Adobe houses are wonderfull, but are fraught with peril. Straw ball
ditto. I've considered the numerous new block systems (Faswall, Hebel,
etc), but they are amazingly expensive due to low production volume.
Concrete, on the other hand, is amazingly cheap for what you get:
excellent performance (when coupled with insulation board) for a low
price. I've gotten some prices on foam forms, but they have the problem
of isolating the mass from the heated area.
The simple wall I envision: 6" thick concrete, with 3" of rigid board on
the exterior, rendered with the normal (for out here) 3 coats of
cementitious stucco. Plaster inside. Walls and corners are easily
sculpted for the adobe look, mediterranean, spanish, or anything desired.
After rendering, you couldn't tell what it was made of.
In our climate, thermal mass is a big plus, and so is a stuccoed
exterior, both for practical and stylistic considerations. Thus, here
are some of the advantages of this concrete wall system, specific to my
own circumstances and my location:
1. Ideal amount of mass is efficiently achieved
2. Any of the SW styles are easily rendered
3. Existing contractors, methods, and materials to do the work
4. Easily permitted, insured, and mortgaged
5. Very long lasting
6. Does not rot, mold, get eaten, flake, peel, fold, spindle, or
mutilate (except for the stucco which can be renewed)
7. Performs well in natural disasters
Disadvantages:
1. Concrete has a high EE
2. The "feel" of concrete, both objectivly and subjectivly speaking, is
not so good
3. No owner (unless he/she is an engineer or survivalist) would go for it
I invite comments.
Buzz Burrell
Bolder Building
Boulder, CO
Broke ground last week on 5,000 SF PumiceCrete house.
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