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No chemical additives but I did experiment with adding chopped fiberglass. The chopped fiberglass does make a big difference in strength. Be sure to get the kind of fiberglass that is compatible with cement.

I don't think aircrete would be ideal for your application. Even if you were able to solve the challenge of reliably making aircrete I don't think it has the compressive strength to handle vehicles driving on it. Please let us know if you try it!

I would periodically weigh a quart of foam to confirm i had a correct ratio.

Why would anyone want a light weight floor for a garage. I’m taking about a normal basic garage ground level. Other than trying to be cheep nothing sounds good about a aircrete floor. As for holding two tons you have got to be nuts to think foam and Portland would withstand that kind of weight.

I agree, just like a souffle it is very easy to fail with aircrete. I tried to make my mixer large for that reason but eventually I gave up on aircrete. I think styrocrete is likely a better option. I'm experimenting with some alternatives also.

You mean no steel rebar etc? Aircrete is not concrete and usage is different. A polyester mesh is used on the outer and possibly inner surfaces for structural strength, this is tensile strength (outer surface) and compressive strength (inner surface). All that said, note that I was never successful in making aircrete reliably and I gave up on it. Using it will need some research to find out why it works great sometimes and collapses other times.

After about 24 hrs it is firm but not ready to remove from the mold. After two or three days it can be taken out of the mold.

I think sand would make it heavy and collapse the bubbles but I didn't try it. Maybe very fine sand will work.

Hi Konfidante, I was following the recipe from the dome gaia site as best I could. Do you think they also use too much water?

@@MattWellandMiscMarvels there is this tendency to make a really wet mix when it comes to AirCrete. The equation is very simple less water= stronger concrete. The advantage of a drier mix is less drying time = quicker de-moulding time if required. When I see sloppy wet mixes I associate these as laziness and lack of understanding of concrete. Why would I want so much water in my mix? Can’t think of a single reason. Dry mixes can be incredibly workable with water reducers and plasticizers.

@@konfidante i like to think lack of knowledge rather than laziness! Can you share your recipe and methodology?

@@MattWellandMiscMarvels Very simple, make a mix exactly the same as regular cement. Use water reducer, air entrainment and plasticizer. This mix can be extremely dry as long as it is mixed thoroughly. Now add your foam as desired. The water reducer and plasticizer will be activated by the foam and the mix will become wet enough to even cast fine details. I get away with very little foam because my objective isn’t weight reduction rather insulation and sound proofing. My recipe probably is close to 2000 psi and after 30 days it is structurally sound. The English statuary casters have another trick up their sleeves. They take sand and mix it with cement. Incredibly dry mix. The simple objective is to coat the sand kernels with cement. They put this creation on hard floors spread out and they let it dry out. When they need Mixing materials they hand tamp this sand making it into cement coated sand kernels. They use this as the main ingredient. The results are incredible. Lighter mix and incredibly strong for fine detailed statues and planters.

Hi Rick, I like that idea, it'd be worth a try for sure. There are several other folks experimenting with aircrete. Try another search for aircrete on google or youtube.

Our batches are going really well. We are starting to figure it out! There are definitely some tricks to getting it right. 👍

Yes, that would work. You might want to add some fibre for strength. You can find glad fibre for cement on Amazon. Regular glass fibre will not work due to the alkali in the cement.

@@MattWellandMiscMarvelsthanks Matt fr your valuable advise

I have run a couple of homemade foam machines the style of the green dragon works the best with a electric pump and compressor.... tyed different mixing methods too, but experience collapse unless using twice the foam suggested and mix verry well, the way I see it the collapse happens a lot more the more you mix so it uses to much foam for the recipe... mixing by hand with an ore works well but can still collapse if not cured fast enough. Which is why I say wether affects it, temperature, humidity, berametruc pressure, and rain, cold nights are no good.... thats why I'm going to try heating the forms. Using type III, or fast set polymers tend to have to have there own problems. The need to be mixed fast and poured, but turn out better than most. Also type 3 uses half the water.

Most of my aircrete was made with my foamer which is the same kind as used by domegaia.

@@MattWellandMiscMarvels yeah a presure regulator, solenoid, toggle switch and ddp 10hp or 11hp pump. Wand out of pvc and ss wool fine 0000, messed with alternating ss spiritual scrubbers. Thay got the pump right. You can build one for around $150... less headaches with fine tuning if you buy domegaia's

Yep, agreed. One thing is that I've been mixing small batches of 5-8 gallons. Maybe aircrete is more stable if you mix the bigger batches.

@@MattWellandMiscMarvels no, bigger batches don't make it better ones. Just wasts more, but you can't make hundreds of blocks without them. it was explained by someone else better. I'll have to look for that video, even if you get it right there are factors that can ruin the consistency especially deeper molds. The insulating aircrete is soft a material and is on the verge of collapse. Once bubbles start popping it can cascade, seperating foam and cement. Water can do something similar pushing up from below.... so I put holes in the plastic liner. but if you can speed set time thos problems goes away.... like I sead I've only had good batches when they are mixed differently than what I was taught... since there is only one original source for aircrete, I wold say they are holding something back, denying they have seen issues with consistent batches, or really are the only people on the planet that hasn't had problems replicating the process.... there could always be a better way they left it to us to figure the rest out.

I measured the cement by weight and water by volume then added foam until the target total volume was achieved.

The mesh is a polyester (I think) mesh with about 2-3mm spacing. I got it at a roofing store.

Yes, either would work well as will paint. In fact paint works great for that.