I've been thinking about ferrocement hexayurts and I have some ideas to share:
1. There are many materials that will stick directly to foam board without any mesh having to be attached to the board, so this would be cement hexayurt, not ferrocement, since there is no metal mesh used. One is called Grancrete (below), but it is expensive and there are many other options but I don't know what they are specifically. I have a source I can ask and they may tell me (CFL, below). I've tried to get some testing done with them but I haven't found any funds for that yet. 2. Cement, with some mesh reinforcement, can fill the triangular open space on the outside between two panels that is formed when boards are not beveled. Thus the "void" becomes a strong structural element able to support a heavier vertical load. 3. Besides being hand troweled onto the surface, there exists some sort of hand pump sprayer for the concrete mix that fits on a 5-gallon bucket. I found this out somewhere on the Grancrete site: httpL://grancrete.net Note: I followed the Grancrete trail to where they did their initial testing at the North Carolina State University Constructed Facilities Lab: http://www.ce.ncsu.edu/centers/cfl I tried to arrange funding for testing from the US Dept. of Defense via the Star-Tides program ( http://star-tides.net ) but so far I've gotten nowhere. If anyone has any other funding sources or ideas then the CFL would do testing on various methods. We may not need any official/certified testing, we can find best practices and materials ourselves and just do it. The Roman Empire used some pretty good cement and their work is still standing, so a 100-year cement hexayurt seems very possible to build. - ginn On Sun, Jan 13, 2013 at 4:46 AM, Vinay Gupta (Hexayurt Shelter Project) <hexay...@gmail.com> wrote: > Agree 100% on ferrocement, we've just gotta try it, maybe start on half > scale models. > > V> > > On 13 Jan 2013 02:26, "Jack Senechal" <jacksenec...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> Thermax HD sounds much stronger than Rmax. The aluminum on Rmax is more >> like household grade foil... not tough at all. >> >> I'd love to see some examples of ferrocement on hexayurts. I think it's a >> genius way to permanentize a disaster relief hexayurt. The materials exist >> pretty much everywhere. >> >> On Jan 12, 2013 10:52 AM, "Vinay Gupta (Hexayurt Shelter Project)" >> <hexay...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>> This sounds pretty sane. I can't speak for the precise difference in >>> materials - I'd need to see the stuff hands-on to know for sure. But the >>> general approach sounds fine. >>> >>> Thermax HD is an *amazing* material, and I can't recommend highly enough >>> that we figure out the supply chain issues and start building hexayurts this >>> way, vs. using the softer and less long-lived materials. >>> >>> From the spec, it looks like the Rmax board is pretty much the same, >>> although I can't figure out what's on the *other* side from the heavy >>> aluminium facer. It may be aluminium both sides, or aluminium on one side >>> and plastic on the other. It'd be worth figuring that out. >>> >>> But, yes, I think you'll be very happy in your hexayurt, and it sounds >>> like you've thought this through very well indeed. Good luck, and please >>> post pictures! >>> >>> Vinay >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "hexayurt" group. >>> To post to this group, send email to hexayurt@googlegroups.com. >>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>> hexayurt+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> For more options, visit this group at >>> http://groups.google.com/group/hexayurt?hl=en. >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "hexayurt" group. >> To post to this group, send email to hexayurt@googlegroups.com. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> hexayurt+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/hexayurt?hl=en. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "hexayurt" group. > To post to this group, send email to hexayurt@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > hexayurt+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/hexayurt?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hexayurt" group. To post to this group, send email to hexayurt@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to hexayurt+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/hexayurt?hl=en.
