Concrete and styrofoam houses. what you know?

blacksheep10 · Dec 15, 2008

Anyone have any experience with houses made out of anything but wood? I keep hearing **** about these super efficient styrofoam houses and wonder what's up with them as far as cost and ease of construction.
anybody?

muchado · Dec 15, 2008

The styrofoam coolers suck for keeping beer bottles..... Ask Enterprise rent-a-car laughing1 laughing1 I dunno how a house would be made of that but it sounds interesting.

99_tj · Dec 15, 2008

You could always go with something like this. Not foam, but all steel.

http://www.kodiaksteelhomes.com/

muchado · Dec 15, 2008

build a log home like Kurt!! That is PI-M-fuggin-P

Deep South · Dec 15, 2008

The bigger issue MIGHT be financing and insurance.

After my place burned down I checked into building a concrete dome home.

The bank would NOT finance it and the insurance company would NOT insure it because it was not conventional construction.

Marty · Dec 15, 2008

ICF's are getting popular here. Thats insulating concrete forms. basically extruded poly styren on two sides, with concrete poured in the middle making stem walls, already insulated and strong as hell. There are some new apartments here that are all made out of ICF. There are alot of other ways of green/ high effeciency building too, but these are pretty cool. I have more info in a book I have. I am a construction major and just had a class that disscussed these.

Poly steel is a popular brand http://www.polysteel.com/ Not sure on cost, but pretty easy to throw up.

There is another kind, that allready come as walls, concrete in the middle with blue board and can come already finished with drywall, but then those have to be set in with a crane.

GONOVRIT · Dec 15, 2008

My cousin was helping build these in PA before he started his own buisness. At the time they were a couple years behind on them. Costly and super efficient but the heating and cooling savings could offset the cost in 5yrs. Goferit!

ROCKYOTA · Dec 15, 2008

I made a Teepee out of a sheet one time! :afro:

Marty · Dec 15, 2008

I forgot SIP (structural Insulating Panel) is also cool. They have OSB sheathing on each side, with expanded poly styreen it middle. That way siding and drywall can be hung on the OSB. Cool stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDy8ozypxL8

blacksheep10 · Dec 15, 2008

Marty said:
ICF's are getting popular here. Thats insulating concrete forms. basically extruded poly styren on two sides, with concrete poured in the middle making stem walls, already insulated and strong as hell. There are some new apartments here that are all made out of ICF. There are alot of other ways of green/ high effeciency building too, but these are pretty cool. I have more info in a book I have. I am a construction major and just had a class that disscussed these.

Poly steel is a popular brand http://www.polysteel.com/ Not sure on cost, but pretty easy to throw up.

There is another kind, that allready come as walls, concrete in the middle with blue board and can come already finished with drywall, but then those have to be set in with a crane.

Jerry, these ICF's are what I was talking about. Just your walls and maybe floors are made of concrete with styro for forms. crazy efficient and fast as **** to build. A buddy of mine does Geothermal heating systems and was in one of these the other day. 19 outside, 53 inside and no heat hooked up yet. just don't open the door. amazingly air tight. I spent part of my day in teh crawl space sealing up huge wind holes. makes me want the same thing a polar bear does, a tight seal.
the guy he talked to said it was about 10% more than conventional construction. problem with that is I'm doing most of my conventional construction and couldn't do much of this I'm assuming.
a precast. hmm. the crane I can handle, I have access to a few. how do they make the corner joint perfect?

bc · Dec 15, 2008

I've built basement walls with styrofoam forms poured with concrete, but never an entire house. Same concept though, just make sure you have a substantial footing. It may even be better to do a monolithic pour.

Marty · Dec 15, 2008

For corners I would think they have pre engineered corners just like the straight pieces but I dont know for sure.

Juan_Hong_Loe · Dec 15, 2008

Marty said:
For corners I would think they have pre engineered corners just like the straight pieces but I dont know for sure.

What good are you?

Marty · Dec 15, 2008

Juan_Hong_Loe said:
What good are you?

No good

I have an exam on this **** tomorrow...should be studyin but drinking is mo fun :drinkers:

74_Chevota · Dec 15, 2008

Damn, i knew the answer to this one but Marty had to fawkin ruin it. :indianajones: From everything i have seen (actually went to look at an ICF or two being built in boone) they are the shat if you can afford it and the location isnt a problem. Amazing stuff they are doing these days with construction. These energy effeicent green buildings are starting to really push the market even in this time of stagnation.

bc · Dec 15, 2008

Marty said:
For corners I would think they have pre engineered corners just like the straight pieces but I dont know for sure.

We didn't have pre engineered corners with our system. We used plywood and 2 x's to brace the corners. The last one I did was about ten years ago, though. It has probably evolved since then.

caglezxj · Dec 15, 2008

while I was in School I helped a construction guy tear down several outside walls due to termites getting behind the Styrofoam. So if the walls has any wood behind the Styrofoam that could be an issue.

Jeep Family · Dec 16, 2008

Marty said:
I forgot SIP (structural Insulating Panel) is also cool. They have OSB sheathing on each side, with expanded poly styreen it middle. That way siding and drywall can be hung on the OSB. Cool stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDy8ozypxL8

I have seen and done both Permaform homes and SIPS homes. I have the local franchise here in Birmingham for SIPS homes and would recommend it to anyone. The cost is similar but the savings comes with the federal energy efficient tax credit of $2000 and your energy bills are stupid low. Also the big advantages is once you have a slab in place you can be "Blacked In" in 2 days. The panels are not only your walls but also your roofs. Insurance and Finance is not a problem. There are thousands of these homes across the country.

blacksheep10 · Dec 16, 2008

****, these look better and better, too bad I bought a plan. Really, a little over a grand is cheap to throw away in teh beginning for much in the end.