Limestone blocks

I decided to build a cottage out of shell rock, because this material is the most affordable in our area. The blocks are slightly smaller than the aerated concrete familiar to everyone, I can not say that they are light.
We visit the country only in the summer, so I laid out the walls in half a block. On hot days, the room is pleasantly cool.

In addition, the cottage, built with its use, fits perfectly into the natural landscape. Blocks used sanded. It is easy to conclude from this that finishing work on the facade was not necessary.

Since shell rock is a material of natural origin, there is no need to be afraid that the room will become damp or there will be some kind of deformation of the building after the winter, when the dacha is not heated. The smell in the room resembles a sea surf: it is not only pleasant, but also healthy (it releases sea salt and iodine). In all respects, for the garden - the perfect material.

Natural material, aesthetic appearance, accessibility.

Care is needed when laying, stains from the solution are difficult to remove.

They built a garage with a godfather, were looking for a cheaper option. We stopped at a shell rock. Took cheaper than that since the budget was limited. That the first one struck my eyes, the car arrived and just dumped the entire block, it is quite durable and does not fight. The blocks are large and the garage we put out pretty quickly. The inconvenient truth is that moment that blocks of different weight and shape were a little unusual. The seam is much smaller than in brickwork, this is a plus (saving mortar, but the plaster is a little more (although it lays down very easily).

Faced a problem when they began to hang on the walls of the shelf, the dowels stay only due to the plaster. But then they found a solution, bought special dowels, which are much more expensive.
For myself, I came to the conclusion that this is an excellent building material, rather cheap, environmentally friendly and practical. If you take a quality block, then you can safely bring out the house.

Economical, environmentally friendly, excellent sound insulation, practical.

poorly holds the dowel, due to the fact that it crumbles it is very difficult to hang something on the wall. But there is a solution, special chem. dowels.

For centuries, in Sevastopol, houses have been built from sand mixed with the remains of shells. Having moved here with my wife, I did not come up with a new one. Reason: low price and weight of the material. I found a mini-factory that made more or less standard blocks from a shell rock.I paid a penny for delivery, especially since I did not have movers.

Blocks calmly leveled, cut with a hacksaw. Made a big difference in length. There are problems with masonry, because the size of the blocks are not quite even. Plastered seamlessly, but spent the mixture somehow a bit too much. He graduated in the summer, beauty: cool, easy to breathe. Soundproofing is super. Outside, it is necessary to plaster and protect it with a lining or a fur coat. Because I think it will easily get wet by heavy rain. But the fact that everything on the walls of the shell does not hold well can not be fixed.

durability, incredibly low cost and weight of material, low cost of delivery; resistance to mechanical stress, sufficiently large dimensions (lower cost of mortar, fewer joints), ease of cutting, excellent adhesion with plaster, give coolness, fight against bad odors, absorb noise well

vary in length (1-2 cm) and weight (from 7 to 20 kg), require a lot of plaster, need heat, steam, and waterproofing; create problems with fixing even something light (cheap dowels fly out, more expensive fix only more or less)