Tilt Panel Concrete

[Timless Timber]

Anyone got experience with tilt panel concrete construction for a domestic dwelling?

Missus and i are just kicking an idea around ATM... bout building a 2 story home by the sea for retirement...

Not too sure about reinforced concrete by the beach but keen to learn. Old man was a master builder and i worked with him for 20 odd years so I know a little about building and concrete but truthfully tilt panel is something we never touched being a relatively 'new' technology and outside his expertise.

I have no idea about costs versus say double brick or single brick veneer etc - nor the thermal mass insulation values or longevity of the steel reinforcing in a marine environment?. (Hot dip galved reo)?

I've seen a few buildings in my travels that appear to be forms of tilt panel concrete... that have caught my eye.

Wouldn't mind knowing a little more before I go speaking with an architect etc

Does concrete HAVE to be butt ugly finish?

http://cdn.hotfrog.com.au/companies/RECKLI-Form-Liners-Moulds/images/RECKLI-Form-Liners-Moulds_77025_image.JPG

http://www.hollowtop.com/cls_html/clsimages/nhcorner.jpg

http://www.hollowtop.com/cls_html/clsimages/nhgarageandhouse.jpg

I readily admit that tilt up stone masonry has me "interested".

http://www.hollowtop.com/cls_html/clsimages/nhwallfloating.jpg

Again the intricacies of doing this by the sea have me wondering.

Tilt-Up Stone Masonry Construction (http://www.hollowtop.com/cls_html/tiltup.htm)

I guess I'm all ears for anyone with real world experience or knowledge?

I was thinking maybe a internal galv frame, insulated and gyprock lining.

Steel & Colorbond roof.

Sounds easy enough!

No idea about the costs and logistics however.

Feel free to chime in - just kicking this around the block at the moment....

[jhovel]

You might like to do some research on tilt up cast foamed concrete. Very easy to handle, glue and cut. And its brilliant insulation.

Cheers,
Joe

[Timless Timber]

Thanks Joe

Is that anything like the old ferro cement they used to build yachts out of?

I'll google it and see what I come up with.

Cheers for that!

[Mobyturns]

There was a company that was using tilt panel in residential housing in Cairns. CEC? Cairns Earthmoving Company?

[DSEL74]

My Mum's boss builds factories out of it and built his house out of it also, very nice house. He said building domestic is about 30% more than typical house build (brick veneer). I was surprised I thought it be significantly cheaper:no:

[Sam]

Never seen a tilt up house done. Sounds a bit grand design ish - will probably work but worth the effort ? Unless you're a concreter with a crane of course !
Is precast/tilt-up common in Perth ?

It's great for factories because you can cast 4-5 identical panels (stacked on top of each other) right next to where you want to stand them up, sometimes even on the slab they'll sit on. Typically in Melbourne this happens on flat green field sites with plenty of access for the crane and trucks. You may already know, but any design you want is put pattern up in the bottom of the mold. There are products specially for this.

I'm not sure you'd get enough repetition in a house to make tilt-up worth while ? Perhaps if they were small panels yes but that then defeats the purpose - which is very high walls going up fast.....unless you want to build a tall box ?

There's probably a reason it's not very common and if the system was economical the volume builders would be all over it like a rash.

Ring a precast company and ask for an estimate for the size panels you're after, then factor in cartage and crane costs.

Sam

[DaveTTC]

I have toyed around with the idea since the early 90ies and just never for to it. I have worked on a bit of tilt up over the years and spoke with someone who had experience overseas with domestic work

Thermal qualities can be achieved by laying 50mm foam and a 50mm skin if concrete over the wall below which might be 120mm. This is how it was done by this guy overseas.

Where walls join reo can stick out the end of the walls at the junction. Walls butt up neatly leaving a cavity between the joint that can be filled from the top with a slurry.

Openings present a saving as you don't need structural beams over windows and doors as you would in traditional building

One large project I worked on had 1/2 bricks on the face of the slabs. It matched existing buildings that were brick and you would not have known the difference.


Dave

The Turning Cowboy

[Timless Timber]

There's a rash of tilt panel concrete factories going up in Perth in recent years which is what got me thinking about its possible application to domestic dwellings.
I had imagined it might be cheaper being so much quicker...for double story than bricks and scaffold etc.
In such a remotre location - crane hire for any length of time could be a big killer costs wise. (Buy a used crane and sell it again after the job)?
Maybe set up a batching plant onsite for the concrete? (truck and bobcat & agitator).

Thing is (again being remote and a big land release with lots of blocks yet to be built on) putting in a crane and batch plant - probably every man and his dog would want to get work done on their slabs if nothing else - you might even pay for the plant by contracting out to pour slabs.

I'll keep doing my homework i think.

Cheers

[DTH1]

I've only just found this old thread.
Back in the early '80s, my father and I built this house using precast panels (we made them on site).
The external walls are double skin with the external face having exposed river aggregate.
All the internal walls are single thickness.
The main challenge was to ensure that ALL the plumbing was spot on - Copper piping soldered then wrapped in foam.
All plumbing and electrical conduits went up into the ceiling to be connected later.

To precast the panels, we built a table that could tilt from horizontal to vertical while carrying 1/2 ton of wall.
After pouring all the walls and having them standing in a rack in the order they would be required.
We craned them into place and welded connecting rods together that had been in pockets in the walls.
The roof was our first foray into trusses.
2 days we went from a bare slab to having the roof ready for tiles.

485249

[rod1949]

In Darwin after Cyclone Tracy in 74 there was 100's of tilt up concrete panel homes built. People we knew complained about how hot they were to live in. Layout plus very small opening widows would not have helped.