How to Make Lightweight Concrete Blocks

Lightweight concrete blocks, like any other concrete blocks, are essential in all construction works. Concrete is a powerful and sturdy building material, and concrete blocks, or concrete masonry units, as they are often called, are simply concrete blocks that are precast and used in the construction of houses and other buildings. Precast concrete blocks can be of many different types. Depending on the molds used to make them, they can be complete blocks of concrete or hollow concrete blocks that are lightweight, yet sturdy. Some concrete blocks are fabricated in a special way, where the sides of the block are smooth and are cast with designs. Here’s how you can make lightweight concrete blocks at home.

Step 1 – Prepare the Raw Materials

While Portland cement and water are available in the forms that they have to be used, clay, shale and slate have to be prepared by a special method in order to be used for the lightweight concrete blocks. Get yourself some pieces of slate, shale and clay. Using a hammer or a pestle, crush the solid forms of these raw materials separately till they are fine and powdery. Each of these crushed raw materials should then be heated in a furnace to a temperature of about 2000â