Lightweight Autoclave Concrete Homes Any Good?

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Any experience with homes built using light weight autoclave concrete? It's an aerated concrete building product. Wall panels are typically eight inches thick. The exterior gets an add'l application of decorative regular concrete usually about an inch thick. So the ext walls you basically have 9 inches total counting the one inch of regular concrete veneer.

http://www.cement.org/cement-concrete-ap...erated-concrete

I've read the basics on it, just wondering if anyone here has had any first hand experience with a house made from it. Seems decent except for seismic events.

There is a house for sale here built in 2001 by a very reputable local builder specializing in custom homes (doesn't do spec houses) that I like. Fiancee' doesn't like the location real great but maybe she might change her mind. The house is priced under market because the county assessor and the realtors all think it's a stucco house. The realtor could not even tell me the builder, I went to the county building inspector's office and looked it up to discover the builder, contacted him, and found out it's not stucco, he built it using the above referenced concrete product.

It's a golf course property, and that's the main sticking point with the Fiancee'. Back yard butts up to the 14th hole on the Course.



https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/914-Benbridge-Ln-Evansville-IN-47725/97343169_zpid/
 
Golf course homes usually command a premium...guy I worked with for many years bought one because he golfed a lot, but he told me that people were constantly trying to play their balls from his backyard. Think they are supposed to take an out of bounds penalty and a drop back on the course, but I could see a good chunk of the population around here just taking a divot in somebody's yard and not replacing it...
Our condo is of concrete construction, but I'm not sure if it's of the same type as the home you're looking at. You'd think the sound insulation would be great, but we still hear plenty of stomping and music from upstairs. One downside is that the walls and ceiling are never quite square, especially noticeable in our kitchen. We have a ton of windows and lose a lot of the heat insulation value of the concrete due to them.
 
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I don't live in a concrete house so the only advice I can give is if you buy a house like this be prepared to live in it a long time as my experience looking for houses is that anything out of the ordinary is hard to sell at a reasonable price.

Found a house in my area that was pretty much all concrete built into a hill. It wasn't the basement that was built into the hill, but the main floor. I forgot what the bank appraisers classified it as but essentially the local banks wouldn't loan money on it.
 
The middle to late 90s when I was living in Pensacola fl area, they were building them with concrete walls...it would cut the air conditioning in half,, ex-normal house that would require saying a 4ton unit, we would install a 2.5 ton unit and it did well....concrete walls make the house a chest freezer so to speak...I don't know if they are still doing that now...
 
Thanks, I just bought it
smile.gif

That's pocket change if in a good area!!!
 
Originally Posted By: AirgunSavant
Thanks, I just bought it
smile.gif

That's pocket change if in a good area!!!


LoL. Just curious about it, you know what they say, if mama isn't happy no one is happy... so unless and until she comes around on it, likely won't be happening. I'm working on that. Still I'm intrigued with it though.

Housing here is cheap compared to some other regions, but it evens out because wages and salaries tend to be lower as well.
 
I have a secret for you LoneRanger

Back in 2015 my fiancée didn't like my house choices either.
Said they were too big. Reason being she didn't want to do any work.
I fixed that for her. I had a heart attack and that got rid of her.........

So buy what you want because you may pay double for it in the end and you may be the only one living in it.......
Good Luck
wink.gif
 
Just for thought;

Location is everything according to real estate experts. Locations within golf courses are considered premium. If this is a well developed golf course and kept up to expectations then I would consider it. Even if you don’t golf the idea of looking out and seeing green grass and landscape is appealing.

There may be some extra costs involved like thicker glass or safety glass for windows vulnerable to stray shots.

As for the concrete idea, it sounds good. It all comes down to $ per sq. foot to build so that might be your way to compare this versus stick built. If you are in tornado country then the concrete makes sense.

Check with your insurance if this type of construction will benefit you or not.
 
http://www.cambridgegc.com/

Tornado country for sure. Had one in the area about 60 miles south of us in Kentucky just two weeks ago. But we have temblors too. Had one about a 4 or 5 on the scale (I think) in the early 2000's maybe 2004. Would have been after this concrete house was built and it's still standing. The New Madrid Fault line is the big concern here, as a major quake from it would hit us hard if it ever cuts loose with gusto.
 
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