So - at the start - the contract didn't mention bricks.
I must admit I'd have checked into that.
Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Why are all houses these days made with Styrofoam????!! 21Feb 07, 2014 9:55 am So - at the start - the contract didn't mention bricks. I must admit I'd have checked into that. Re: Why are all houses these days made with Styrofoam????!! 22Feb 07, 2014 10:52 am jsjs103121 I have a friend who is an architect based in S. Korea and Japan and I had a chance to have a long chat with him comparing the building material and process used in AUS and the two Asian countries. During our chat he said using Styrofoam for external wall is generally a bad practice because it absorbs water and moisture and can expand or shrink (i.e. during humid seasons it can go larger and in dry seasons it shrinks back). Korea and Japan have very long rainy season during the summer so that's probably why they are more strict in using Styrofoam (they only use it as insulation material like between brick and plaster). And I am not really sure if the one they use in AUS is any different from the normal Styrofoam we know. If it is less porous and stay in the same size all the way, I guess it is not a bad choice because like other people already said you will get better heat and sound insulation. And the labour cost will be much lower than laying bricks too. I know one builder we half-investigated, Ichijo Homes, is a Japanese builder & they're using many of the same materials here as they use in Japan ... which includes something I'd have labelled "styrofoam". I'm kinda with Dr House though, in being a bit mistrustful of it. A sulphur-crested white cockatoo flew overhead & announced it's arrival quite loudly while we were walking up to the Ichijo Homes display house at Homeworld South, and I kinda-sorta wondered what would happen when those guys discovered your house was covered in stuff which was fun to pull apart. Re: Why are all houses these days made with Styrofoam????!! 23Feb 07, 2014 11:41 am I don't think they'll get to it considering its covered in concrete? Re: Why are all houses these days made with Styrofoam????!! 24Feb 07, 2014 11:54 am Forg I know one builder we half-investigated, Ichijo Homes, is a Japanese builder & they're using many of the same materials here as they use in Japan ... which includes something I'd have labelled "styrofoam". I'm kinda with Dr House though, in being a bit mistrustful of it. A sulphur-crested white cockatoo flew overhead & announced it's arrival quite loudly while we were walking up to the Ichijo Homes display house at Homeworld South, and I kinda-sorta wondered what would happen when those guys discovered your house was covered in stuff which was fun to pull apart. Interesting. I wonder if they have any supporting things like concrete beams inside the blocks or steel frames attached behind. In Japan, they have a much bigger problem than moisture or cockatoos...earthquakes. I still remember seeing those photos of fallen houses made of woods while the concrete ones stood still after a serious earthquake in Japan. So I wouldn't build a house in Japan with just Styrofoam panels and timber frames in the external walls. Re: Why are all houses these days made with Styrofoam????!! 25Feb 07, 2014 12:54 pm AussieMark Actually I think the core filled reo stryofoam blocks are a brilliant idea as they are very easy to build and go together like lego. Essentially the walls become moulds for concrete walls. I would not want the walls above as my primary protection in a war zone, but then weapons these days can easily make it through walls...... What you are talking is different, that's ICF (Insulated concrete form) which is basically what you mentioned - super lightweight polystyrene/Stryofoam blocks click together like lego blocks and then filled with cement and tied together with steel rebars. This is completely different to just having Polystyrene/Styrofoam sheets nailed to timber stud wall with plasterwall interior finish. Those are good advances I would love to have, as they are basically concrete walls with superior insulation. The problem is there aren't that many builders who do ICF in Australia, and the one that does (I know one in Queensland and they are called H4 Living) charge twice to 3 times more than normal! Before the cement pouring Pouring the cement into blocks "Occam's Razor. The simplest explanation is almost always somebody screwed up." Re: Why are all houses these days made with Styrofoam????!! 26Feb 07, 2014 1:57 pm joshnjacqui I don't think they'll get to it considering its covered in concrete? It's just a wafting of concrete ... mate of mine left a packet of seed in a sunroom made of that aluminium caravan-annexe light aluminium over ("rea'l) stryofoam, they ripped through that wall one day ... Re: Why are all houses these days made with Styrofoam????!! 28Feb 07, 2014 7:28 pm Forg A sulphur-crested white cockatoo flew overhead & announced it's arrival quite loudly while we were walking up to the Ichijo Homes display house at Homeworld South, and I kinda-sorta wondered what would happen when those guys discovered your house was covered in stuff which was fun to pull apart. Are Cockatoos renowned for biting buildings? What would entice them to bite a rendered polystyrene building rather than a rendered brick one, or a timber clad one? Unless someone told them it'd be fun. Dulux's recommended minimum render thickness is 7-9mm which I'm guessing would be a reasonable barrier against Peckish Psittaciformes. Dr House, have you tried to break one of the EPS panels? They are pretty tough. Admittedly they wouldn't stop the average 7.62mm but I reckon they'd stand up to an accidental fall against it. I think if you managed to trip and fall through: the internal plasterboard, miss the studs in the frame, 100mm of EPS panel, and 7-9mm of concrete re-inforced with plastic mesh and fell to your untimely death; it's nature's way of telling you you'd outstayed your welcome. On the bright side at least you'd have gone out with a smile on your face after the Kinectic Sex. (I'm supposing it is an enjoyable act) Re: Why are all houses these days made with Styrofoam????!! 29Feb 07, 2014 7:33 pm oncewerefurriers Forg A sulphur-crested white cockatoo flew overhead & announced it's arrival quite loudly while we were walking up to the Ichijo Homes display house at Homeworld South, and I kinda-sorta wondered what would happen when those guys discovered your house was covered in stuff which was fun to pull apart. Are Cockatoos renowned for biting buildings? What would entice them to bite a rendered polystyrene building rather than a rendered brick one, or a timber clad one? Unless someone told them it'd be fun. Dulux's recommended minimum render thickness is 7-9mm which I'm guessing would be a reasonable barrier against Peckish Psittaciformes. Dr House, have you tried to break one of the EPS panels? They are pretty tough. Admittedly they wouldn't stop the average 7.62mm but I reckon they'd stand up to an accidental fall against it. I think if you managed to trip and fall through: the internal plasterboard, miss the studs in the frame, 100mm of EPS panel, and 7-9mm of concrete re-inforced with plastic mesh and fell to your untimely death; it's nature's way of telling you you'd outstayed your welcome. On the bright side at least you'd have gone out with a smile on your face after the Kinectic Sex. (I'm supposing it is an enjoyable act) Could not have put it better if I tried... Re: Why are all houses these days made with Styrofoam????!! 30Feb 07, 2014 8:08 pm LOL!! What a good giggle all the replies to this post have given me Although it may seem unstable and not a great way of building, the simple fact is that all these new designs have to be passed through vigorous testing and pass many laws and standards to be safe and liveable. If they didn't, they wouldn't be used. Simple as that. BUILDING OUR FIRST HOME :x] Re: Why are all houses these days made with Styrofoam????!! 31Feb 07, 2014 8:20 pm Haha oncewerefurriers GOLD. Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65085 Re: Why are all houses these days made with Styrofoam????!! 32Feb 07, 2014 8:35 pm Unless kinectic sex involves being shot out of a cannon (whatever floats your boat - I don't judge) I don't think you'll have an issue going through the wall... Mind you, people do some weird s#*t these days. I could be really underestimating the strength required for walls... Hmm Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=66299 Slab: 16/6/14 Frame: 4/7/14 Roof: 22/7/14 Lock Up: 20/8/14 Fixing: 26/8/14 PCI: 9/10/14 Handover: 20/10/14 Re: Why are all houses these days made with Styrofoam????!! 33Feb 08, 2014 1:46 am ST-Hardy LOL!! What a good giggle all the replies to this post have given me Although it may seem unstable and not a great way of building, the simple fact is that all these new designs have to be passed through vigorous testing and pass many laws and standards to be safe and liveable. If they didn't, they wouldn't be used. Simple as that. They said the same thing about Asbestos. And we all know how that one turned out. "Occam's Razor. The simplest explanation is almost always somebody screwed up." Re: Why are all houses these days made with Styrofoam????!! 34Feb 08, 2014 6:12 am There are two types for foams actually. EPS - Expanded polystyrene XPS - Extruded polystyrene For EPS.. It has good thermal quality but lacks impact resistance and structural strength. As you say, you can really poke a finger in no matter how thick that is. XPS looks similar and uses similar material to produce as EPS, but the method is different which increase impact resistance and structural strength significantly. You can actually have very high impact resistance rating for XPS that is even higher than bricks. But that comes with a cost for sure. For common bricks, Compressive Strength is generally 15~35 MPa and each brick is different For XPS, Compressive Strength range starts at 15 MPa and can go way over 100 MPa depends on the density of XPS. Generally 25 ~35 MPa products are used for building houses in Australia. I have been digging out information on materials other than bricks for my own house. And it seems that XPS foam is really one of the better choice in terms of time saved for building and not loosing on issues with "accidental dents" on the wall. Re: Why are all houses these days made with Styrofoam????!! 35Feb 08, 2014 11:08 am Post up here the info or links to the products you have found snowing. More than a few people would be interested including me ( especially the XPS ) as it is probably what we are going to use on our house for the second floor. Stewie Re: Why are all houses these days made with Styrofoam????!! 36Feb 08, 2014 12:32 pm Dr House ST-Hardy LOL!! What a good giggle all the replies to this post have given me Although it may seem unstable and not a great way of building, the simple fact is that all these new designs have to be passed through vigorous testing and pass many laws and standards to be safe and liveable. If they didn't, they wouldn't be used. Simple as that. They said the same thing about Asbestos. And we all know how that one turned out. Is your doctorate in strawman arguments? snowing, thanks for the information. I too would like some more information on the different building materials. snowing For EPS.. It has good thermal quality but lacks impact resistance and structural strength. As you say, you can really poke a finger in no matter how thick that is. However there is a difference between poking a finger into something and falling through it. EPS doesn't lack impact resistance, it can sustain a reasonably large impact without failure. It lacks toughness which is the resistance to permanent deformation when someone pokes a finger into it. Re: Why are all houses these days made with Styrofoam????!! 37Feb 08, 2014 12:55 pm And now I've learned something! Googled straw man arguments hahaha. Very interesting and a tactic I've recognised before on various forums and in real life (and probably used myself!!) but never been able to label. Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65085 Re: Why are all houses these days made with Styrofoam????!! 38Feb 08, 2014 1:17 pm Oh crap. And to think waffle pods are made from polystyrene too! Better not jump up and down too hard, or use a jack in the garage lest it go through the floor! How many engineers and research would it have taken for them to work out polystyrene is suitable for the walls, and has some great advantages? Someone didn't just start using it without a whole lot of testing and analysis. Re: Why are all houses these days made with Styrofoam????!! 39Feb 08, 2014 3:58 pm Quote: Oh crap. And to think waffle pods are made from polystyrene too! Better not jump up and down too hard, or use a jack in the garage lest it go through the floor! Seano, I think the fact that there is little difference between a standard 100mm conc slab with a sand sub-base in regard to a wafflepod slab on polystyrene is the reason why you hear very little about car jacks going through them - see Saint Mikes thread on urban myths. Those pictures by the way that Dr House posted are of a product called Zego although I presume there would be other similar ones out there. Stewie Re: Why are all houses these days made with Styrofoam????!! 40Feb 08, 2014 6:52 pm just build the house out of bricks 8 6156 I'll be here once a week, lets make that Mondays. If you have a question, this will be the day I will log in for a look around.. If your lucky, sooner. Ask away...… 0 6369 i imagine you also have another contract with an architect? and yeah, whatever other's said about special conditions and appendices 16 16026 |