In this article we discuss the peculiarities of glass block walls and the way of building a glass block wall for your bathroom or other rooms with your own hands.
A glass block wall is always a very stylish thing. It makes the room visually larger, it gives lightness, elegance, modernity. This wall can be built in the bathroom or to part a kitchen, living room or a hallway. If you are reading this article it may mean that a question ‘how to build a glass block wall’ is actual for you just now. First of all you should understand that using it as a brick wall is not possible. THIS IS NOT A SUPPORTING WALL. Glass blocks are much more fragile than bricks. Also you can not build a glass wall of more than 50 square feet, otherwise it may collapse under its own weight. Also it can not include doors or hanging furniture.
There are two ways of building a glass block wall:
- frame way (with the help of a wooden frame);
- standard way (with a solution).
Frame way
Building a glass block wall with the help of a wooden frame has several advantages:
- a wooden frame of any size can be bought on the market;
- a wall can be made during one day (a wall build with a solution is constructed and dried for about two weeks);
- if you have a desire to change the interior of a room, a wooden frame can be quickly disassembled.
The only disadvantage of this type of a glass block wall is a bad noise isolation. Also it will not be good for the bathroom – because of moisture timber will begin to rot quickly.
Do the following steps:
- Purchase glass blocks.
- The place for your future wall must be well cleaned, eliminate irregularities on the walls and on the floor, remove debris and obstructions.
- Assemble the wooden frame for your wall. Do it gently for the cells to be equal to the maximum. If the difference in sizes does not exceed two millimeters, the wall will be beautiful.
- Attach the ready frame to the walls, the ceiling and the floor with dowels or anchors.
- Sand the timber with sandpaper.
- Paint your wooden frame with an acrylic paint of any color you like.
- After an acrylic paint dries, insert glass blocks to your frame. To fix them use rubber gaskets or apply sanitary silicone around the perimeter of each block on both sides. It is completely transparent so the design will not be visible.
Standard way
Building a glass block wall with a solution is perfect for the bathroom or the shower area. It has no serious disadvantages.
- Prepare the place for your future wall properly, clean it well.
- Make a solution for masonry (mix cement, fine sand and water in a ratio of 1: 3: 1). Mix it well until it becomes homogeneous. To simplify your work you can buy a ready-made solution for laying glass blocks.
- Prime the location for your future wall and let it dry within 24 hours.
- Lay two reinforcing bars on the floor. They must be galvanized or of stainless steel for no corrosion to appear.
- Apply your first portion of the solution on the top of the two stacked horizontal bars with a trowel.
- Do the same around all the base of the wall so that the reinforcing bars do not touch the glass blocks.
- Lay the first row of glass blocks spreading the solution on their both sides for creating a good bonding between them. Check the evenness of the masonry with a level.
- After completion of this stage of masonry remove the excess solution from your wall and free up the space in the joints for the subsequent grouting.
- Apply the solution to the first row of blocks and lay the next rows repeating the previous operations. Constantly check the evenness of your masonry with a level.
- Continue this process until the completion of the whole work.
- After the solution dries power trowel seams on the wall. To do this use a special grout (fugue).
- After completing the work leave your wall of glass blocks to dry for the week and a half or even more, for the solution to dry up properly and for the construction to be durable.
If the question ‘how to build a glass block shower’ appears we can immediately answer that the way of building it is just the same as for the standard way of building a glass block wall, as described above.
Important!
- Walls from glass blocks can not be built as fast as brick walls. You should lay no more than three rows a day. Otherwise the structure can warp, sag or even fall.
- When glass gets a solution it should be washed off immediately. If you do not, then the dried mixture can severely damage the surface of your future wall.
- Be sure to finish your job with a rather good cleaning.
Laying glass blocks walls made with your own hands can decorate your kitchen, living room or bathroom perfectly. We hope these simple tips on how to build a glass block wall with your own hands will be useful for you.