Building A Concrete House

Home construction is the process of constructing a home. Beginning with simple pre-historic shelters, home construction techniques have evolved to produce the vast multitude of living accommodations available today. Different levels of wealth and power have warranted various sizes, luxuries, and even defenses in a 'home'. Environmental considerations and cultural influences have created an immensely diverse collection of architectural styles. From castles to mud thatches, mansions to shanties, the 'home' has grown to represent a seemingly limitless array of structures.

Concrete is a construction material composed of cement (commonly Portland cement) as well as other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate (generally a coarse aggregate such as gravel, limestone, or granite, plus a fine aggregate such as sand), water, and chemical admixtures. The word concrete comes from the Latin word "concretus" (meaning compact or condensed), the past participle of "concresco", from "com-" (together) and "cresco" (to grow).

Concrete solidifies and hardens after mixing with water and placement due to a chemical process known as hydration. The water reacts with the cement, which bonds the other components together, eventually creating a stone-like material. Concrete is used to make pavements, pipe, architectural structures, foundations, motorways/roads, bridges/overpasses, parking structures, brick/block walls and footings for gates, fences and poles.

Concrete is used more than any other man-made material in the world.The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World, by Bjorn Lomborg, p 138. As of 2006, about 7.5 cubic kilometres of concrete are made each year?more than one cubic metre for every person on Earth.

Concrete powers a US $35-billion industry which employs more than two million workers in the United States alone. More than of highways in the United States are paved with this material. Reinforced concrete and prestressed concrete are the most widely used modern kinds of concrete functional extensions.

Insulating Concrete Forms (ICFs) are formwork for concrete that stays in place as permanent building insulation for energy-efficient, cast-in-place, reinforced concrete walls, floors, and roofs.

The forms are interlocking modular units that are dry-stacked (without mortar) and filled with concrete. The forms lock together somewhat like Lego bricks and serve to create a form for the structural walls or floors of a building.

Concrete is pumped into the cavity to form the structural element of the walls. Usually reinforcing steel (rebar) is added before concrete placement to give the concrete flexural strength, similar to bridges and high-rise buildings made of concrete (see Reinforced concrete). The forms are filled with concrete in 1?4 foot "lifts" to reduce the risk of blowouts like with other concrete formwork.

After the concrete has cured, or firmed up, the forms are left in place permanently for the following reasons:

* Thermal and acoustic insulation

* Space to run electrical conduit and plumbing. The foam on either side of the walls can easily accommodate electrical and plumbing installations.

* Backing for gypsum boards on the interior and stucco, brick, or other siding on the exterior