who makes styrene blocks

[durwood]

Does anyboby know who the company is that makes a styrene block system for building walls of houses. They are an Australian company.

I saw a large house being built on Bribie Isaland a few years ago using this method.

They are blocks which lock together and then concrete is poured into the hollow center. This system would be ideal for me to build a small weekender in the country as it would not only be easy to quickly construct the main walls but have excelent insulating properties and be easy to clad and line with wallboard.

[Tools]

www.eco-blockaustralia.com.au

[echnidna]

Hebel

[myla]

hello,

one company is "Rmax", located in Kensington, VIC from memory

most polystyrene manufacturers will know/have a block to suit

basically acting as formwork for the concrete

just watch the rendering over this stuff, extremely important to get rendering/coating over any polystyrene product right otherwise get many cracks

you are best to get it coated as soon as possible as raw styrene will slowly go yellow and form a brittle skin, at least a preliminary coat of render

thankyou
myla

[durwood]

thanks guys, thats got me off and running.

[kkperth]

I looked into this type of building system a while ago and found a WA based company importing the same type of system as Ecoblock but cheaper as the panels are made in China see them at www.formcraft.com.au . A great system and one I would use, at least for the perimeter walls if I was building.

[yvonneh]

Hi,

Zego seem popular www.zego.com.au and I have searched before and came up with http://www.insulbrick.com.au/ as well.

Try searching for "ICF" (insulated concrete forms)

Hope that helps!

Regards,
Yvonne

[Darrent]

I am building (external walls of a new home) with an ICF product, but my private certifier will not approve it. I disagree with him, but he claims that the product doesnt comply with the building code. All the professional advice I have received clearly suggests that they do meet the BCA - as they are only formwork. However he will not approve it and we are now forced to consider brick veneer - we are very frustrated as this seems a backward step (relative to the benefits of ICF.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. By law we can not change certifier without State Ministerial approval (and months of delay (and cost)).

Has anyone built with an ICF product that was approved by a certifier that may be able to talk with my certifier?

Thanks

[masoth]

Does your local government body (council) not have a Building Surveyor, or the equivalent? Access the state building code on-line for yourself, or ask your council for access - if specific information is not included then an application rider to your building permit application will gain for you a positive result.
We should all remember experts are often "drips under pressure" and are not almighty - they do make errors.

soth

[Tools]

Speak with the company that is going to supply the polystyrene to you.They would have something to support their use,unless they are a new company and you are their furst customer !

Tools

[myla]

hello,

i suggest you also examine the Building Code of Aus and specifically ask why you cannot use this wall system

i find many certifiers are enforcing owner/builders to brick veneer for some reason (i think water damage)

they love weep holes, flashing, timber frames etc

keep in mind that any solid wall construction must be coated with an acrylic paint system and have an extremely good damp proof solution

they should also have a seperate engineering document (form 13) for things like slenderness ratio's, wall thickness, wind loading, lintels etc based on your specific project

a cavity brick or solid brick wall would also require this certificate

thankyou
myla

[Tools]

Form 13 doesn't exist anymore...same deal but it is called something else now that escapes me.

Tools

[Darrent]

Thanks for your all your comments. I will try the council Monday.

I forgot to include originally that I have reviewed the BCA, sought opinions from a number of sources including Planning SA (Govt Dept), the Master Builders Association, Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia and the ICF manufacturer. They are all surprised that my application is not being approved owing to ICF.
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They all advise that ICF products meet the requirements of the relevant Australian Standards and BCA requirements AND are in quite wide use in Australia.<o></o>

The certifier has all the manufacturers technical specs, but seems to believe that ICF is a composite construction that is not covered in the BCA. He has not been able to clearly articulate any other objections - but he is a bit vague.

Based on the manufacturers information I have advised him in writing that ...
ICF construction is not composite construction as the structural integrity of the wall system comes entirely from the concrete and reinforcement as specified by the design engineer. The only difference between an ICF concrete wall and a conventionally formed concrete wall is in the forming technique, the permanent insulation and the fact that they can also provide better quality concrete in warmer climates. The EPS panels do not play any part in the structural elements of the building. The foam could be removed after the concrete has cured (but the is not the intent).

But he seems to believe the only way he can approve it is if I have CSIRO testing and acceptance.

Another problem is he wont contact any of the technical bodies above that may assist - he advises that it is his job to assess what I provide to him (i.e. it seems he doesnt want to call others). And, those bodies say it is not there role to lobby private certifiers for an individual building application (I can accept this more than I can accept the certifiers views).

Hopefully the council assist, but I am not holding out much hope. Any further comments would be greatly appreciated. Note we have built brick veneer before without any problems.

Thanks

Darren

[myla]

hello,

do you have specific engineering for your project or are you using generic figures from the ICF supplier

dealt a lot with Hebel and this was a continual problem where people would use info out of tech manuals, but not have specific details for thier own projects

some certifiers would accept some wouldnt

thankyou
myla

[Darrent]

The engineering is by my engineer, not from tables provided by the ICF manufacturer - but the resulting design is the same anyway in this case. I think my engineer is surprised by the certifiers stance, but he is not saying much as he referred me to the certifier in the first place.

Darren