– Typically more cumbersome than a cinder block. Several building codes explicitly prohibit the use of cinder blocks in building and construction projects. Concrete blocks are far stronger than cinder blocks. – Do not have a significant amount of tensile strength.Ĭoncrete and cinder blocks are produced with open cells that can accept metal reinforcing or additional concrete for higher resistance.

– Have rendered almost outmoded as it has not been actually mass-produced in about 50 years now. – These are more prone to bowing, and buckling and repairs are typically very costly, so it is avoided. – Not very strong hence often avoided utilized in some places. – Much lighter as compared with the latter because of the proportion of the aggregate components. – Typically made of concrete as well as coal cinders.

The significant differences can be illustrated in the form of a table showing the differences between cinder block vs. Concrete blocks often, on the other hand, are flattened constructs made of steel, wood or cement. Consequently, cinder blocks are much lighter in weight than concrete blocks.Ĭinder blocks are hollow rectangle-shaped structures usually made of concrete and coal cinders which find use in construction sites. So those big trucks with the constantly turning cylinders are essentially concrete trucks and not actually ‘cement trucks.’ And even though real cinder blocks are in the minority these days, somebody looking at a stack of what could more correctly be called “masonry units” or “breeze blocks” is a lot more likely to call them cinder blocks rather than concrete blocks.Cinder blocks are also created from concrete, but the aggregate includes either coal cinders or ash. So it was used to make ‘cinder blocks.’ These were– and in some cases still are– the same shape and size as concrete blocks, but with industrialized waste as the ‘aggregate’ instead of the sand or fine gravel used to make actual concrete.Īs I have earlier indicated, the difference between concrete verses cement is that ‘concrete’ is the term for the end product created when filler component is held together with cement. As with wood stove ash today, a typical winter would leave a homeowner with numerous trashcans worth of cinders and coal-fired power plants and steel mills would create tons of this waste every day. Back when people burned coal to heat their homes and places like Bethlehem Steel had large coke ovens going 24/7 a great deal of “cinders” were produced– a generic term for the ash that has been left behind when coal or similar fuels are burned. Now, about so-called ‘cinder blocks’ … I say “so-called” because “cinder block” is a somewhat antiquated and the generic term for a type of structural block that can easily be made out of many different things. That is, the aggregates that are used are finely crushed stone or sand. AggregatesĬoncrete blocks are constructed from pure concrete.

The moment the ingredients are mixed together, a chemical reaction happens, and concrete is the end result. People sometimes use the terms interchangeably, but concrete and cinder blocks are very different ConcreteĬoncrete is an item made from cement and aggregates. Concrete and cinder blocks share some fundamental elements, but a vital ingredient makes all the difference.

Basalite decorative concrete block