Pros & Cons of a cinder block house?

Question

I am looking at a house made of cinder block with paint on the outside. I keep getting different stories as to if it is or isn't hard to heat/cool. Also are there any other problems to watch for ?
All of the floor coverings have been removed, what works best for slab floors? What is the best paint for the block and can you "build" walls on the inside to improve insulation and look ?

Answer 1

I live in a cinder block house. In Ohio. With no insullation. (apparently built before people thought about that 'cause heat was so freaking cheap). It is paint-over-stucco on the outside, and paint-over-plaster on the inside. not even drywall. It has an R-value of 2. Which means it doesn't keep heat in much better than a sheet of paper.

Okay. I exaggerate. But it's expensive to heat. It's cold in the winter, and in summer - it's hot. If you have shade trees, that will help enormously. I have a daily ritual of opening the windows in the evening, as soon as the temps outside have become cooler than the inside, and putting the fans in to suck the cool air into the house all night. In the morning, I go around early, and close all the windows and drapes to keep the cool in, and shut out the sun. It helps.

We are saving up to put rigid exterior insullation on the outside, and then re-stucco and paint. It would also work if we but insullation and drywall on the inside, though we'd lose a little bit of living area that way.

Slab floors are nice and cool in summer as long as you make sure they are not drinking up sunlight all day and heating up. Keep them shaded in summer. Conversely, a slab floor that receives winter-angled sun would help to warm the house by acting as a passive solar collector, and releasing it in the evening. (We are not that lucky)
If you don't get sun on the floor - then whether you put a floor overtop, or carpet or rugs is personal preference (I vote area rugs).

All that said - a concrete block only house IS expensive to heat/cool. But you can mitigate it. We installed a woodburning stove in the fireplace, and heat with scrounged wood from trees felled in the neighborhood by storms and such.

And the heating/cooling issue aside, I still like my house.

(Oh - and blowing insulation down into the spaces in the blocks will merely give you columns of insullation. Heat will escape through the path of least resistence, which would be through the concrete block itself, around the insullation. It would not be worth the expense of doing it)

Answer 2

Cinder Block Homes

Answer 3

Cinder Block House

Answer 4

my husband does heating and cooling and I have heard him say that they are harder to heat and cool but I guess it would really make a difference where you live. When I was a child my bedroom at home was made of cinder block and it seemed warm enough. As far as floor covering, you can have tile installed with heat strips under it and the walls would be warm enough.. I watched a show on tv once where they blew insulation down through the blocks.
I would look for cracks in the blocks and be sure the roof is in good shape.

Answer 5

concrete block are great for construction. I would suggest furring out the inside of the walls and putting in a good batt insualtion. The interesting thing about concrete and cinder block walls is that they will sustain a confortable temperature in the home because of the way the material exchanges heat. The material is slow to change temperature.

I would also suggest furring the inside of the wall for astetic reasons. This will give you a wider range of interior finishes. This will also alow you to hang picture, ... etc.

Answer 6

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Vapor barrier on the outside, insulation on the inside. Plastic wrap or a coating can work as the vapor barrier. This is important as moisture can help transmit energy (i.e. heat or cooling loss). For insulation fiberglass is probably cheapest, but you could look at sprayed on foam or styrofoam panels. Check about any vapors any insulation or building materials would release into the house - these can be toxic (google "sick building syndrome").

Answer 7

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Answer 8

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Answer 9

Ugh. I lived in a cinderblock house. The walls sweat in the summer and it really is always cold in the winter. If you "built walls on the inside it might be different, I don't know. I hated that house though.

Answer 10

Hope this helps!