I’ve been watching your channel for several yrs now and I’ve finally have EVERYTHING (shredder, foam gun, etc etc) but the FORMULA. Would you please share? I promise to pay when I build something and make $$. Thanks 🙏
i did this same thing 17 years ago.. i found that using Styrofoam that was broke down by sanding .that the mix will be stronger because the gloss on the balls of Styrofoam is broken and sticks together far better ..
@@AbundanceBuild you will find the mix is easy to mix and sticks together better and makes it stronger without the glossy coating on the none sanded method
How do you handle updraft? The styro-aircrete is superb in compression, but how about tension? How do you anchor something to it that will stay held down?
Very generous of you to share the results of your experiments and final conclusions! I certainly appreciate the value of all the hard work you've done! Thank you so much. Looking forward
Steve; I would buy your technology to build an affordable home. Some manufacturers produce styrocrete like a Perfect Block but their prices as far away from cheap - actually more expensive than full concrete block construction; I asked them why their product is so expensive for the little binding cement they use and supposedly free styrofoam and they have answered premium product costs premium price
Fantastic job! I'm sure I speak for many others when I say thank you for such a detailed and informative video. Good luck and best wishes to you and your family in your new home!
Thank you for the detailed overview. Looking forward to experimenting with this stuff. There are relatively cheap compressor driven stucco guns that might make the skim coat and the stucco coat go on quicker. One question - as I have done a lot of work with mixing my own concrete from base materials, I have learned that the order you add things in is very important to 1) how quickly the mix stirs up and 2) how well mixed the final product is. The order of when the cement and water go in in relation to aggregates is especially critical. My experience of adding water directly after adding the cement is that the cement will form lumps that are difficult to get mixed out. Was this really the best order of adding materials that you found?
That's a good idea! If you see the workshop in our videos, it is multistory with no framing. We do recommend you add more support like columns, but it goes to show how strong the compressive strength of the styrofoam is and how strong the fiberglass mesh is!
Stephen you are a superstar in your presentations, you are a great instructor and instill confidence in those who may be pursuing this revolutionary idea. Thanks Stephen
Thanks Red & April. I got lax with my screws and clamps. If that had been aircrete I probably would have had to throw it away. I was able to throw it all back into the wall.
Hi Stephen, Thank you for all the great content! Do you plan on trying to build with just regular concrete (no foam) and styrofoam mix? The foam maker seems really difficult to build and troubleshoot.
I think this mix might be a good process for building using the inflatable bag/rebar process to eliminate the possibility of chunks of heavy concrete dislodging in earthquake-prone areas of the world.
@@joel6427 Yes it would be compatible with that method. We have our own new building method that accomplishes the same resistance at a lower cost - check it out at abundancebuild.com!
Coz yes an engineer is needed for this. I am in the county and we have no building inspections so not an issue for me. After I build the garden shed with wood trusses I want to talk to engineers.
I'm acutely interested to see how the building/s you put up in this manner hold up. I watched your video about using fiber lath reinforcement on a styro-aircrete garage and found it quite interesting. I've seen a lot of videos and done as much reading as I can on aircrete and the main takeaway I have is that if you're a mason building with aircrete blocks there's clear guidelines on how to do it, but otherwise it's kind of a wild west. I've also never seen anything that would suggest mixing styrofoam in does anything for the strength. If it can be safely incorporated into buildings it would be pretty fantastic but I keep coming back to that strength concern.
The woodworking tools and paddle mixer are the biggest cost but we are building cheaper alternatives to make the entry level cost lower! Subscribe to be notified!
I did the workshop with Domegaia for building domes with aircrete, and their foam generator is great. The trick according with their recipe is that you have to weigh the foam until it has the right weight and once you do you set at that number and the foam generator will produce a consistent thickness of the foam. But I do have to say the bricks we were making from the mixes didn't always come out great and oftentimes was dependent on the weather where we were. On a couple of wet cold days it was not great. This technique looks promising and would need to make bricks to build the domes from.this mix instead of regular aircrete. They also used a reinforcing fiber sheet you are using.
Some on our team also completed Domegaia training. We actually now have a new recipe of styrocrete that doesnt require the tricky foam generator! New builds coming soon - stay tuned!
There is so much information in this video. Ive been a carpenter and mason for forty years and this is inspiring. I can't get past-Why the foam? In cordwood construction (Rob Roy wrote several books) they use sawdust in the mortar to get to coefficient of expansion and contraction similar to the soft wood log lengths. I wonder if wood shavings or sawdust or even polysorb could be substituted for the foam? I feel like the foam is the technological sticking point that makes this beyond the reach of a lot of people. Most of those bubbles must pop any way. Shredded leaves or straw? There must be a low tech substitute for the foam. I love Portland cement. It is so versatile.
Raw, uncoated aircrete is very brittle, and does crumble easily, but that's why you coat it with the fabric mesh and a layer of stucco, which acts as a very tough shell on either side of the aircrete or styrocrete. Good question about freezing though. I imagine that most, if not all, of the water becomes chemically bonded with the cement, in which case styrocrete wouldn't have any more issues with freezing than a concrete slab would, but it does seem possible that the EPS beads might retain some of the moisture, which would then expand if frozen. So I'm curious if anyone has tested this.
Cost on this wall: $6 for 35 gallons 7.48 gallons in 1 cu ft. 35 gallons/7.5 = $1.29 per cu. ft. If you do a 6" thick wall then you have 2 sq ft of wall space for each cubit ft of material. Example: 30'x40' structure with 8' walls (Not subtracting for windows or doors) = 140 linear feet of wall x 8' = 1120 sq ft of wall 1120 sq ft of wall/2 (coverage of 1 cu ft) = 560 cu ft 560 cu ft = (4200 gallons or 120 batches at 35 gallons per batch) 560 x $1.29 = $722.40 in material costs to build a 30x40 8' wall. You will have voids from windows/doors that don't need any material. So, Just figure out your square footage of total walls and then divide by two and multiply by $1.30. Now, the equipment, labor, panels, rebar, mesh, adhesive, stucco, etc. has to be added to the cost, but if you were to calculate studs, insulation, sheathing, house flashing and siding, I think you would still come out on top, but it would be more difficult to wire, plumb, etc. For a shed or studio this is a great idea, especially as an alternative building method. More research should be put into this method so I hope others are paying attention. I subscribed and appreciate the detailed info on everything.
I don't know after looking at all that's involved in making this system work I'm just thinking get down with your two by fours throw up your walls and you're done pretty simple if you need insulation you got to add insulation but it just seems a lot less involved at first it seemed like a good situation but it sure is labor-intensive with all that foam and cement I don't know
@@arlenmargolin4868 Yes, this would be for someone who wants to build a lot of walls like this. If you're just building a shed then the learning curve, and time to set up the equipment, wouldn't be worth it. Still, if this idea became more mainstream then some of the jerry-rigging could be done away with in favor of more stable means of construction.
@@arlenmargolin4868 still stick built is not in the same league as using concrete type blocks. You can build a monolithic structure (entire structure framing is one structure stronger than rock).
I’ve been following you for a while and want to build with styro cement in Puerto Rico. I’m am putting together a workshop for a build in December 2024 and have some questions. I don’t twitter, so what is the best way to get in touch with you?
I'm very inspired by your video and research of the engineering. But what about the shredded Styrofoam /styrene exposure and off-gassing hazards from within the wall? Can it still off-gass through the interior?
Thank you! Styrofoam is not a significant off-gasser being 98% air; it is considered safe enough for food and drink packaging. When locked behind the stucco finish there is virtually zero off- gassing
Styrocrete cannot be sprayed. But we did make an online class to cover our best research and step by step guide to building with it at the lowest cost! Check it out at abundancebuild.com
Hiya. Can you refer me to any structural engineering analysis of styrocrete please? I am keen to get my engineer to look at this product for my next build. Thanks 😊
We haven't done any official testing because of the high prices. Fortunately, all of the ingredients have precedent in building applications already so they should be able to calculate from that
I heard that styrofoam off gasses endochrine system disruptors and styrocrete structures should not be used for human habitation. Do you know anything about this or is this just a myth?
Styrofoam is 98% air and not a significant off gasser; when you coat the beads in cement and then lock it behind stucco there is virtually zero exposure. Modern homes use all types of foam insulation open air with no concern - what we do is even better since it is cement coated and shielded.
What is the ratio in volium you mex concrete and styrofoam. eg: 60 % concrete and 40% styrofoam? and the concrete has a ratio of 1:2 or 1:3 (cement:sand) thank you this is a great idea, I´m from El Salvador
You can make a device fairly cheap for checking the compressive strength of your mix. All you need is a hydraulic jack, a hydraulic gauge, and a little bit of math.
Thanks for the tip! Yes we could do that soon! The performance is incredible but what we need are official tests to get certified as a new building material and that costs a few hundred thousand dollars to complete
I'm interested in constructing a home using styrocrete walls, similar to how you built your workshop. I reside in Utah; what steps should I take to ensure compliance with local building codes?
Agreed! Checkout our new Online Class we priced out every material for a 384 sq ft build at $2000 and $8700 with finishes! abundance.build/classes/ you can use coupon code RU-vid for $400 off!
Styrocrete is cool but did you try or consider hempcrete? Maybe getting enough hemp stalks would be a problem, which is a terrible shame. A lot of stalks are thrown away because they grew "cannabis" instead of hemp, so they must be destroyed. Hopefully laws will change so we can use the thrown away parts for building.
In the online course we show you all the mixer options that can do the job and even how to build your own mixer for cheap! You don't need the $4K mixer
All you have to do to answer the question of why you are building this kind of house is to show the PRICE DIFFERENCE. Everyone knows it is expensive to build a standard house. How is your idea cheaper and better? Put it in outline form at and post it at the beginning.
Your heart's the the right place, but this just made me cringe. I assume you are doing this on farmland and can basically build what you want.. The chances of this being used to build anything that has to comply to a code is practically zero I don't use imperial measurements so I could not quite follow your structural comparison, but cube compressive strength is not the sole criteria for the loadbearing capacity of a wall. Plus there is the flexural strength issue and its' ability to resist wind load - concrete is notoriously weak under tension, which is why it is reinforced
Our building method is reinforced through the fiberglass mesh shell that is extremely strong. All of the elements of the build process have been code approved just not in this format - we have reason to believe it would pass the testing if we can fund the tests! Subscribe for new builds coming soon!
We removed the foam generator from our new mix! Use just styrocrete now and always finish with a solid stucco coat to prevent rodents from getting through. Subscribe to be notified of our new recipe videos coming soon!
The Styrofoam is free and we get it easily! Sawdust is also free and probably pretty easy to source, but it holds water and doesn't provide the insulative properties of Styrofoam
I'm at a loss as to how the foam actually helps or is even necessary. It seems to me that the foam would just all get mixed in and all the bubbles (foam) would be smashed and popped and not make any difference anyway. Why not just skip the foam and go straight with the concrete and ground up foam boards?
I was sold until the end when you had to brace the wall. I think the walls should be thicker, could you let me know how much material you used per square foot of wall?
How porous is a panel of this foamcrete....will water penetrate it since the foam makes it full of cavities? Also why you use type II Portland Cement instead of stucco mix to stucco the exterior? Is there an affordable additive to make the stucco mix more workable?
Pumicecrete is by far the best building material on the planet Pumicecrete is a mixture of pumice cement and water mixed and poured into a set of reusable forms walls are poured from 12"to 24" thick pumicecrete is fireproof termite proof rust rot and mold proof and has a high R value and good sound attenuation solid poured walls means no critters can live in your walls Pumicecrete can be built for a fraction of the cost and time and pumice is one of the few building materials that can go directly from the mine to the job site ready to use without any additional possessing and zero waste Google all the walls of my house are made of pumicecrete
Can you post your how to make your aircrete foam. I'm not sure on the proper ratio. And what is the ratio for your Styro-Aircrete please. I have watch so many videos and your videos are very detailed and inspirational.
Stephen, great channel, I love your simple approach to everything. Here are a couple of possible solutions to some of your challenges: 1. Foam solution issues: Add foam solution to the air using an eductor (aka ejector), so you can use an atmospheric plastic barrel as the reservoir. This is what is done to create fire fighting foam. Simplest eductor is a tee fitting with the air blowing through it, and the solution sucked through the "tee" leg. That is also inefficient, but more efficient eductors can be purchased that would have greater suction with less air use. Tee should work, so long as you don't have much pressure in your foam generator (hose with scrubbies in it- that is genius btw). Next step would be to use a "well tank" or "pressure tank" for the foam solution. They have a bladder in them that would prevent the corrosion issues, and the internal pressure would store the solution in advance even if your pump died to prevent loss of a batch. 2. Overflowing of the styrofoam bag bucket- Use a vortex to separate out the beads from the air- this is what is done in dust collecting systems. if you have room, use one barrel to capture the beads, and another to filter the air. I would shove the hose into your octagon device and screw it to the side so that it shapes the incoming air into a vortex- foam laden air goes around the outside, clean incoming air goes up through the middle, exiting through a new pipe coming out of the center of the octagon. The new pipe goes into the top of another barrel filter, this one with larger openings, so you can see when the styrofoam is overflowing from the first barrel. I would suggest to make it square with a round opening on the bottom to make it easier to build. Second barrel can be overflowed into several times before it needs emptied, or just swap the barrels. If you don't have room for two barrels, shove the hose further into the octagon so it dangles down into the barrel, and build a new larger screen filter house on top of the existing one. The dangling hose should stir up enough beads to allow you to see it is full and stop, and still fit the beads into the bag. 3. Lawnmower barrel & size of incoming pieces- I would recommend putting a flat plate on the bottom of the lawnmower, with a smaller rectangular chute for the incoming styrofoam. The chute needs to be big enough to allow required airflow. The shape of it should prevent clogging and larger pieces from just swirling around instead of getting chopped up. The suction from the mower should pull the pieces into the blades making things simpler and allowing for longer rectangular incoming shapes.
Thanks for the tip! We have been experimenting with the Archimedes screw. So far the fastest way has been to pass it up the ladder. Subscribe for new builds coming soon!
Don't buy it! You can get it for free at furniture and appliance stores. Also we teach you how to build a shredder here: ru-vid.com/group/PLhZQhMQAfmthBfwHROeJTVYE3HlVym0Ww . We are working on a cheap plug and play shredder coming soon! Subscribe to be notified!
Ho does the foam contribute to the mix? It seems like the binding of the styrene is the key. Do you find the aircrete fills the voids between the styrene better than without?
i love your knowledge but your insulation ideas hooked me. what about breathability for example a cavity wall insulation i know if it breathes acts as a heat exchange, meaning in winter lets air in but also keeps the eat in.can airceret with foam or just foam cement breathe?
Thank you for the tip! We haven't needed to add extra fiberglass for any applications yet since the fiberglass exterior shell is proving to be plenty strong
Since this stuff is so light, couldn't you form it on the ground with one side of osb and the 2x6's, then stand it up and attach the other side of osb?
It is possible to do tilt up. But for styrocrete to bond it needs compression, so you'd need to build a very large press for it to work. That is why we haven't tried it yet! Subscribe for new builds coming soon!
I love your content, friend. Thanks for innovating. Have done cob houses. Thinking seriously about aircrete; your insulative aspect is a welcome development.
Stephen is a former NASA engineer and electrical engineer for AT&T. He is a gifted builder to say the least! He leads the research for our team in an effort to create scalable affordable housing for all! Subscribe for updates coming soon!
Thanks for your informative videos. I will be starting my first aircrete project in spring. I will be using the polyester beads from some recycled beanbag chairs for my mix but if I need any extra I will use a cheese grater on some solid blocks of styrofoam. I will also be experimenting with a concrete canvas made with a mix of concrete and elastomeric paint.
Hey AlbertaPrepper, I noticed your comment about using a cheese grater on styro blocks. I've done this as a test. It worked well, but is very difficult and slow. It also creates quite a bit of static. I made the little video below to show my brothers some destructive testing I was doing. Maybe you will find it interesting. Good luck and I would encourage you to get testing as soon as possible. You can learn a lot just by messing around. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iV5GxkL46oE.html
Good that the sawdust is being recycled but I wonder about sawdust absorbing water and molding. Styrofoam is also free, more important to recycle and doesn't hold water or mold in cement
Styrocrete requires packing to bond so you would need a very large press before tilting up. For this reason we haven't tried it! Subscribe for new builds coming soon!
Yes, you could do blocks by compressing them in a mold but that would take a long time. We are developing a cheaper method coming soon! Subscribe to be notified!
Might be able to use a reciprocating saw to vibrate the concrete in the forms. Could you drill a hole in the bottom of that trough and have a valve with a hose and just pour in the mix? Maybe a 3 or 4 inch hose that went to 2 inch pipe.. That would depend on how wide wall was. I wonder if you could just use fiber mesh? No plywood form.
Would this work for making blocks? Like center blocks just bigger. They would be 12" x 47.5'' x 17.5". Using 6" x 8" holes to fill with actual concrete to make more of a bond.
@@AbundanceBuild how much of an over fill would they need before being compressed? I know the more the better probably. But on a 12" tall block say take it to what maybe 18 then compress it all down to 12?
Jr that would work if you have a crane to lift them. Then you need a good way to fasten them to each other. It would be easier to form the walls since one side is the concrete floor. Pouring a thin layer of concrete for a smooth surface, then pouring the aircrete, then pouring a finish top coat before raising the wall. Pouring in place ties the whole wall together well but then you have to stucco the wall vertically. Of course this won't work for an arched A frame design.
We pack it in tightly to prevent voids but ultimately the strength comes from the fiberglass and cement shell on the building. It performs great through freezes as we have observed for years now!
Edit: never mind, I found the answer in part 2 :) thanks so much for spreading this great information How much difference is there in using the foam/airCrete and Styrofoam. Compared to just using the Styrofoam and regular concrete? Seems like if you’re packing it down that much a lot of the air you’re introducing with the foam gets squeezed out
7:05 REALLY? Really why the hell do Americans still keep to this UBEARABLE and pointless system??? That is so unnecessary complicated, my mind gets boiled even listening to this. Metric system rules over the world and its so easy to count - a natural and better solution to measurements. WHY STILL BE STUCK with that ?
The base 12 number system literally is, time. It’s the measurement of the movements of celestial bodies, creating the first calendar, the zodiac, hence coinciding with the 360 degrees in a circle and the 72 years it takes to advance 1 degree closer to the next constellation. It’s literally as old as time itself. It was here long before us, and trust me, it’ll be here long after. Could we use the metric system as a standardized building measurement? Sure, I’d have no problem with that. Some things we already do. But to call the base 12 number system “pointless” is just a case of missing information. Cheers.
@@AbundanceBuild hahaha I was joking. Ofc it breathes. Unlike a block the balls have passageways bc of the concrete. Which also lessens it's cross-section making it tolerate less strain.
have you had any cracking? usually plaster from my experience (render) is weaker than the brickwork or in this case styrocrete ect its plastered on with lime mixed in.
Hi what's the fire rating value? In UK this is a big issue, and the idea of melting foam releasing toxic smoke , not to mention the wall loosing mechanical strength is scary! So have you any reassurance in this regard?
No official testing has ever been done but here is my fire test video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LMPR8i4IWMA.html Subscribe for new builds coming soon!
@@AbundanceBuild that's really useful! So I'm being cheeky but maybe you have looked at this so I'll ask,, If it's burnt what does that do to the mechanical strength of the Crete? (I'm wondering if I used an 8-10 inch first story wall with a second story using a roof design similar to your a frame shed, If there is a fire and the first floor is also crete, are parts of the house going to collapse? The interior of my current house is largely 8x1 inch planks with plasterboard one side and orb the other(upstairs floor). From what I can see it looks like thiS would be potentially much stronger than the wood in the event of a ground floor fire? Also is there a structural change with slowburn Eg a candle or hot water pipe running from a boiler? Just wondering if you had considered?
Sure seems like tilt wall construction would be cheaper and easier - no forms to build or brace up. Use your slab with a covering for one side of the mold, then you only need to build the sides and leave the top open. Also easier to pack in the styrocrete. Incorporate all the electrical & plumbing in it and hopefully make one long wall at a time so the plumbing & electrical connections are at one end. Or put them at the bottom or top & cover them up with quarter round or pipe. You'd have to incoporate some sort of removable lifting eye at top, and possibly make the wall sturdier for lifting into place. Put some sealant on the bottom.
I would worry the wall would break in half when lifting. Concrete has great compression strength, but not much strength when it comes to side load or buckling, like when lifting it up. I'd love to be wrong here, because your idea would make life much easier.
@@zukgod Might need to put the fiberglass screen down in the mold before pouring. That might give it the needed tensile strength on the bottom to stand it up
@@zukgod My latest daydreams definitely include some rebar. This might nullify some of the monetary savings over building upright forms, but most of the time saving remains. Or the idea below from exiled engineer about fiberglass mesh might help. Or metal stucco lathe or expanded metal or maybe even wood? But from what I've seen in Stephen's videos, the wall would be so light, and cheap that it's worth trying without any reinforcement. Just making a square with an x with rebar and welding nuts at the two ends of the box for lifting eyes would definitely work. I called the permitting dept in San Jacinto County TX about aircrete and they said it would be fine, the county wouldn’t care about my building materials. (outside of city limits) But who knows, a small city might have lax materials rules also.
I am thinking about the same thing for a form. Treated wood for the wall base but using some metal roofing for the sides and pouring two 2x8 panels that will interlock. A small cut out should allow for access to my “j” bolt.
How do you plan to secure that wall sir? You have to find a way to keep that wall from sliding around on the slab. I wonder if a few 4”pieces of rebar would be enough? Just cut a hole and patch it after setting the wall.
Stephen, you have some of the best info I've ever seen on this alternative building material. Something I'm very curious about; ---- does this "styro aircrete" crack over time like regular concrete or cement? --- It seems like the styrofoam beads would allow for expansion and contraction enough to stop cracking, but since I have no experience with it, I'll defer to your expertise.
I've thought of using some sort of pump for this too (or at least I was when I had planned on using EPIC instead, which is more liquidy and more easily pumped), but large peristaltic pumps are SUPER expensive. And at least for me, it just wouldn't be worth the tradeoff of simply hand-carrying 5 gallons at a time, which then also allows for packing it all down in courses, which you couldn't really do if you were trying to pump/fill a whole wall in one go.
I just love your channel i just wait one day i could build something with this material. I really want to learn how to make it a viable solution for my construction project.
