G’day guys and girls
Just a quick question….I was watching one of those property shows and some bloke built his entire house structure out of massive pre-made concrete slabs…crane came in and put them up and bravo, instant house shell.
The bloke said he saved $25k on labour costs by not building the frame using timber/steel.
Something didnt sit right though and was wondering if anybody else knows of the pros/cons of using this technique…if indeed anybody knows what i am talking about!
Cheers and go you mighty Crows!
Coops
Hey Coops,
I guess the first things that spring to mind are the following:
- lack of flexibility. Very difficult to change layout after the place is built.
- Lack of flexibility in construction phase. You have to absolutely certain when you design that thats what you really want. Once you pourt concrete, it is really expensive to change.
- Lack of flexibility with internal fittings. If you want to move a powerpoint you have to have the conduits in place unless you have an internal false wall.
- Maybe issues with heating / cooling although I am unsure of the thermal properties. What I mean is that it may stay cold in winter and hot in summer, although I am not sure.
On the positives:
- certainly can be cost effective if done right.
- The house is not likely to go anywhere if built correctly. You can huff and puff all you like!
This style of construction is extremely common in industrial / warehouse style structures as it is robust and quick to build.
Just a few thoughts!
As jhopper said, this method of construction is common in commercial buildings. Most small warehouse/factories these days are built from ’tilt-up’ slabs. They are delivered to site, craned in, tilted into place and braced. Then a roof is bunged on. Easy. And very fast. There would be standard sizes, or I’m sure particular dimensions can be ordered. Panels with window and door openings could presumably be ordered, too.
Of course, those sort of properties are little more than 3 walls with a roller door on the 4th side.
I wouldn’t hesitate to build a house using them, but it wouldn’t be a conventional house. Of course, I don’t particularly like conventional houses.
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http://www.depreciator.com.au[biggrin]Hi there, well Ive been buillding commercial and residential most of my career now not to mention a few bridges, so the best thing about it is, you can basically have what ever you want in size and shape as long as you do have all your designs worked out first, and yes it is a cheaper way to construct the best would to be have foam core in the concrete panels as this eliminates any[cap] problems with services, you will need to have a structual steel frame for internal floor fitout etc and the samr goe’s for the roofthe pre finish to external walls could be off formed concrete which in my view can look really good, cheak out syd airport domestic. if you have any other q?s just e-mail.
I did quite a lot of research into concrete buildings.The trick I think is to have concrete walls, even floors both ground floor and second storey floors, but to insulate the external face of the concrete walls.
More specifically the use of Insulated Concrete Forms or ICF. (do a web search on ICF homes). My information is that just plain concrete can be very cold and very hot an some form of external thermal control is required. Heable panels and blocks have thousands of tiny air bubbles in them (search for aerated concrete) to help insulate.
I’d do a bit more research because the initial low building costs may be spent on extra insulation means and maybe higher climat control costs.Take a huge bite and chew like mad.
I’ve noticed companies like Australand use this type of building technique.
Lets start a list of advantages v’s disadvantages
For; Quick construction, no brickies scaffolding, can b made on or off site …
against; lack of redisgn, cold, hot, …
resi
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