Concrete House?

[kirbyhater]

Does anyone know the pro's and con's of a concrete house?

[Pumapayam]

Does anyone know the pro's and con's of a concrete house?

I would assume the obvious con would be cost to build, I have never heard of such a thing.

Pros would be the lack of termites and awesome insulation.

[rps324]

Ben Koush, the President of Houston Mod, has a concrete house over near Idylwood. There was a builder that did several of them. The walls and ceilings are all concrete. I know when they did central air they had to do the industrial/loft look with the exposed ductwork. Moving elec plugs was pretty near impossible.

The same builder did one on Merry Street in Idylwood, and I believe there is one on 43rd in Garden Oaks. His house is in that Atomic Ranch hardcover book, and in 002 magazine

[kirbyhater]

Well, a friend of mine built one off of 610 and shepherd. It did cost quite a lot!! I was wondering if it would be worth the extra money to build this rather than a crappy tract home in a neighborhood were every other house is identical.

The house is very nice. There is no carpet on the first floor and there is a nice echo. No termites would be nice! But the restriction of eventually adding on to the house is an issue.....

Any thoughts on long term problems?

Ben Koush, the President of Houston Mod, has a concrete house over near Idylwood. There was a builder that did several of them. The walls and ceilings are all concrete. I know when they did central air they had to do the industrial/loft look with the exposed ductwork. Moving elec plugs was pretty near impossible.

The same builder did one on Merry Street in Idylwood, and I believe there is one on 43rd in Garden Oaks. His house is in that Atomic Ranch hardcover book, and in 002 magazine

WOW!!! Thanks for the info!!!

[TheNiche]

Concrete houses are also particularly good options for people along the coast or adjacent to floodways.

Costs can be greatly controlled by building several at a time. I've heard that once you're building three or more at once, there are enough economies of scale to make concrete somewhat more competitive with traditional sticks and bricks.

[kirbyhater]

Concrete houses are also particularly good options for people along the coast or adjacent to floodways.

Costs can be greatly controlled by building several at a time. I've heard that once you're building three or more at once, there are enough economies of scale to make concrete somewhat more competitive with traditional sticks and bricks.

Good stuff!!! We are thinking of doing a few and then moving in to one and selling the rest. Any ideas on how well a concrete house would sell in Houston?

[musicman]

Ben Koush, the President of Houston Mod, has a concrete house over near Idylwood. There was a builder that did several of them. The walls and ceilings are all concrete. I know when they did central air they had to do the industrial/loft look with the exposed ductwork. Moving elec plugs was pretty near impossible.

The same builder did one on Merry Street in Idylwood, and I believe there is one on 43rd in Garden Oaks. His house is in that Atomic Ranch hardcover book, and in 002 magazine

I go by the houston country club house frequently while biking and always wondered what the plaque near the front door said....now i know.

This looks like concrete block, not concrete. Down the street from me there are 5 homes made of block as well built by CE King. The windows literally slide into the walls to open them. I believe the owners told me there were an "inside" and "outside" layer of blocks and they had to put in insulation from above because the walls were so solid. Not sure about the insulation values of concrete, but i know she said that the insulation project was necessary at their home.

Edited December 6, 2006 by musicman

[kirbyhater]

I go by the houston country club house frequently while biking and always wondered what the plaque near the front door said....now i know.

This looks like concrete block, not concrete. Down the street from me there are 5 homes made of block as well built by CE King. The windows literally slide into the walls to open them. I believe the owners told me there were an "inside" and "outside" layer of blocks and they had to put in insulation from above because the walls were so solid. Not sure about the insulation values of concrete, but i know she said that the insulation project was necessary at their home.

I spoke with my friend and he said that actual poured concrete was used. I will get the details and let you know....

[sevfiv]

i used to live in a place where i was told the walls were concrete. i didn't believe them until i tried to hang pictures

Edited December 6, 2006 by sevfiv

[musicman]

I spoke with my friend and he said that actual poured concrete was used. I will get the details and let you know....

yeah..now that i re-read the article...looks like they put concrete tile on the poured concrete to give it a concrete block look.

[dbigtex56]

If the (arguably) greatest inventor of all time offers to build a concrete house for you, don't let him!

Here's an amusing article about Thomas Edison's ill-fated experiments in concrete.

[TheNiche]

Good stuff!!! We are thinking of doing a few and then moving in to one and selling the rest. Any ideas on how well a concrete house would sell in Houston?

Its a niche market that is hard (to my knowledge) to gauge. I'm sure that you'd be well-received in the greater Clear Lake area or in Galveston, and it may even reduce insurance requirements/costs out there. Come to think of it, those kinds of homes would be more fire resistant and generally less disaster-prone, so even in town, you might be able to get lower insurance rates.

I think that there are a couple of organizations out there that promote concrete home construction. You might try Googling for them.

[sevfiv]

If the (arguably) greatest inventor of all time offers to build a concrete house for you, don't let him!

Here's an amusing article about Thomas Edison's ill-fated experiments in concrete.

Incredibly, despite such spectacular failures, the Edison Portland Cement Company remained in business. It lost millions of dollars, went bankrupt twice, and published a book with the unlikely title The Romance of Cement. A few years after its founder's death in 1931, the company closed for good. The ill-starred rolling machinery was shipped off to a nitrate mine in Chile. All that remained of Thomas Edison's malformed brainchild were a few yellowing patent claims -- and Dolores Chumsky's leaky house.

i wish i knew the specs of the house i lived in. it was terribly inefficient, though, and leaked, too

on another note, here is something from "houses of the future - the concrete house"

http://www.housesofthefuture.com.au/hof_houses02.html

Ben Koush, the President of Houston Mod, has a concrete house over near Idylwood. 002 magazine

his house is incredibly neat!

Edited December 6, 2006 by sevfiv

[jscarbor]

I had a friend that built a town house with the insulated concrete walls and he didn't get anymore for his house than a regular house?

[dalparadise]

Concrete houses are about to become much more popular in Houston and throughout the Southwest, to California.

Insulated Concrete Forms will soon be a reasonable alternative to other construction methods in custom homes costing over $500,000 here. Eventually, the benefits will cause the building method to trickle down into mid-level builders' homes, too.

Stay tuned...you'll be hearing plenty about ICF residential construction soon.