DEEP DIVE on Aircrete Design!!
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Welcome to the self-sufficiency revolution! Our channel is your go-to source for sustainable, eco-friendly building techniques using styro aircrete, a lightweight and versatile material made from a mixture of cement, water, and styrofoam. Our channel focuses on alternative building methods and natural building materials, including aircrete blocks and styrocrete. Our expert hosts share valuable tips and tricks for building with aircrete, whether you're looking to construct an aircrete home or incorporate aircrete walls into your renovation project. We also explore off-grid living and minimalist homes, highlighting the benefits of modular and prefabricated homes for energy-efficient and passive solar homes. Our content is perfect for DIY enthusiasts and those interested in alternative building materials, especially green building materials. Follow us for inspiration and advice on building your dream home with sustainable living in mind.
#Aircrete
#BuildingHomes
#EcoFriendlyHomes
#SustainableBuilding
#GreenBuilding
#HomeConstruction
#DIYBuilding
#HomeDesign
#OffGridLiving
#MinimalistHomes
#Homedecor
#HomeRenovation
#HousingSolutions
#AlternativeBuildingMaterials
The information provided in this video is for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice or instruction. Viewers should always exercise caution and take appropriate safety measures when attempting to build or construct something. The creator of this video is not responsible for any injury or damage that may occur as a result of following the instructions or information presented in this video - Jak na to + styl
After not seeing any new videos from you in awhile, I thought you might have given up on your channel. I'm glad you're back, and impressed at how busy you've been! Thank you for covering all the things (such as financing and insurance ) that enthusiasts often overlook before jumping in. And thanks for focusing on the designs and equipment needs of big projects. Your hard work and hard knocks will help ensure our projects are successful, and save us a ton of time and money. Please keep making videos and building your channel!
Thanks for the support Terry. Yes juggling everything I need to get done has been alot. I have more to share but the videos were already too long.
I hope he hasn’t been murdered by our gubmint yet. I haven’t seen him comment for a long time. And he deleted his videos that he made from his workshop. 😞
"If I was 30, and hungry, I would be starting a construction company tomorrow..."
Brother I can't think of a better person than a 60-year-old with vision, passion, business experience, and financial independence to start a company to disrupt the housing industry.
As a matter of fact, a well-seasoned Bama businessman might be the only person capable of navigating the mine fields of potentially disrupting the entire U.S. housing market. A thirty-year old ain't ready for that journey.
I'm a support brother, and I'll be the first to invest in your new company if you can come up with a snap together/interlocking type building block made of Styro-Aircrete. Think Lego type blocks/Interlocking Hempblocks/Benton Blocks/System-3E … Got to cut down on wall assembly time and labor as much as lowering the cost of the materials. Then you've got a billion-dollar market disrupter.
Mac I appreciate your confidence in me.
Totally agree.
This work is very exciting.
Took the words out of my mouth. I would invest in this 💯 %. Keep up the research on behalf of everyone who wishes they could be there with you experimenting. Awesome info!
Ok this is seriously the coolest tech I’ve seen. Please keep this an open source idea. You are changing the world.
Thank you! That is the goal! Subscribe for updates coming soon!
We really wanted to build with an alternative material, but just couldn't find anything that made sense considering labor, cost, time, and insulation value. Plain aircrete sounded so much easier than trying to gather and shred enormous amounts of styrofoam, and it doesn't require as much equipment, trips to town, or storage space. We gave aircrete a good try, but the cold weather got the better of us, and we decided if it's that finicky, it just wasn't going to work for us.
After calculating the cost of using more traditional materials, we found that a better insulated metal and wood structure was actually going to be cheaper than using traditional aircrete for the particular house design we were planning to build. Styrocrete would be cheaper.
There is a lot of interest in styrocrete, glad you are sharing more about the process, and what you have learned. I'm sure it has it's own set of challenges, and I'm glad you are putting out more information about the process. Best wishes, and Happy New Year!
Red & April, thank you for your videos and sharing your build. Yes alternative building methods have their challenges and I have found pure aircrete to be finicky and frustrating too. You are making great progress and I think you are going to have a wonderful house when it is done.
Thanks so much! There are a lot of people excited about trying out styrocrete. We have had so many people tell us we need to watch your videos.
Best wishes with your channel and builds! 😊
Stephen- excellent detail and work. Sharing in the logical non biased way that you do is much needed on the internet. I'm a GC in the upper midwest. Built a little under 300 homes and know the unbelievable waste and record high labor prices with new homes. I remember people laughing how expensive our "starter" home was in 2008, 2400 sq ft, 3 stall garage for 115k. Now, you can't touch that under 330k.
What I'm getting at is you look at this from the lens of a diy/affordable person. I look at this through a time/efficiency lens. I'm curious to brainstorm methods you feel would be less labor intensive, with more volume output. Most of us contractors have bigger equipment, means to buy machines if doing a subdivision, bulk purchasing power, trade pricing, etc. What I envision is using normal concrete forms for ease, time, and flexibility. A possible faster different compaction method. A "production" area higher than the forms so you can pour directly into the mold. Shot Crete machine on site to stucco an entire home in a day or multiple homes. Commercial grade foam shredder. Contracts with the furniture/appliance stores (we have multiple businesses and the cost to remove the foam is unreal- I'd pay someone half to come take it!). And many other potential improvements.
These tools could even be rented to diy people for a day to expedite their projects.
Even the possibility of creating plastic arch forms for rental use may work.
Keep up the great work! Hope to brainstorm someday. Wanting to do a airplane hanger possibly this/next year on my property using these methods
wow thanks for sharing! subscribe for new builds coming soon!
Appliance distribution centers fill dumpsters daily with Styrofoam.
You began the first part with a comment about the price of 1/2" 4'x8' osb, which prompted me to check the current price in my location. It's more than double the amount you mentioned! Thank you so much for the details, demonstrations, & explanations, for your time & effort, and most importantly, for allowing us to learn from your experience.
Ouch! youre welcome! subscribe for new builds coming soon!
I have to say that I love your methodical and scientific approach to constructing. Looking forward to seeing how those arches will turn out. Really love those trimmings. 😎🤘🏼
Thanks for the feedback Francisco.
I'm 34 just learning about all this. I hope I can go off grid and homestead with this knowledge but I still have much to learn and do to get there. You have shared so much and the CZcams DIYers must be grateful. Bless you sir, please continue videos even if small so we know the government didn't snatch you :)
We will build together until we get snatched haha! You can do it!
Stephen - You talked me into it. I'm going to dive into building with styro-aircrete in summer of 2022. Your presentation is very well thought out and thoughtful for us DIYers. Keep up the great work. I hope you get a viewer to step up with a solution with financing, insurance, engineering tests.
Cheers - Kirk
P.S. I'm looking forward to your next video.
Thanks Kirk. Glad you are going to give it a shot. It is easy to work with.
I just came across your videos for the first time. Im impressed! Very excited to hear more from you and try out styro air crete.!
Thanks! Subscribe for new builds coming soon!
Thank you so much for this awesome channel! I've been fascinated with Aircrete for quite a while, but this seems too be an even better and cost-effect solution. I love the geeking out you do on this stuff as this is the type of information we need if we're going to actually put these principles into practice. I'm looking forward to your upcoming videos!
You're welcome!
This is such a cool idea. Thank you so very much for sharing your methods. Really looking forward to the next building!
Thanks Kevin
Love what you are doing. I was in construction over 30 years. We can reduce waste with ideas like this.
Thank you!
Ty much appreciated and Happy New Year!
You're welcome!
I'm very inspired and excited about your research and results. Please continue with this work.
New builds coming soon!
I really appreciate your willingness to share your experience - thanks for the videos!
You're welcome!
Amazing trim ! Love it! Thank you for testing and sharing !😀
You're welcome!
Bless You Stephen, your work is fascinating! And also an act of service to motivate, inform and empower people towards independence.
That is our goal! Thank you!
Stephen, sending you love! Great work! Please keep it up.
thank you!
Keep up the great work! Happy new year!
on it! subscribe for new builds coming soon!
Im very appreciative of your content, its definitely given me alot of new things to test out.
Ive been on the fence as to aircrete or styro/aircrete, but im definitely looking more into styroaircrete for my needs now.
Thanks Moon. styro/aircrete has huge advantages over plain aircrete. It just takes a little extra work to collect and shred the styro.
Is there such thing as styrocrete? No air
Thank you . Great videos. I am planning on setting up a coop to build houses for the needed in the Dominican Republic.
Great job! subscribe for new builds coming soon!
WOW!!!!! EXCELLENT EXCELLENT TUTORIALS!!!!! I learned SO MUCH from these 2 videos. I will be needing to build my house in rural Kentucky. Like you, I am 61yo. Tackling a project of this magnitude I need to give it some serious thought. I am thinking I may use your ideas for the barn, outbuildings, and coops. Start small before tackling the house. And once again, you have proven what my grandfather always said: " I am old, but I am not dead yet". And he died at 106yo. I have 40+ more years in me. LOL You are very inspirational. Keep up the GREAT VIDEOS!!! I will be watching. GOD Bless.
Thanks David. Good Luck with your projects.
This is so neat! Thanks for sharing.
You're welcome!
This video is top notch, Sir! Well done.👏
Thank you! Subscribe for new builds and big announcements coming soon!
THANK YOU .
HAPPY NEW YEARS TO AND YOURS.
You're welcome! subscribe for new builds coming soon!
Hi Stephen! So glad to see you vids and love your passion for these projects. I now have an order to build a 9x12 bunkie with a loft!
George that is great! Keep up your videos showing the build.
One point, it is dangerous to lat electrical pipes in Polystyrene, think static? Fire!?
Tons of great info..! Thanks..!
Youre welcome! subscribe for new builds coming soon!
Wish you were my neighbor LOL!!
So much fun!
Haha thank you!
great job, thank you for doing this
You're welcome! subscribe for new builds coming soon!
Thank you very much, I don't think you realize how much you have help a lot of people
Thanks! That is the goal!
Stephen, Thanks so much for your innovative ideas and video instruction. I love the material. I just got my corded electric lawnmower and plastic barrels. Making my styrofoam generator this weekend. Already got a foamer from Domegaia and built a Frankenfoamer too. Got Drexel deal; thanks for that too. I just cleared land for a dome shaped building combining your styrofoam technology with Domegaia’s construction method and some of my own ideas involving sand casting. I will let you know how it turns out. Ed
Thanks for the video update. You are right, when I tried the shredder it spewed pellets everywhere. I made the mods over the last few days and it is better, but it needs a squirrel cage blower. I found one yesterday on Marketplace for $20. With a 1 hp motor…sweet. I will attach it today. When It got clogged, it burned out the brushes so new ones on order…stuff happens. Thanks so much. Hope to do my first styrofoam aircrete in the next week.
Great job!
A quick note on a nice stucco finish that appears to be brick. Apply scratch coat as usual. Apply brown coat the color you want the grout line to be. Finally apply the color coat in the desired finished color of the house. Make a grid out of metal pieces with about 5 horizontal metal straps 2-1/2 inches wide separated by 1/2 inch space. Make it about 36 inches wide for ease of handling. Place grid horizontally on side of house and use a 'u' shaped metal scraper into the spaces and scrape away the wet color coat. Then using a level use the same tool to strike the color coat away in the vertical direction to make the individual brick. It would give you even more strength to your outer walls.
Thanks for sharing! subscribe for new builds coming soon!
Hi Stephen I liked your objectives of this channel. Thanks for sharing your work.
Thanks!
P. S. Fantasticly informative video. Thank you for your hard work. (Or to the Mrs. if she did the editing... Lol)
Thanks Raven. No I am doing the editing.
man you are great,., i started out with log houses.,., then cord wood homes ,.,. and then hay bales and mud ,.,. but i think you are on the right track.,., all these styles have something .,., that happen's after time .,.,. i am going to try you're way for my home this summer.,.,. thank's for all the information you have set out .,.,.i am going to make this happen .,.,,.
Great job! Subscribe for new builds and recipe coming soon!
What lovely homes, this is a very impressive building style. I'm thinking of building a garden shed with a tilt panel type construction. This give plenty of food for thought.
Go for it! New builds coming soon!
hello, it's a pleasure to hear about such an ingenious idea, it's a pleasure, I'm Gustavo Moreno, I greet you from Colombia, I dedicate myself to working with wood, specifically glued laminated wood finguer jhoint
Thanks Gustavo!
These videos are great! Do please keep it up. This is the best new alternative building material overall when stacked against all the other options IMO. I too have tried the two available to me: compressed earth and aircrete, and they both had pretty extreme drawbacks. If possible, when you get into descriptions of alternative ways to build with your material, a sketch or drawing would be VERY helpful and most appreciated. I get lost without visuals to follow.
Property Stuff, Thanks for your feedback. I will use more drawings in the future to try and make it clearer. Have you seen the other 4 videos I have done?
@@AbundanceBuild Watching the 4th now. Thanks for pointing me to them. I subbed after watching the first one. Wow congratz on over 700k views!
Dear Stephen. I am very happy to find you on You tube. I am very interested in building a home very inexpensively but with quality. This looks like your Styro-crete is the answer I was looking for. I am buying in Alaska. So no building codes, But the environment needs quality build. It looks like it will be quicker than "traditional" air-crete housing. Great. I'm an elder and I am looking to build with my own hands. I have taken the Dome -gaia class and Im taking the Tiny Giant class in Terilingua in April. But this magnificent. Learning as much as I can, Planning to build next year. Thank you for your great information.
Go for it! Subscribe for new builds coming soon!
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I like the window and door decorations.
Thanks!
Stephen, this is great stuff and I greatly appreciate the “open source” approach. First a question and then some ideas…
When packing the mix, how do you judge the amount of force / depth of compression? I’m particularly curious at what point does the air in the aircrete collapse or in other words, balancing insulation vs strength. Ideas: seen some interesting stuff on wrapping with hemp fabric, adding up to 5% (home-made) graphene to concrete mix, both add considerable strength. Could use cattle panel or mesh tied onto rebar on the outer sides, pour in the middle. Or wood pieces vertically with rebar through horizontally to provide strength and a surface to screw into. Probably want to embed runs for power and plumbing to avoid having to cut it all out later. Probably need good vibration and packing to make these latter ideas work well.
Look forward to future instalments. Have you compared Drexel to Richway’s CMX product? Do you know about toxicity in either (there was a question about planters and thought these foaming agents might leach into the bed)?
Thanks again!
Hi V, You cn tell when packing the mix that the it is not compressing anymore and the air has been pushed out. It does not take long. In using the wood trusses you now have the strength in the truss and I am actually going to experiment with a lighter, weaker, more insulative mix since I am not going for strength now with the mix. Now if you are not using wood trusses then you need a mix that has enough compressive strength. The heavier and stronger the mix the less insulative it will be so it is a trade off. Having the wood trusses in the wall you can rough wire the walls before you pour. Makes it very easy. I have tried CMX. It is a good foaming agent and a little better than Drexel but way more expensive and not better enough to justify the cost. I don't know the answer about toxicity.
Amazing all around. I would watch trim design for hours.
Haha thank you!
Hi Steve; this is a great video; I saw homes built with styro aircrete Central/Eastern Europe; however, the walls were reinforced with steel/steel mesh and they were 21-30 inches thick; your walls seem to be a lot thinner but yet the building is standing
Thickness can be adapted for climate and use case!
Hi Stephen!!! You are a blessing to me! We bought our first house with our 2 kids in 2017 knowing that it needed some work but ready to make some improvements. Boy was I excited to see that under the carpet and over glued warped vynl squares was hardwood (eww why in the bathroom though) After I made some progress unearthing some original hardwood floors (I am the problem solving handy woman in the family) I found out the stork was making a very untimely delivery which meant I was going cold turkey on a lot of meds required for me to get things done unfortunately 😳
Our first winter out here I couldn't wait to use this miracle radiators everyone said we're going to work so well. A couple months and $1600 in fuel later I'm beside myself at how I can't keep my house warm. While pregnant I had a WARM program guy come by and test the house to find out that my brick building has no insulation. Because of course it doesn't! That's why when the speratic knob and tube was disconnected instead of replaced by (who was supposed to be) home contractor, we lost half our lights and sockets throughout; knob and tube wasn't just in the dang basement 😭
Sorry we have been through so much in such a chaotic time it is such a long story to sum out. Needless to say, my baby boy was born June 2020 and by the time I had any hope of trying to start fixing things and hopefully make room for the baby by insulating the attic, no one is available to hire and costs are even more crippling than before.
I have high ceilings with huge wooden beams and you can see the roof nails on the ceiling. Is there any way you could give me advice on how to approach insulating even just the ceiling in the attic which is open and bare with what you have discovered?
I know I'm already asking a lot but the previous owner considered himself a contractor; and wiring aside, the addition he built that is our main and completely necessary: entry way as well as second bathroom, has got to be running out of whatever magic he used to keep it floating above ground with no support beams in sight!
So if anything else, if I never hear back or your just too busy I understand trust me!!! ✨👶✨
But I plan to use your genius to one way or another enclose and support the crawlspace which I only discovered way way later than I should have (because he covered it all with siding) and in my, and the original inspectors ignorance, just assumed the basement went the whole way!
Thank you for sharing so much! I finally have hope that I can solve some issues with insulation (in the coop too!🐣) And what clearly should have been condemned building practices. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Wow Alexandria you have a challenge on your hands. Yes the roof is the first place you want to insulate. I would recommend nailing horizontal 2x2's every 24 inches to the underside of your rafters. Then stapling insulation cloth (very thin cheap cloth used for closing in wall cavities for blowing in cellulose insulation) to these 2x2 strips. You now have a cavity the thickness of the roof rafters plus the 2x2 strips that you can fill with insulation. You could staple the cloth right to the roof rafters but you will have a lot of thermal bridging going on with every rafter and this most likely will not be thick enough. Shred EPS and treat it with boric acid and borax as a fire retardant. See my video on styro aircrete fire testing. When the EPS is dry you can use a leaf blower with a leaf vacuum attachment and connect a swimming pool hose to it and blow in and fill this entire roof cavity. You don't need the aircrete mix for this which will save a lot of work. All you need is insulation. Good luck with the project.
@@AbundanceBuild thanks so much for your reply! I was thinking about how tough it would be to insulate inside the walls and I was thinking maybe I could just do the styrocrete on the outside! Just in case the whole building! I know it would be a huge project but I wouldn't have thermal bridging with all the wood and old construction I would have to work around. I was also thinking I could use the fake rock patterns to press on the outter layer (btw stucco wouldn't work on the outside is there a weather resistant alternative to the outside layer?) Then I would have insulation up the wazzoo and I could make our house look fancy because I have always been a fan of stone houses
@@AbundanceBuild hi Stephen I have been collecting styrofoam in bulk and before I start putting it up like you suggested (so embarrassing the one video of you're I hadn't watched talked about the solution)
People have been mentioning that I should put rafter vents above the insulation between the ceiling and the insulation. I think I might have to. Do you think they are right and that otherwise it would cause moisture, airflow, and heatflow issues???
Sorry to be so bothersome! I'll post a video soon about all the progress I've made in helping my family all thanks to your reply with advice!!!! Also, one of my styrofoam suppliers is someone who gets boxes for insulin and he's a contractor too so next time I pickup my styrofoam I planned on asking him as well ❤️
I'm so happy I finally found a solution after all the time spent looking for one
(╥▽╥)
Brilliant stuff! There is just nothing more to say!
Thanks for the feedback Honest Trader.
Can’t wait to see a little more about load tests made on this product….
Coming soon! Subscribe to see results!
Thank you, Stephen, for pursuing this and sharing it as an open resource! We live in Brazil (we actually moved from AL a about 2 years ago) and are working on a regenerative agriculture project. We want to build simple structures to receive guests that will have a minimal negative environmental impact, so the repurposing of materials that would otherwise continue to pollute is very useful. The insulating properties are also really appealing!
Have you run into any issues with water infiltration? Humidity climbs up through the dense soils here, through foundations and into the walls of the house, which is followed by mildew and molds, which ultimately cracks the finish on the walls. Since, with styro/aircrete it is the stucco/mesh finish that gives the wall its lateral support, I wonder if this product would be susceptible to the same problem. Also, have you had any instances of rodents or other critters attempting to breach this material? A secondary application I can see for this is building a storage area for animal feed and dried grains.
Great job on your project! Stay tuned for more testing videos coming soon!
2x6 walls with 48” on center filled with styroaircrete...can you add salt to the mix and/or borax to prevent mold or termites... This building technique is perfect for the she-shed or he-shed making (and transporting) business. The floor could be styroaircrete then pour a 3” slab inside after its in place... don’t forget to make a knockout for a window/through-the-wall AC unit...
Hi Stephen,
Have twice Chance to watch you and your works..... brilliant.
Am thinking of buying an aircrete Mixer and pump for a ready Mix aircrete. and wondering how i can fix
steropor Chips into the mixture
Amy Idea thanking you and Wish ing you and your Team best of time
@@paulyawamponsahbadu1864 Hi Paul, most of the aircrete mixer's I have from overseas you can add styrofoam beads and it works fine. If it uses a pressurized tank to pump it I have seen that work too with this styro aircrete mix.
You are the best!
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Good evening Mr Stephen.
My father just showed me your channel and I’ve gone and watched all your videos. Currently I live in city limits but I’m hoping to move outside the city. When I do I’d love to build a large shop and garage with the styro aircrete (or maybe even a whole house).
Anyway, I am a mechanical design engineer, and would like to offer help with research or calculations that you may want help with. I do not have my license yet, so I can’t stamp drawings. But if you need anyone to crunch some numbers or preform a FEA (finite element analysis) or even do some testing reach out to me and I would love to try and help you.
Regards, Brandon
Brandon, I appreciate the offer. Where are you located if I wanted to get some samples to you for testing? Do you have access to compression testing equipment? That is my immediate need right now.
I wanted to say that you're doing some amazing work. Reclamation will be a titan economy and you're at least inspiring others to take those leads.
I thought I might suggest that your cloth-form was a great idea so don't abandon it. If you line the interior with cardboard & then inoculate it with "ecowood" it will harden and provide not only the compression you're after but an additional insular layer. It's an amazing natural mix of minerals that petrifies wood into rock overtime.
Keep up this amazing frontier work please
Good idea. I've used that before. It is what piers down un Florida were using. It grays out the wood and basically turns it into rock. Good stuff
Hi 99 Nation I was not familiar with Ecowood. I watched some videos on it and it is used as a wood stain that caused the wood to grey and seal. I was not able to find anything about it hardening the wood to rock. Did you figure it out that the product will do that or is there more videos on this I am missing. I am very interested if it will harden cardboard.
@@AbundanceBuild It's called a "wood hardener" It's in some marketed labeling online & traditionally used on piers to dramatically increase the life of the water exposed pilons. It turns soft wood into hard wood. Lots of CZcams trial&results videos on it too
awesome thanks sir
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This is incredible! I really hope we can get some proper compression testing at some point.
Agreed! "Proper" testing is incredibly expensive but we are going to do the best we can. Subscribe for new builds coming soon!
Man, you are a beast! I’ve watched your videos over and over again and I learn a little bit more ever time. As a young carpenter and new business owner I’m looking for something to break the traditional mold of building. The area I live in has extremely inflated home prices and young people simply have no way of getting in unless they completely sign their life away on a house. There has to be another option and I think the work you are doing is pointing in that direction. Not only is this building method seriously increasing efficiency, but cutting down on overall material use and reusing cast out materials.
My question to you, Stephen, is have you considered using a storage container as a frame or many storage containers stacked up? They can be bought for cheap and are super strong. The downfall of storage containers is they are metal and conduct heat/cold. If you finish a storage container inside and out, then coat the container in aircrete styrofoam, it would be super insulated I think. I’d love to hear your feedback.
Awesome work man, keep it up!
Trials I am thrilled that you are motivated to try this building method. You are exactly right that we are past due for trying new building methods.
Why not just buy steel then
Trials Yes you could make a mold around the container and pour styro aircrete and then stucco it. My concern is the steel will not let moisture pass through the wall and potentially hold moisture up against the metal and rust it out. you could potentially insulate inside the container in the dry.
Man I'm all about what you're doing! I want to do my part to do something worthwhile with what's left of my life and helping our mother earth and the human race is a very noble and great cause ! I want to help any way I can. I'm very good with my hands and know this is something I can do.
Awesome!! We are about to announce some new ways to get involved! Subscribe to be notified :)
@@AbundanceBuild awesome!
Stephen,
Great content and video. I have watched your other video's with much interest and these last two were exactly what I was waiting for. I built a house in Florida with SIPS panels about 10 years ago, and loved the fact that it really sealed out any airflows and made a super-insulated structure. The only thing I didn't like was the cost. This technique that you are showing seems to have the same promise (without the high cost). I have since moved to Arkansas, and am in the process of adding a small Mother-In-Law's apartment. I think that I will use this method, but was leery of the compression strength for the Styrocrete (or lack of it) until you did some high level compression calculations. My thought is to pour a monolithic slab for the floor, and then frame the walls laying down on the slab using OSB with plastic between the OSB and the 2X6's spaced every 2 feet on center, then fill with styrocrete, then stand the walls up when dry with the OSB on the outside of the wall. The plastic would prevent the water from seeping into the OSB, You could then finish it off on the outside with any exterior you wanted, and then nail the sheetrock right to the 2X6's on the inside. Would I still need to use the fibermesh if I did it this way?
Wayne that will work and you would not need any fiber mesh. The strength of the wall is your 2x6 framing. This will be a heavy wall though to lift. Styrocrete is around 15 lbs/cu ft. Styro aircrete is around 8 lbs/cu ft. That 2x8 x 6 inch test wall weighs 140 lbs. So you would need a small crane or possibly a tractor with a bucket on the front to rope it too and lift each wall section.
@@AbundanceBuild Thanks for your reply. I do have a small tractor (25 HP) with a front end loader and was thinking that this should do the job. However, for the typical DIYer who might not have a tractor, would a winch and a Derrick work? If I do walls in 8 foot wide sections (9 feet tall) , they will be 250 - 300 lbs. (using Styro aircrete). I am wondering if the trusses that you are discussing in this video would work instead of 2X6s? What size wall section (width) would you recommend? I was planning on trying to get 8' sections, but would like to go longer. I was planning on building all of the electrical wiring in the walls as well and also keying the bottom of the wall to match with a key on the slab so that it had lateral strength (can't see how to use the typical J anchor bolt). Also, could I use the Styro Aircrete for the monolithic slab? Would it be strong enough If I went 4 inches thick, and reinforced it with 4" wire mesh and 2 #5 rebars on the foundation that is approx 14" thick (typical monolithic slab construction)? Could I also pour the slab in different sections at different times (in some of your videos, you come back and fill in under windows, etc.), or do I have to do it in all one pour? Does tile and other flooring materials adhere to the Styro Aircrete? A lot of questions that I am sure others probably have. Thank you for being the leading pioneer and sharing this information with us all.
@Just think Thanks for your reply. I wanted to go 6" for the additional insulating R Value. I was planning on using closed cell foam panels underneath the slab. However, would Styro aircrete work in this application and give me the insulation that I need? On the home that I build in Florida, I did a conditioned attic and really liked it. However, I used polyurethane spray on foam. I was wondering if one could use Styro Aircrete in between the trusses instead of the closed cell? On your trusses, what is a zip wall and zip tape sheathing, I am not familiar with this?
Thank you Thank you Thank you!!! I too watched a lot of "failures" with aircrete on CZcams and said what could you add to it as I thought this material is amazing. I am so glad I found your videos as you answered that. StyroCrete(probably already trademarked). Have you seen hexayurts? They are simple and quick to build but tenporary. Great in extreme climates and make a very comfortable shelter I am interested in building a permanent hexayurt and I think I just found my building material. I wonder if an on demand StyroCrete mix method could be created similar to the new 3D printed buildings.
Youre welcome!
I’m was looking for this a long time, thanks for sharing, though I’m trying to do a thing for my honey bee boxes with sheep wool not only as insulates quality but as well for humidity regulation and wildfire proof to keep them safe and healthy
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Sounds just like my wife's reaction when I said I was gonna build a dome house 😅
Hahaha Yes domes are a tough sell! Our next build will be a cross vault that has the rounded ceiling but square floorplan, maybe she will go for that! Subscribe for new builds coming soon!
This is super exciting work! Appreciate you sharing with the world! My mind immediately went to Tiny Houses on Wheels and if this is the least expensive way to build one. A big question mark is how would Styro Aircrete handle vibrations of the road?
Also, less developed countries like the Philippines and Costa Rica that experience 250MPH hurricanes might benefit from this inexpensive material. Might be a game changer for many around the world!
Magi, I am experimenting with paintcrete (mixing latex paint with the stucco mix) and bonding agent (PVA glue essentially). The strength of the surface increases significantly and also allows it to flex without cracking. It will allow you to move it without cracking and hold up very well in high hurricane force winds.
@@AbundanceBuild Wow, that sounds incredible! I will be watching your experiments with great interest!
One thing I don't miss is microfiche. They were a nightmare.
Thanks for sharing!
Good Afternoon, good work with your projects. I always find it interesting when someone has similar ideas as myself. I have not watched all of your videos yet, but was wondering if you had perfected your Gothic arch with styrofoam-aircrete idea. We have made quite a few laminated arches and were planning on using them as a form to make a hand full of b&b cabins from air crete. Again thanks for sharing what you have learned, I know it’s lots of work.
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Are you by chance an engineer or the like? This info and the way you present it is incredible.
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For R-value, a paper of "Uncertainty in the thermal conductivity of insulation materials" can be helpful. You can find the paper by googling. Density of 55 kg/m^3 can give 0.031 W/mK. Anyway thanks for your sharing.
Thank you!
What immediately comes to my mind watching your videos is airEPScrete BLOCKS. Where the blocks are maybe 3ft long, 12 inches wide, and 8 inches high. When overlayed, every 2 ft horizontally there is a bottom to top vertical 4 inch hole for pouring conrete with rebar. Every 4 feet vertically a tying reinforced concrete channel. So that after all blocks are placed, concrete can be poured in and you have an extermely stron reinforced concrete wall that is super insulated.
It's called "The Perfect Block" and they're pretty awesome. Give it a google.
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Thank you for sharing your passion of practical building and how you were inspired. Please include me as a invite to your next project or a work shop.
Paul - Lake Charles, La
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If you need help funding the compression test: consider doing a video and/or pdf we could buy.
A step-by-step of your current build method plus a pdf might be nice-just to get the price list/material sourcing/diagrams/etc. out there for review.
Am really curious how little wood one might require.
Thanks for your videos.
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Well done Stephen! How did you do your 2nd floor trusses on your work shop ? May I suggest a video tour of your work shop and build. Thank you!
Thanks Duane. The second floor is framed with 2x8's and I filled the cavities solid with shredded EPS. Wood trusses would have prevented thermal bridging.
6:42 What do you think of tacking a radiant film on these nailing surfaces and covering with drywall. I believe the air gap they provide should reflect heat back in the house in the winter and the heat out in the summer (or would you need a gap on both sides of the foil). Iowa winters are COLD and summers are HOT! You have one of the best channels and well researched topics out there!
Thank you and Thanks for the tip!
Thanks Steve; for you informative approach. Having watched all of your videos, I must say I'm truly inspired. And I will re-watch them and "like" every one. I have a few questions. #1, I'm thinking of building a sauna (96 square ft approx.) with the truss design you showed. Putting cedar and vapor barrier inside, and wood siding outside as my forms , built on pier blocks. How would you suggest I do the floor? # 2, I'm also going to build a round building, and was thinking earthbags filled with somewhat wet Steven's-styro-air-crete,(SSAC) hoping they would leak and harden and stick together, What kind of bags though? #3 Where I live the builders use a stucco type mix with sealbond to coat the outside of block basement walls. It seems they apply it directly to the block. I wonder if when you do a compression test, you could try a piece with only stucco an mesh directly to your SSAC. To see if it might not de laminate , as opposed to applying any adhesive? Thanks again.
Rudy.
Hi Nakedshorts, for pouring a floor, put down a gravel base, lay a layer of poly down and then pour however many inches of styro aircrete you want for insulation. Then pour 1 1/2 inch of concrete for the hard finished surface. I am using a watered down mix of bonding agent sprayed on the walls before stuccoing. I might try full strength.
This is such a great channel. I really appreciate the work you have put into this. If you want to start a Patreon account or some such funding I would gladly contribute to your efforts to get engineering tests and approvals. I would like to look at building several duplex's or triplex's in my area. There are no affordable, nice rentals available. If I could decrease the construction cost by about 20% I could provide nice units at below market rents which would be a win/win.
Great idea! New opportunites coming soon!
wow merci Stephen pour votre enthousiasme communicatif très belle percé pour des application architectural j'ai un grand intérêt dans cette aventure , pour ma part je travail dans les décors de film américain , je suis mouleur sculpteur et le styrofoam est une des matières des plus utilisé de toute les façons inimaginable ! Vous avez une passion que je partage je me demande de quel façon je pourrais y contribuer ! Denis 🌍
Dankewol! Mear manieren om te stypjen komme gau :)
Great videos, just subscribed. Only watched a couple videos and quickly subscribed , mostly because of your thorough experiments.
I apologize in advance if you have already answered these questions in other videos if so, please direct me in the right direction. I am kinda in a rush to get this project done and you have motivated me even more.
I watch too many videos already 🤣so now it's time to ask questions and you seem to be the man with the answers.
I have a block building, they built it 'block on block' , not even staggering the rows. I would like to remove the damaged roof, which would expose the tops of all the blocks. I am sure there is no rebar in the blocks. I can see through the walls in some of the joints between the blocks. I wanted your thoughts on strengthening/insulating the walls by filling them (air crete mixture you would use?/rebar?etc.) I want to make a home out of it. Its approximately 2400 square feet. Rectangle. Also, how would I fill the small cracks/voids in the vertical cracks between the stacks of blocks?
If I can get your recommendations, that would be great !!! Then I can move on the to replacing the roof , where I want to insulate it with aircrete mixture as well. I do think I saw some videos of yours on the lighter type mixtures that would work for the roof. I plan on using 2x8 rafters , wood on bottom side as finished ceiling, and then aircrete in between rafters with metal roof. Thank you in advance!!!!! Michael, from Alabama.
Hi Michael, Glad the videos are inspiring you. If your wall blocks had been staggered like normal you could have used this Quickwall fiber reinforced mix to tie the wall together. But I am concerned you can see all the way through the block cracks. I think this is going to take filling a core every two feet with concrete and rebar. the only problem with doing this after the fact is not being able to tie the rebar into the foundation. The rest of the wall cavities could then be filled with styro aircrete and 2 coats of stucco will seal the cracks on the exterior.
@@AbundanceBuild thank you for your quick response!! I was also concerned about the blocks possibly not being tied in to the slab and probably none of the cavities have rebar or concrete. Probably will tear it down to the slab and start over 😒..I would hate to go through the trouble of filling some of the voids with concrete/rebar and some with aircrete then still have issues down the road. Thanks again!!
Please add a PayPal or Patreon for us viewers who want to donate to the cause. Much cheaper to donate to you and let you do the testing than for us to all try it independently. Thank you and keep up the good work!
Great idea! Working on it! Stay tuned
I really want to make styroaircrete cladding for shipping containers. Use container cutouts and make a corrugated form for close fit casted panels. I could live comfortably in a 40 foot high cube.
That should work! Good luck with your project, and let us know how it goes!
i did a test some 15 years ago with that same mix. i come to think that a sanded Styrofoam aggregate instead of the sealed balls. this makes the mixing easy and increases its strengths
Towerace I am not following your mix. Can you explain.
Hi Stephen, I am very interested in all that you have done and are doing. We are in the process of planning and building several buildings with a mix of paper/styro-crete. We actually went to Aircrete Harry's work shops and had a great time and learned lots. Would you be available to chat about some of the things we're are planning. You mentioned your in AL, we are in GA. Thank you fir all that you are doing and sharing.
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Laminated arches rock. I suspect the fiber coats inside & out of the aircrete, far eliminates the need for interior rebar, which rusts. The fabric stuccoed in place on both sides of walls, might create strong stress skins. Nice if they are basalt fiber stuccoed in place.
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Thanks for this. Your channel is one of my favorites in sustainable building. I have a wood-framed bedroom (in a 1940s stucco facade house) with drywall that needs to come down and no insulation. My plan is to fill the walls with styrocrete and spray on a final layer of aircrete mixed with soy-based concrete stain to create the interior finish. I've seen other Californians cob their interiors to avoid permitting issues in our strict permitting environment. This lightweight alternative seems like it will fit my purpose perfectly. Wondering if I need to put a vapor barrier in first or hardware cloth between the styrocrete and aircrete. Any input is much appreciated!
Thank you! Styrocrete would make a great insulator in this application. We have a new waterproofing recipe we are about to share in an ecourse we are currently filming on our recipes. Subscribe to be notifed!
labor is usually the most expensive part
Totally that's why we want to make it DIY and are working on faster and easier methods coming soon! Subscribe to be notified!
I find it hard to believe with lumber prices being what they are now that anybody’s throwing away any significant quantity of usable lumber, nails or not
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@@AbundanceBuild well, I know in the San Francisco Bay area area there’s several nonprofits that will send their donation truck and pick that stuff up for free like Habitat for Humanity restore and The Reuse People in Oakland from anybody that wants to get rid of some quantity and they’ll get a receipt for a tax deduction in the process so again, I find it hard to believe that anybody’s regularly giving lumber away nails or not
18:30 Water and spot mold... Throw plastic over the attic area and the wet S.A.C will become a monolithic pour that should transfer the weight to the attic framing, be a higher R-value and inhibit air transmission. Two cups of borax or boric acid will inhibit mold growth aid fire retardation, but as you say portland and poly is not a great breeding ground for mold.
Thanks for the tip!
Great video. Have you tried something like Tridipanel? Is is basically an EPS core sandwiched between shotcrete skins on both sides. Switching EPS with Styoaircrete and the 2"x2" welded mesh with 2 or 3 layers of chicken wire and stucco (Ferrocement) could be a way to go. Ferrocement is a very strong composite concrete build. There are even big fishing ships made of ferrocement. Tridipanel has a Florida approval number so finding a PE to sign on the plans shouldn't be an issue.
Fernando yes I familiar with that system. Yes you could replace the EPS with molded styro aircrete walls. They are using a lot of concrete on their builds and a shotcrete machine is really expensive. You could do it with a scoop stucco air sprayer. The fiber mesh is also cheaper than the wire.
Hey there Stephen. I'm considering the use of styroaircrete to replace a sip panel system. We have a 32' yurt to put up this spring/summer. Would be placing styroaircrete panels on a wooden framed support (same as for a sip pad). Thanks for your time sir.
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Not sure if you've already figured it out but you could easily wrap your framing members in house wrap or tar paper to prevent mold, or just paint it first.
Hi Josh, For those who do not want to stucco the building I recommend using house wrap like you are suggesting, screw OSB over this, pour the styro aircrete in the wall cavity, and then remove the OSB. On the inside are you saying if you wrapped the inside with house wrap and then screwed up dry wall and then poured, that would eliminate any mold on the dry wall as it dries over the next 2 weeks?
@@AbundanceBuild sorry, to be more specific, I meant when you were talking about leaving 2 x 4 or 2 x 6 wooden framing members embedded in the Styro aircrete wall, you should be able to wrap the studs individually with house wrap or tar paper (or just paint them with killz etc.) to prevent moisture from the mix infiltrating into the wood as the wall is curing. Might be a pain but would prevent mold probably. Just an idea. Cool videos btw, keep it up.
Mr. Williams would you be interested in talking to a group based in Huntsville about this? We are considering building methods for an intentional community in NE Alabama and Aircrete was brought up just this week at our monthly meeting. I mentioned Styrocrete but no one had heard of it. Then I heard you mention Athens AL and thought it was serendipitous! We have a meeting coming up in early Feb.
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hi very interesting work do you have the value of the density of the final material
New tests coming soon! Stay tuned
You could laminate your arch , therefore make it as thick as you woude like.
Thanks for the tip!
cover the inside with plaster that will slow down the drying but will also increase the concrete mix. the outside can be covered with a concrete latex mix as well. i like your videos keep it up
Thanks Towerace.
@@AbundanceBuild czcams.com/video/KjyJZawThgk/video.html
Do different cement mixes bond with styro Aircrete?
In particular - could fabric soaked in non-shrink grout line a mold and then filled with styro Aircrete stay bonded?
What type of fabric produces the best value?
@@rodneybrooks6096 Rodney styro aircrete is a portland based mix and sticks well to anything masonry. Spraying and wetting the surface with bonding agent will give a good bond. I have not experimented with various fabrics except roofing fabric which works very well.
Man I love the work you’re doing and I’m fascinated by it. One question I have: How well will this weather the test of time? If the the styrofoam breaks down will it undermine the integrity of the structure? I don’t know the answer, this is not a rhetorical question.
Thanks Matt! Well all three of my buildings are holding up great! The problem with styrofoam getting in the landfill is it takes over a hundred years to breakdown - that's why we want to recycle it! So it is not going to breakdown any time soon! Subscribe for new builds coming soon!
The expanding Gorilla glue is awesome! I've tested joints and had the glue rip the wood out when it broke. Plus, it's impervious to water. (Just a thought)
Where in the video is that idea somehow I missed it?
@@safffff1000 Where he mention using wood glue for the trusses/joists. Wood glue is great, but not water proof. Gorilla glue is, and it expands a great deal. I have found that if it expands out to somewhere you don't want just wipe the excess with a rag until it stops expanding. What this means is one or two drops to a joint is all you need, it does the rest for you. And in doing so, it fills any voids between the wood. Moisture is it's activator so no worries there. After curing, it's water proof.
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Have you considered glass microspheres for filler? It is a by-product of burning coal at power plants. The sphere is hollow with vacuum inside, capable of 10k p.s.i
If you shop around you can find it for $500 a cubic square pallet load. (A few years ago). Just thinking out loud...
Raven if you can get this stuff cheap I would think it would work very well mixed with aircrete. The aircrete is just the glue.
Have you looked at concrete 3d printing? Not sure how its could be done but the integration would be amazing!
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You should try to mix strong structual concrete mix...using portland and plaster of Paris and part stryrofoam...and small part air foam. Keeping the concrete structural strong for concrete block forms..not for wall insulation . The plaster of paris with portland will greatly increase the psi of the cement Then when you make your wall pour styrofoam cement in the forms for need insulation
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have you tried building a building using the trusses with roof that you show at 7:27? I'm interested in building a simple 16x20 shed and wondering how well this would work.
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Try biggerpockets for insurance information on alternative house structures.
Thanks for the tip!
Hi Stephan (and Abundance Build Crew!). Any compression strength testing on StyroAircrete yet? Should it be at least as strong as plain Aircrete(100-150psi ) or would it be weaker with the 2 components? I know E.P.I.C. MIX IS very strong but it only contains Portland, styrofoam and a bit of treated paper blow in insulation in the mix - no Aircrete. I assisted Harry at his 1st EPIC double airform workshop...an awesome experience!
Hi Greg! We no longer use aircrete because it weakens the mix without enough benefit to justify it. No compression test yet but working on getting universities to help us do the testing
If you get a core sample from your streocrete. They can test it in compression at any place that tests concrete and will give you their finding as to when it failed and at what Comoros was at when it did fail. When I was out in Colorado, I saw floors being poured on play wood and just left in place after the pour. It was in apartment building and they seemed to like it. Don’t know if any foam was added to that concrete or not. They just told me it was am light weight concrete. That also might be a solution to financing and insurance is not actually tell them what your using. The concrete was just used for sound proofing the floors I think. Good luck. Later
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