Concrete Walls ?

kristofw · Feb 23, 2008 11:32 am

Anybody considered/chose the concrete walls for their new home ? Cast in place/precast tilted/concrete panels ? How do they shape up costwise, construction time, etc ?

Yak_Chat · Feb 24, 2008 8:44 pm

When I was considering land and bulding I looked into it Kris, but never got costs, just reviewed the logisitcs etc.

Basics I reviewed were - cast on site, or precast off site then transported to site.

Other things I'd consider now having seen several apartments being built this way is to ensure you get the thermal mass on the inside of the house, and maybe only use it only on certain sides of the house to allow the right winter sunlight to enter the house and hit the thermal mass as required, and use a non thermal mass highly insulated product for the southern walls.
Steve
Steve

kristofw · Feb 26, 2008 6:10 pm

Thanks Steve,

My problem is that I don't quite know who should I talk to about the nitty-gritties, like which method would be easiest and most cost effective. Solid concrete seems to be best suited for the purpose (thermal mass), but if it's more expensive than masonry then it won't fit the budget.

Chris

Helen · Feb 26, 2008 6:24 pm

We used besser bricks (cavity bricks) with foil board in between. So far, so good. Average temp inside on hot summer days has been around 22 to 24. Got up to 28 when it had been around 40 for a couple of days. Got down to around 8 the other night and still 20 inside. And we have no curtains on the windows yet.

The bricks come in different colours now so you're not stuck with grey.

Cheers,
Helen

Yak_Chat · Feb 26, 2008 8:44 pm

kristofw
Have a chat to a builder of such buildings. I happend to meet one at a BBQ and gleened the above info when I found out he build tilt slabs

Also consider the timbercrete products out of SA . Very quick and easy to build with, and thermally efficient, but not fantastic in the thermal mass heat /cool storage in IMO.

http://www.timbercrete.com.au

Steve

DeeElle · Feb 26, 2008 8:52 pm

kris

we really wanted concrete walls but the cost was too high. love 'em tho'. We ended up using hebel instead.

The Dynamic Duo · Feb 27, 2008 10:01 am

kristofw

Anybody considered/chose the concrete walls for their new home ? Cast in place/precast tilted/concrete panels ? How do they shape up costwise, construction time, etc ?

Have you considered ICF? This is polystyrene forms filled with concrete. The product is more expensive than brick but costs less to install as there is no need to employ a brickie (or a chippie if you're building timber frame). The cost is therefore reckoned to be the same as timber frame/brick (not sure about double brick like you have in Perth) and building time is reckoned to be much quicker.

As you're in Perth the best people for you to see are Formcraft (www.formcraft.com.au) but there are 5 other manufacturers that I know of in Australia.

We haven't yet chosen which manufacturer we are going with. However we have chosen ICF as it provides excellent insulation for both sound and heat and I consider it more permanent than timber frame. We went round one ICF house that was part finished on a Melbourne 40 degree day and it was like walking into a fridge, even though there were no windows yet!

Simon

dymonite69 · May 27, 2009 6:37 pm

The Dynamic Duo

However we have chosen ICF as it provides excellent insulation for both sound and heat and I consider it more permanent than timber frame.

Most of the thermal effects are from the foam - not the concrete. Essentially your home is one gigantic Esky.

James Bond · May 27, 2009 8:39 pm

dymonite69

The Dynamic Duo

However we have chosen ICF as it provides excellent insulation for both sound and heat and I consider it more permanent than timber frame.

Most of the thermal effects are from the foam - not the concrete. Essentially your home is one gigantic Esky.

Yes agreed, we are using 100mm foam on the outside of our house. No concrete or brick.

JB

Cabinfever · May 28, 2009 12:19 pm

I once lived in a beautiful art deco house that had solid concrete walls. As various rennovations had been done over the years all the electrical works ended up in conduit pipes tacked to the walls. I asked an electrician about the cost to bury it all into the walls and he laughed.

arenam · Aug 31, 2011 8:10 pm

I had concrete walls poured on site. My builder had never done it before and he quoted a reasonable price and relatively short timeframe. He now tells me that had he known what was involved he would have charged double.