| Fast gaining on more traditional homebuilding materials, concrete systems save builders time, money and headaches. Offering durability, cost savings, energy efficiency, and eye-pleasing aesthetics, concrete systems now account for large shares of the walls, floors, roofs, finishes, and landscape products in small buildings in the United States.
But are concrete systems right for you and your construction crew? And if so, which ones? This is the place to find out. Written by experts from the Portland Cement Association, Concrete Systems for Homes and Low-Rise Construction provides expert, straightforward answers on concrete systems. Open these pages for everything you want to know about availability of products, evaluating concrete systems for homes and low-rise buildings, requirements for application, managing projects, and much more. Based on case histories, field research, and hands-on-the-hammer experience, and with more than 325 photos and illustrations, this one-stop resource shows and tells what you want to know. It's a huge time and money saver!
For each new concrete system for residences, you'll find:
- Properties and advantages
- Logistics of construction
- Connections to other concrete systems
- Materials and labor costs of installation
- Code and regulatory issues
- Technical and testing information
- Sources of additional information
The homebuilding material of the new millennium.
- Why Concrete?
- What's Available?
- Wall Systems
- Floor and Roof Systems
- Interior Decorative Applications
- Exterior Finish Products
- Landscape Products
From the Introduction
When we released the book Concrete Homebuilding Systems ten years ago, it was clear we hit a nerve. Although no one realized it at the time, contractors for low-rise buildings were beginning a rush to concrete- and cement-based products. Yet there was no central source to acquaint them with these. The demand for information was great but there were few resources to supply it. Our book was one of the first, and it sold far beyond projections.
Recently the Portland Cement Association decided that it was time for an update. The use of concrete products in small buildings has grown rapidly and contractors' need for information has grown with it.
The scope of this book is much broader than the last one. It covers all major concrete and cement-based products, not just wall systems. It adds concrete floor and roof systems, exterior finish products, landscape products, and decorative applications. It also covers the use of these products in all small, low-rise buildings, not just single-family homes. That rounds out the focus to include commercial and multifamily buildings up to a size of roughly 20,000 square feet of floor area and 40 feet in height.
This book should be useful for many building professionals, but it is directed first and foremost at the general contractor (GC) who constructs the buildings. We have tried to provide the information the GC needs to decide which of these products make sense for his or her business. The book also helps the GC to get started with the products and get rolling on them with maximum efficiency and minimum fuss.
The organization of the book is intended to be self-explanatory. Part 1 covers general information that applies to many or all the products in the book, such as principles of concrete and ways to measure product costs. Parts 2 through 6 go into specifics on the different categories of products. For example, Part 2 covers wall systems.
Each one of the Parts covering one category of products begins with a section titled "Background." These cover general principles that are important for multiple products in the category. For example, the Background of Part 2 discusses such things as moisture control, sound transmission, and other issues important to understanding walls. After this are the sections on each specific product or system within the category, such as concrete block walls, insulating concrete form walls, precast walls, walls cast with removable forms, and so on. At the end of each Part is a section titled "Developments." This describes things that promise to become important in the future, including new or specialty products, inventions, and trends.
A reasonable plan of attack is to start by reading all of Part 1 and the "Backgrounds" of Parts 2 through 6. This should help decide what specific products will be of most interest and provide the background information to read the individual product sections.
But there is no wrong way to read the book. This is a huge field with tremendous promise for the creators of small buildings. Read, wander and enjoy.
Contents
Acknowledgements; Introduction; Part I: General. Chapter 1: Why Concrete?; Chapter 2: What's Available?; Chapter 3: Materials; Chapter 4: Background for Evaluating Concrete Products.
Part II: Wall Systems. Chapter 5: Background on Concrete Wall Systems; Chapter 6: Concrete Masonry Walls; Chapter 7: Insulating Concrete Form Walls; Chapter 8: Precast Concrete Walls; Chapter 9: Removable Form Walls; Chapter 10: Tilt-Up Walls; Chapter 11: Autoclaved, Aerated Concrete Walls; Chapter 12: Developments in Concrete Walls; Part III: Floor and Roof Systems. Chapter 13: Background on Concrete Floor and Roof Systems; Chapter 14: Composite Steel Joist Floors and Roofs; Chapter 15: Insulating Concrete Form Floors and Roofs; Chapter 16: Precast Plank Floors and Roofs; Chapter 17: Removable Form Floors and Roofs; Chapter 18: Autoclaved, Aerated Concrete Floors and Roofs; Chapter 19: Developments in Concrete Floors and Roofs; Part IV: Exterior Finish Products. Chapter 20: Background on Exterior Finish Products; Chapter 21: Stucco; Chapter 22: Concrete Brick; Chapter 23: Fiber-Cement Siding; Chapter 24: Manufactured Stone; Chapter 25: Concrete Roof Tile; Chapter 26: Developments in Exterior Finish Products. Part V: Landscape Products. Chapter 27: Background on Landscape Products; Chapter 28: Concrete Pavers; Chapter 29: Flatwork; Chapter 30: Segmental Retaining Walls; Chapter 31: Developments in Landscape Products; Part VI: Decorative Concrete. Chapter 32: Background on Decorative Concrete; Chapter 33: Countertops; Chapter 34: Decorative Floors and Flatwork; Chapter 35: Developments in Decorative Concrete. Conclusion; Index; About the Authors. |
