We are seeing a lot more homes here being made of reinforced concrete; known as "ICF Construction". Insulated Formed Concrete construction is more expensive material-wise, but there is less labor; once the rigid styrofoam insulation and rebar is in place, and the concrete is poured, only the exterior and interior finishing is necessary.
Craig
I did my homework and bought a Horton Home based on the engineering reviews and 2026 sq. ft,, 4 bedrooms (really 5) with 2.5 baths for base price of $69,900.00 made me happy.
"The problem really is that we have been accustomed to building our homes only to support themselves against gravity, and have neglected to consider other forces that may act upon them."
True enough. But the whole go-around is like a "mental exercise" boys used to do when Gorgo and Godzilla first came out. If you were up against a fire-breathing giant monster, underwater, you'd obviously need a suit of armor, an asbestos tunic, and a wet-suit. But which one do you wear on the outside? Building engineering is like that, as the World Trade Center sadly illustrated. Can't remember how many tech specials I saw, playing up the superb wind resistance of those structures. And you've got to admit, the wind never damaged them. Not much rust, either.
Concrete block, with only vertical ties to the footer, poured full of styropop insulation, is just tremendous for wind resistance. Earthquakes, not so much. "Chicago balloon" framing keeps you alive in an earthquake--but then has to be torn down. And it's flammable! (I've recently been shocked to see apartments and hotels with pumped-concrete floors, over metal decking, install wooden stud walls--after years of seeing steel 2x4's in story-and-a-half residentials). Japan likes foam houses, because they can fall on you and not smother you, but the Three Pigs conjecture comes into play.
Poured concrete for foundations is plenty strong (I'd rather pour block full, because it takes a separate bank loan to bring a forms contractor onto the job site). But once a poured wall extends up, there's a big trade-off in insulating it. When it falls, you dead. And if you think re-bar keeps concrete from cracking, take a good look at Frank Lloyd Wrong's artworks. You surviving is one thing; your building surviving a whole nother question.
I won't say there is no all-purpose solution, but I think we will continue to build differently in different areas, for conditions we *expect* to encounter. In south coast areas, the current uninsurability of entire towns stems not from catastrophic climate change, but from Katrina-level short-sightedness. But I learned in grade school that there could never be an earthquake in Ohio because of the porosity of the bedrock; in the 70's, a Richter 4 epicentered under the physics lab of my alma mater. Building inspectors in Sodom and Gomorrah probably caught hell for not forseeing the salt-intrusion issue.
In 1995 my father and I talked with a mason at a building in Verviers that sustained a direct hit from a V2 while dad was in it (He was among the first to be hit by a guided missile and strafed by jet planes. Some century). The brick-and-block guy asserted that No One in Belgium ever uses frame construction, because Belgium has these Strong Winds that come in off the sea. We giggled up our sleeves, getting the picture that Europeans think we all live in house trailers, and having seen both frame and block hit by tornadoes. Stick-built, for our money, is lighter to cart away, while you can put masonry right up again, if you've got a few hundred block cleaners and a cheap source of new mortar. Either way, you've just been hit by a V2.
Hello Gang:
My wife and I are planning to build a Key West style cottage on my property in TN out of ICF's. Planning a 14 foot basement due to the pitch of the hill, using vertical ICF for the froms. After that, SIP's for the first, second floors and roof.
The tall basement will be nice for storing a covered trailer, and for storing Studes by the front bumper.
Anyone use these yet?
Uh, you want to translate for us dummies? What is ICF, SIP? Paul Johnson
Here is one site on the ICF. . . seen a couple of house done around here with it.
Thanks. I'd hadn't seen those around here. Paul Johnson
They have blocks with cutouts where the rebar lays. Horizontal bars are required here in California. Even side yard walls are supposed to have then every two feet in height.
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