Thoughts on castle construction.

After spending a lot of free time using Google to scour the internet for current owner-built castles I've come to the conclusion that the most popular method to build a castle is using cement blocks (or "CMUs"). I discovered that we don't actually have a lot of cinderblocks available anymore, apparently not since the 50s. I guess it's just a term that has become the common usage for any structural cement block. I found some information that said castles shouldn't be built with cinderblocks due to the strength of the block, but that doesn't make sense now that you're likely to be buying cement blocks anyway. Obviously it would be wise to make sure that whatever material you choose is strong enough to bear the weight of the structure you plan to build.

I suppose building with cement blocks makes sense, as very little specialized equipment is needed to use these. Really, what is necessary? To simplify: get a building plan approved, get the foundation built correctly, and then start stacking blocks one at a time...lots of time and hard work. You can erect a large building "rapidly" with this method. Without any further treatment to the structure the drawback is that it looks like exactly what it is: stacked cement blocks. One of the ways to get a better finished look is to take a look at what T. E. Breitenbach did (bottom row, next to last pic to get an idea), and that was to build with cement blocks and add a stone facade. Took a lot longer, but looks great. One thing I'd like to know about that method is how to bond the stone facade safely to the structure. Essentially it's a "cold" joint between the structure and the mortared stone. There are treatments available to use on a cold joint, but I'm not sure when they are necessary.

Another method would be to build using the "ashlar" method; basically building with pure stone. That'll take a while, and probably cost a fortune if you aren't able to DIY or find a free source of good stone. An even greater expense would be to have the folks over at Castlemagic do it for you. Their method appears to be a combination of ashlar, and rubble stone and mortar, but you can't argue with how it looks. I have yet to see examples of someone building a castle with the slipform or ICF method, but I'm still looking. Slipform is a perfectly acceptable DIY method of homebuilding, but unfortunately the ICF method takes some seriously heavy equipment to implement. So, for the vast majority of modern castlebuilders, it'll probably be cement block, slipform, and/or stone facade.

Just for gee-whiz factor, here's a calculator for the number of blocks or quantity of cement necessary for a wall or square footage. Here's another calculator for all kinds of structural component measurements, from blocks to walls and stairs. It even has a wall segment with different types of blocks shown, plus their positioning and uses. There's another site with an ICF calculator as well. Worth a look.