Lightweight building materials

Chip

Platinum
Jul 25, 2007
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Santiago
I'm helping out a fellow poster with advice to have his house built and I was wondering if anybody has any personal experiance with homes or businesses built with what is called here "materiales alivianos", or "lightweight building materials" recommended by the licensed engineer for the homebuilding project.

It is basically a method that replaces a solid concrete wall/roof with a much lighter section of styrofoam overlaid with concrete.

I'm interested if people have or know of homes/businesses with this type of construction and if they have proved to be durable or if they have had problems.

Thanks
 

J D Sauser

Silver
Nov 20, 2004
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www.hispanosuizainvest.com
We used a technique in Spain with styrofoam blocks laid in between roof beams and then covered by a 3-4" layer of concrete. The beams were of pretensioned concrete (shaped like rail road rails).
It's mainly faster and there are some insulation advantages too. No negatives and as sturdy as concrete only. But not considerably lighter on the supporting walls.

I have never seen it used in the DR so far. If you do, I would love to see it.

... J-D.
 

BF1

New member
Dec 7, 2007
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www.aplatanados.com
I have seen all the Bella Vista mall's walls builded with that technique, the walls between one shop and the other I mean. They still look good, with no craking etc.
I think there was an Italian company doing that but i'm not sure.