The dock of a historic mansion in Sarasota, Fla., needed concrete, rebar, and marble repair.
Our cat frequently urinated on our basement concrete floor, which now has a strong urine smell. I’m in the process of getting the house ready for sale and have tried everything I can think of to remov
More than 7000 square feet of floors were stained and sealed.
This project includes a stamped concrete patio, water bubbler, and more.
Keeping water drained away from home foundations is important for three reasons.
A new house in Sun Valley, Idaho, features decorative concrete throughout.
For commercial construction it's hard to beat the cost, quality, and versatility of tilt-up construction. Now, tilt-up contractors and designers are teaming up to produce unique residential structures.
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With their excellent performance, relative ease of construction, and economy, post-tensioned residential foundations are becoming a more...
Common mistakes in concrete floor slab construction can be avoided with proper base preparation, mix design, placement, finishing, and...
The Portland Cement Association (PCA), Skokie, Ill., recently partnered with Habitat for Humanity of Lake County, Ill., to help construct an insulating concrete form (ICF) home, one of two homes built side-by-side on 11th Street in Waukegan, Ill. More than 40 PCA staff members participated in...
Building a home that makes as much energy as it consumes requires extreme attention to detail and a willingness to do everything possible to minimize the building's power requirements for heating, cooling, hot water, and lighting. But some things just make more sense than others.
Some people get so excited at the prospect of building homes out of concrete that they don't realize that there are several different ways to do it. These require different contractors and have different advantages and costs. To be rational, what the proj
A comprehensive waterproofing system revived this 100-year-old abandoned cotton mill.
The luxurious four-story, 8800-square-foot house billed as the 2009 New American Home featured an ICF system and used 1000 cu. yds. of...
Two single-family homes recently built in Yellowstone National Park achieved LEED certification partly by using insulating concrete forms...
Danny Epp and his two sons, Ryan and Brandon, recently formed and poured the footings for their new home in Tsawwassen, B.C., Canada, using...
The Insul-form Building System, developed in Canada, is an insulating concrete form system made up of large expanded-polystyrene panels...
Designed for easy maneuverability, the Mud Dog 650 hydro excavator features a 6 1/2-cu.-yd. debris dump body and is ideal for digging in...
Graylastic formliners provide maximum design latitude for precast or cast-in-place applications.
Elastomeric/urethane formliners add beauty and elegance to cast-in-place walls.
The Portland Cement Association (PCA), Skokie, Ill., recently partnered with Habitat for Humanity of Lake County, Ill., to help construct...
Building a home that makes as much energy as it consumes requires extreme attention to detail and a willingness to do everything possible...
Although most of the recent media coverage is focused on the negative trends in the housing market, there is one residential industry segment that the long-term economic outlook favors: concrete.
As the final days of 2007 wind down and you begin to plan your 2008 calendar, make sure your New Year's resolutions include becoming more involved with the Concrete Home Building Council (CHBC).
Until recently, concrete was either taken for granted or largely ignored for many residential uses.Many people had the incorrect perception that a concrete home would look like a rectangular, gray bomb shelter.
Recommendations and code requirements regarding backfill of newly poured basements are one of the most ignored aspects of foundation construction. The International Residential Code, ACI 332 Standard, and the CFA Standard all state that foundation walls must be supported at the top and bottom...
Mix design is based on knowledge of the materials, experience, and testing. If job conditions are different from lab conditions, the trials should extend to the field to replicate job conditions.
Today's concrete foundation contractors are well equipped to offer a variety of insulation options to suit the builder, homeowner, site conditions, or any other variable that may place limits on the construction of the home.
Landscaping is no longer the traditional focus on plantings, turf, and irrigation. Clients are now demanding sophisticated hardscapes that encompass many factions of the concrete industry. This can range from water features constructed with either shotcrete or concrete, concrete pavers, cast...
A simple concept such as cutting a line into concrete with diamond blades and reciprocating impactors produces attractive geometric and complex curvilinear forms.
With computer-dispensed color accuracy can be gained across doses, a large array of colors now is available, and a streamlined process helps ready-mix producers and supply houses offer a quality product.
When brick veneer is used as an exterior finish for an insulating concrete form (ICF) home, a cavity wall is recommended to manage moisture penetration.
Removable concrete forms can create a vertical concrete retaining wall with almost any shape desired. Large walls and special situations require design by a professional engineer. The typical installation procedure for a simple retaining wall less than 4 feet tall on good soil is described in this...
The most common window installation combines a window buck for the rough opening and a face-mounted flanged window.
Basements are a valuable part of any new home, with benefits far outweighing the costs. About half of all new homes in North America are built with basements, and the rest could be. Concrete is the material of choice for basement construction, with 98% of North American basements built of one of...
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005 H.R.6) created tax incentives for energy-efficiency measures in buildings or systems placed in service from Jan. 1, 2006 through Dec. 31, 2008.
Concrete masonry provides a home with superior comfort, solidity, durability, resistance to natural disasters, quietness, and energy efficiency.
The CFA provides promotional materials, educational seminars, networking, newsletters, and technical meetings to its members.
ICFA provides resources on ICFs, including technology briefs, FAQs, education and training, and more in its technical library.
NAHB helps promote the policies that make housing a national priority. Learn more by joining NAHB’s Concrete Home Building Council.
The PCA offers resources for concrete contractors building concrete homes, including technology briefs, home plans, show homes, and more.
