Concrete masonry units – standard building material

Carolinas Concrete Masonry Association provides you advocacy and education for its members. We are a great industry resource to provide advertising, marketing support and networking opportunities. CCMA is composed of North and South Carolina manufactures with a balance of affiliate members including concrete block plants in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and companies, who supply cement, admixtures, services, materials and aggregates.

Now let us have a look at objectives of CCMA. It promotes the use of CMU in South Carolina. It also provides literature of educational support to its builders and members. It also supports to vocational masonry training programs.

CMU are a standard building material because of its energy efficiency, minimal maitainenace, durability, fire-resistant quality and structural benefits. Because of its long-lasting attributes, concrete masonry unites are prudent material for high wind areas, cold weather environments and hurricane. These units are valuable to achieve LEED rating points. The concrete mixtures also include components like water repellent, air-entraining agents and coloring pigment. Recycled-aggregate products can be used to make CMU. Several applications are there for CMU that are resulting from built-up process.

Concrete masonry units are contrived into different shapes as well as sizes for a number of applications. A machine can mold humid and low-slump material into the shapes that you want for specific utilization as industrial building needs, segmental building, permeable concrete pavers and segmental retailing wall use. Other uses for concrete masonry units are hurricane sage enclosures, retaining walls and outside decoration hardscape applications like walkways, fireplaces, patios and chimneys.

In adding up to its several uses, CMU is manufactured for almost any architectural and structural utility. Split-face block units are cracked lengthwise by a machine for producing a coarse stone-like texture. An untried slotted concrete block offers high sound absorption by making it perfect for use in residential home construction and commercial home construction including factories, gymnasiums, bowling alleys and other place where noise generation is very high. CMU applications can be used to construct small to big residential homes, industrial and commercial buildings.

Furthermore, versatility comes in a way of exterior finishes including the utilization of plaster. A variety of colors, textures and designs are available. All above explained designs are only a few samples of promising cladding designs. There are many advantages of masonry framed home. These advantages include rated superior construction, architectural flexibility, and dynamic exterior design options. Concrete is strong and has proven that it can withstand major floods, tornados, rains and floods with little to-no structural damage. Concrete masonry framed structures are growing in popularity among many home purchasers.

About the Author:
Willox Perez is an architect who has been in the industry for more than 15 yrs. He also works on row house design and concrete paving design. You can find his advice here on CCMA. He is an active participant in the online community, offering advice on green building materials, such as concrete masonry units and brick and mortar.