Learn how to recycle styrofoam into light weight usable bricks. Great project for co-ops, start a small business and help clean up the environment at the same time!
Some advice from a man who was a brick layer for 20 years. Add some sand, perhaps; 5 styro, 1 cement and 1 sand. This will give your bricks more strength and make the finish smoother. As has been mentioned already, a better mould (form work) will make a better job, I suggest a metal box, maybe 1.2 millimeter steel (1/8th inch American) with a base of the same material. Your big mistake is removing the bricks from the form work too soon (Far too soon) If you coat (paint) the inside of your form work with old cooking oil, then leave the bricks to dry till the next day, you can just bang them out upside down. Lastly, you will not be able to build occupation rated buildings. (ie: places where people will live or sleep) Building bricks must have by law a 2 hour fire rating. They must withstand a fire for 2 hours minimum before they disintegrate. Your bricks will not only burn quickly, they will intensify the fire and release poisonous fumes. But, garden planters, garden beds, garden borders etc, I think you have a great idea for any non fireproof building...
Makes no difference, a brick chimney (not the actual fireplace) could be surrounded by drywall or render or whatever you like, the bricks (and that's each individual brick) must sustain 2 hours of fire. (Fireplace bricks are made from a different material ie: fire clay) This construction ruling is for Australia however, so I would check with your local 'officials' if your not here in the Great Southern Land....
Toob247 - You can't safely pack your hollow walls with this ordinary white Expanded Polystyrene EPS, as insulation. Blue "Styrofoam" (brand name), Closed Cell Extruded Polystyrene XPS, is used, and it is safe and fire rated. Only in the USA and Canada do they call both of these products by the same name Styrofoam, they are totally different products. Note that one is Expanded and the other is Extruded. I see in another post that you are filling your walls with this White Polystyrene and Pour in Foam. This compromises your electrical wiring in that your wire size and current carrying capacity is designed around the assumption that the wiring is not totally enclosed. At high loads the wiring may overheat and set fire to the walls. Unless your pour in foam is sold for pouring into walls, it is also potentially unsafe to your general health. For example many of the industrial pour in foams contain toxic gases such as formaldehyde in the bubbles which slowly release over time. I suggest that you talk to your insurance company asap. In most western countries it is actually against the law to use EPS as house insulation. This video is poorly named in that it is about making bricks from Expanded Polystyrene EPS, and not Styrofoam XPS.
Agreed. We did have (25 years ago) here in Australia such 'styro' (pour-in-place) insulation but it was banned, even with added Borax it was still too 'inappropriate'. As I mentioned, such 'styro' bricks maybe ok for garden walls and such. Cheers...
“We used to have a bicycle but the kids complained, the motor doesn’t complain” love it. Im currently using a cheese grater as don’t have the know how to make that contraption. But its okay, my project is much smaller. Thoroughly enjoyed this video
moved your mixing tub at 1:15 into the catch position at the shredder. I saw you bag the fuzz, scoop the fuzz into buckets, then drop the buckets into the tub. That us a lot of work, instead of just dropping fuzz directly into the mix tub. To measure volume, do it systemically. Either weigh the foam pre chop, or Mark a line in the tub. Your volume will be uniform, and your work system reduces work activity, while producing uniform results.
One thing to consider, if you haven't already, is to build your forms using a better grade of material. If you use a smooth material, such as Melamine surfaced plywood, the forms will come off much easier and you won't get the broken corners like I saw in your video. Melamine came to mind but there are plenty of other choices. Perhaps lining your forms with plastic sheet or left over Formica sheets. By the way, I think the idea of styrofoam bricks is a good one.
Yours is a great idea that should hold up over time.I built a small post and beam shop in the woods behind my house in 1984. I used plastic packing beads, vermiculite, sand and Portland Cement as a light weight concrete to in fill the space between the timbers. This material has held up very well through all kinds of weather, rain, snow, and many freeze-thaw cycles with no signs of wear in all that time.
Bloody brilliant!!! Absolutely BRILLIANT! Clear...concise instructions! THANK YOU! Thank you & in case I didn’t say it enough...THANK YOU! Gail Plymouth uk
I was thinking to encase the styrofoam brick in a separate pure cement to have a neater, heavier, more robust brick that would hold up better to the elements and animals and such. Cool and informative indeed. Cheers.
I would guess that it would need about a 5/8" thick coating of cementitious material to give it ~1hr fire resistance, but there are a few companies out there providing concrete+styro building products that dont have any coating. bautex is one that come to mind.
Cool! It would be interesting to test the physical properties and experiment with mix ratios and additives such as fine aggregate (sand) and different kinds of natural or recycled fiber tensile reinforcement.
I am a fan of Rastra for bldg & these are like minatures. Great idea for diy's. Melamine framed molds would be slicker & flatter for more uniformity. With the rastra, you can cut to size with a saw. Glad to get formula to make them. Think I'll try making larger ones as a skirt to my trailer.
Have always wanted to make my own tow behind papercrete shredder/mixer and thought that this styro scrap material would be an excellent addition ingredient to papercrete mixes.
I love this concept for flotation. I would think you could coat a pontoon-sized section with something to keep it from disintegration in water and leaving a trail of pollution. Thanks for sharing!
During WW2 we made boats out of concrete. See "ferro-cement boats." I think it's better to have a very strong shell with hollow interior rather than a solid foam concrete, which would end up quite a bit heavier.
Few Suggestion. If there was a way to increase the size of styrofoam pieces to say 1/2" and adding of sand and more effort on mold can give good result. At the time of laying, if each brick is dipped in cement slurry with URP added, the resultant wall will be more safe for health.
some videos ago I saw a russian guy skipping the bricks part and poured the mix directly on some kind of rammed-earth molds to create directly the wall
Just wondering, what if you added a bit of sand to the mixture? I imagine it would help the cement bond better and help the brick be quite a bit stronger. Also, it may help in the form making.
These look like they'd crumble pretty easily with that much Styrofoam. It would probably help to add some chopped fiberglass strands, or even a small wire mesh insert in each block. Also, as already pointed out, cement needs some silicate material (sand) to form a strong cured material, and better molds with smooth sides would keep the blocks from getting torn up so much when you release them from the mold. I definitely like the idea of finding alternative uses for used Styrofoam though, it's one of the most wasteful items on the planet after it's served it's original purpose. Even just inserting a solid Styrofoam core inside the block might be a worthwhile experiment.
50% silica type sand can help in binding and I have used this with a 5 (Styrofoam 2cm-)-4 (vermiculite 2cm-) --1(mortar-sand lime cement) for a trowel on mortar mix thick stucco (4" or 10cm) with a 9 gauge steel galvanized 10cm square backing panel, tin backside the maximum slump level was about 18" (40cm) with an open face. It sets well in a day and cures in 3. this mic can also be used to patch holes in formed concrete that has a roughed surface. over 86*F (34*C) I would recommend a plastic cover for a day. Probably could make bricks from this also, but the cure time would be a day before removal from the form.
Great idea. I guessed wrong before watching. I figured it would be styrofoam glue made by dissolving styrofoam in gasoline and then gluing pea gravel together.
Thats actually a really good idea. Not sure how well they would stick together if your just using Portland cement powder, If I was doing this I would like to add some other binders such as sand and possibly a little bit of pea gravel. Will have to give this a try sometime.
Hi, this is amazing! So when you say 'fluff' - us it complete powdered EPS or granular? Like pellets? If I want to make light weight planters, should I add any additional fibres to strengthen the mixture? Thank you!
So many people commenting just from speculation would love to hear from people who has some knowledge on this subject, seen a couple of videos on styrofoam+cement and haven’t seen one that would melt from fire. Seems fire-resistant. Just worried about off gas but again many conventional-houses are full of harmful chemicals.
Those bricks are more or less the same as LightConcret / ThermoConcret / LigthBeton / ThermoBeton. I have thermobeton M:~ 100 kg/m3 (very light version made of coated EPS beads, water and cement. Cement is the only dry additiv) in my house between 1st and 2nd plano. I have tried to fire-test the product with a tar-roof burner. It is impossible for the dried EPS-concret to catch on fire. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-o2Dms6KpscA.html
If you contour your brick mold right, you could stack your bricks without mortar and still have some wind resistance. Making a half brick form would help. Think, LEGO bricks. How do they hold up to weight being applied to them? Have you tried forming other shapes like stock watering tanks or cisterns? Is this material suitable for that use?
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Another idea is to buy cases of toilet paper rolls on sale. Dip each roll in a concrete solution then stack them up by sliding over a vertical anchored rebar rod. You can fill the gap around the rebar by squirting in some urethane foam as you stack.
did you use it on the pond build? I am considering the same thing.....thinking of using old carpet, but this is a better solution & insulating as well. LMK if you found any issues or drawbacks. Thanks !
Since it is a lightweight material, perhaps it could be cast into larger flat panels, with some reinforcement like old fencing wire cast into it, to cast into whole wall or roof sections that can stand up and be placed into position after curing ??. Adding a layer of regular stucco to both sides should protect it from catching fire as well as give it much added strength.
So the problem is that new companies seeing this are not about to go collect waste material and replace old buildings. They go out and get raw resources and expand out on new land. The pivot and focus point and legalities of such things should be that they are made from waste and collected scrap materials and applied to old structure to upgrade.
I wonder if you might not get a better, denser, more uniform product by using a Sinva rammed earth brick press? The thought occurs that this material might make good external insulation if applied like shotcrete to the outside of a shipping container. I understand that it is very trowelable and can be made into curved shapes. How would it go in s potplant form - to make large planters? Fill large diameter PVC pontoon tubes, giving them (yeah a little extra weight) but permanent boyancy. Fishing punt, shanty boat anyone?
Once mixed, these will be pretty much impossible to separate. Will it cause problem in the future when the bricks are old or when the building needs to be remodeled?
Good idea to make a cool house, keeping out the sun heat. Is it as strong as a normal brick? If you have to buy that styrofoam beads, what is the cost compared to normal earth brick? Which is cheaper, at how much percent? Styrofoam pieces can be put on the ceiling to prevent heat from the sun.
I like where your heads at, Bravo! I am playing with air-crete as well, but if those foam bricks got even more porous, would the t. strength, or all the strength be lowered. Just my 1.5 cents, by know means a scientist, just picturing those bricks with even more spaces....but then again, perhaps adding some reinforcement, fibers, cloth, metal strips, etc. wow am I over thinking this, hahaha I attempt to make some art/sculptures/yard art, so strength is not as important, let alone fireproofing. Some pieces should be torched, hahaha
BeReal Relentless I just but a manual pump for Aircrete but I'm wondering if you add the foam to the eps mix it would increase the fluidity of it so you could then pump the eps mix. Make oversized molds to compensate for the foam and as the foam bubbles break down with a weight on top you could compact the to a final density.
@@HergerTheJoyous & BeReal Relentless~ I am interested in air crete & this method for an insulated pool/pond base. What have your guys thoughts on air crete been so far? I am in the pacific northwest & worried about rain/mold. Also wondering about using it underground for bunker/structural support. Do you guys still use your air crete generator? I may be interested in buying it if you are open to selling it, or building one that you found worked well.
@@joeywantstoplay I sell two types through my store at Etsy one powered with a pump and an air compressor and one that uses just the air compressor. There are only three stores on Etsy including mine. I'm the least expensive one. As for an underground structure I think you would need to do alot of excavation. You could build a dome structure underground but it would be necessary to seal it to prevent water from getting in. But I do have to say it sounds like a cool idea!
is that the name of your etsy shop? littlepig? Thank you for your thoughtful & prompt reply! I sure appreciate it greatly! I'm thinking of using pond liner on top of the aircrete as a water barrier/seal before I back-fill the soil on top of the hobbit hole. Thank you. Where are you located if I may ask? @@HergerTheJoyous
It looks to me like this would be a good base layer under a concrete floor. Just pour the floor and skip the brick making part and then give it a top dressing later with standard cement. I have a lot of styrofoam around though so this looks like a good project to me
Ground corn cobs are sometimes used in concrete to lighten it or make it more soundproof. We used to pour a 1 1/2 inch floor of concrete/corn cob mix between floors on multi story buildings.
Seems like a really odd and inefficient method; Why not use perlite instead? Also, is there a chance that this was done in some place like Nebraska that's had tons of cornfields?
It is really quite easy. We used a double lower plate framing the second story walls, and filled and troweled the floor smooth, and even with the top of the first (lower) 2 x 4 plate, for a 1 1/2 inch soundproof concrete layer on top of the normal subfloor. The ground corn cob came in large bags, and we mixed it into the concrete in the hopper of the concrete pump. Ground corn cob is very cheap and is readily available. It is used as animal bedding in laboratories. It was done in Tampa, Florida, and mainly for soundproofing.
I have probably 40-50 cubic yards of Polyurethane foam sheets that are 1.75" thick. Do you believe I could use these to make bricks like this? I get it all free from my work and im on 6.5 acres of land so I neatly stack and store it for something someday
I have been looking for an idea as this to mix up and cover my patio! The cracks are causing the slabs to be uneven and are sinking in areas, I have to avoid the rain to get in any more cracks and wash out our patio! I think this will coat our patio and fill in the uneven areas, right?
any idea how this handles freezing and thawing? have seen people making aircrete with home made foam machines, but this is nice because it uses stuff that otherwise either goes to the landfill or recycling... reuse is better than recycle!
thomas mann... technically 'reuse' means keeping the item as is and repurposing it with no energy required... recycling assumes it will be broken down into components and put back together. like punching holes in a glass bottle lid and using it for self watering a plant is different from sending the glass to a recycling depot where it will be crushed, melted and reformed into new glass items.
interesting... so not good for my climate - thanks, now i can take the huge pile of white stryrofoam i've been keeping to the recycling depot! will stick with the aircrete - it works well in freezing weather etc...
