much later. The task of its creators was to solve two problems:
Reducing the weight of buildings, resulting in less load on the foundation;
Also, due to the thermal insulation properties of the material, there are fewer utility costs.
Both problems were successfully solved by adopting a porous structure. The mass of the material is filled throughout its volume with small (2-4 mm) bubbles of carbon dioxide, thanks to which the air block acquires its properties, both positive and negative.
The advantages of the material include:
Light weight, convenient for construction and transportation;
smooth and precise geometry, which provides a high-quality wall;
ease of processing and cutting, which allows for high-speed and precise work.
There are some disadvantages too:
Airblock does not withstand compression and stretching well
Load (conventional concrete blocks can withstand enormous compressive loads and are unstable only against multidirectional forces);
The material is hygroscopic, meaning that the pores can absorb moisture. In summer, this property leads to mold and mildew, and in winter, there is a risk of the air block cracking due to ice expansion.
Both disadvantages affect the strength of the material. The porous structure makes the material brittle and reduces its strength. Conventional nails or screws are fixed only until a load is applied to them. Any effort creates rock movements, from which the sockets expand almost immediately and the fasteners simply fall out.
This creates serious problems when it is necessary to hang household appliances, heating devices, or kitchen cabinets on a wall built with air blocks.
Due to the low density of airblock, nails, staples, and other standard fasteners cannot be used. Only a light frame, picture, or decorative piece can be hung on a wall built with airblock with a regular hanger.
Any object weighing more than 2-5 kg must be attached using a special fastener.
This is exactly what we will have in our next post, about what kind of brackets to use to hang heavy objects on a wall built with air blocks.
