Shotcrete homes

challenge wood-frame
construction
By John A. Koski

A New England company

is producing affordable
single-family homes using
wire-reinforced insulated
shotcrete construction

he first shotcrete homes

T were built shortly after the

shotcrete process was in-
vented in 1910. Because of
shotcrete’s versatility (it can be ap-
plied to vertical, overhead, and hori-
zontal surfaces) many of those early
homes, as well as those produced in
later years and today, are interesting
and unique.
In the 1960s, a new shotcrete con-
struction panel system was devel-
oped. Referred to as welded wire
sandwich panels (WWSP), the sys-
tem had a core of polyurethane or
polystyrene insulation sandwiched
between two layers of welded wire
fabric. The panels, which usually
measure about 4x8 feet, were erected
and joined on the jobsite, and cov-
ered with a minimum of 11⁄2 inches of
shotcrete on both sides.
Over the years, WWSP systems
have been used to construct a variety
of structures including hotels, schools,
prisons, warehouses, sea walls, and
highway sound-barrier walls. On the
residential side, construction of
WWSP homes in quantity has been
limited, due in large part to cost. In
most areas of the country, lumber
A typical WWSP home nearing completion.
supplies have consistently been inex-
pensive and plentiful. This has helped
make traditional wood-frame con-
struction the system of choice for
most homebuyers. As a result, WWSP
homes have remained largely a cu-
riosity in residential construction. The
times, however, are changing.
Within the last 18 months, govern-
ment regulations on timber harvest-
ing, sparked by environmental con-
cerns, have caused lumber prices to
soar. According to the National As-
sociation of Homebuilders, lumber
costs for a typical 2,000-square-foot
home have gone up over $5,000
since October 1992. That price in-
crease has opened the door for alter-
native methods of home construc-
tion, such as WWSP.
Finding a market
One company hoping to profit from
the rising costs of lumber is Maine
Built Structures, a division of Shotcrete
Systems International, Lincolnville,
Maine. Currently, the company has
five WWSP homes under construction
in Rhode Island and expects to com-
plete an additional 36 homes there be-
fore the end of this year. In 1994, the
company plans to build 200 WWSP
homes by expanding its operations to
other parts of New England and into
eastern Canada.
According to research by Rhode

A WWSP home with the sandwich panels in place and ready for shotcreting.
to sell the homes
for under $100,000
with lot.
Panel compo-
sition
The WWSP sys-
tem used by
Maine Built Struc-
tures consists of
4x16-foot panels
with a core of
modified expand-
ed polystyrene.
Panels of other
sizes can be facto-
ry-customized.
Worker applying shotcrete to a WWSP home. The polystyrene
core provides in-
Island’s State-Wide Multiple Listing sulation and is sandwiched be-
Service, the median sales price of ex- tween welded wire mesh. The mesh
isting single-family homes in Rhode uses 11-gauge wire spaced to create
Island in 1992 was $118,000. New 2x2-inch grid openings. Galvanized
homes are considerably more expen- truss wires pierce the polystyrene at
sive. How economical is WWSP con- an angle and are welded to the wire
struction in this market? Maine Built mesh on both sides of the panel.
Structures estimates it can build a The truss wires serve the dual pur-
1,920-square-foot, 3-bedroom, single- pose of combining with the wire
family WWSP home with a full base- mesh to give the panel structural
ment and one-car attached garage for strength and to hold the mesh
$129,000. Because of the high cost of about 3⁄4 inch from the surface of the
land in Rhode Island, about half of polystyrene core during shotcret-
that amount is for the lot on which ing.
the home is built. When operations The wire mesh is made from recy-
expand to other areas, where land is cled steel. The polystyrene panels also
less expensive, the company expects use recycled materials. Although the
company hasn’t actively marketed
this helps-save-the-environment as-
pect of its homes, Alan Lilly, senior
consultant for the company, says it
may do so in the future. The system’s
use of recycled materials hasn’t gone
unnoticed, however. For example, Lil-
ly says the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology recently asked the com-
pany to make a presentation at its En-
vironmental Expo Forum on its use of
the panels.
Panel characteristics
The standard thickness of the poly-
styrene core is 21⁄2 inches, with the
panels developing an insulating value
of R-14 when 11⁄2 inches of shotcrete is
applied to each side of the panel. Pan-
els also are available with a core thick-
ness of 4 inches. When 2 inches of
shotcrete are applied to each side of
the 4-inch panels, they have an insu-
lating value of R-22.
In addition to its insulating value,
WWSP walls have excellent thermal
mass characteristics. Because the
homes have at least 3 inches of shot-
crete in their walls, they absorb and
retain heat in winter and help keep
the house cool in summer.
Panel erection
Panel erection on the jobsite is rel-
atively easy because each 4x16-foot,
21⁄2-inch-thick WWSP panel weighs
less than 80 pounds. Electrical con-
duit is installed by running flexible
conduit sections between the mesh
and the panel core. To prevent their
freezing in winter, water and sewer
lines are usually placed in the
homes’ conventional wood-frame
interior walls.
Window and door openings are
made using wire cutters to cut the
wire mesh and a reciprocating saw to
cut the polystyrene. Adjoining pan-
els are fastened to one another using
strips of wire mesh laid over both
sides of the joint area and secured
with wire ties or a pneumatic fasten-
ing tool. According to Lilly, the foun-
dations and walls for a home can be
erected by a crew of four workers in
a matter of hours.
Once the panels are in place, dry-
mix shotcrete is applied. The shot-
crete makes the panels rigid and pro-
duces a monolithic structure without
construction joints. The final exterior
finish usually consists of 8-inch bevel
aluminum or vinyl siding on the
back and sides of the home, with
shotcrete on the front of the home
troweled to a stucco-like finish. Inte-
rior finishes consist of plaster over
the shotcrete, wood paneling, or tra-
ditional drywall.

Other WWSP benefits

Panels with a 21⁄2-inch styrofoam
core and 11⁄2 inches of shotcrete on
each side have a fire rating of 11⁄2
hours. A 2-inch application of shot-
crete on each side provides a 2-hour
fire rating, and with 31⁄8 inches of
shotcrete on each side, WWSP panels
have a 4-hour fire rating. According
to the company, the modified, ex-
panded polystyrene core is non-com-
bustible and melts, rather than
burns, when exposed to fire. In addi-
tion, the layered composition of the
panels is highly resistant to sound
transmission, vermin, and intruder
entry, and there is no off-gassing that
might create health problems.

Earthquakes and hurricanes

Last year, two WWSP homes in
California survived earthquakes mea-
suring 6.6 and 6.9 on the Richter scale.
Both homes were within 70 miles of
the earthquakes’ epicenters and had
no structural damage.
When Hurricane Andrew devastat-
ed parts of Florida in 1991, survivors
included 14 WWSP homes. Damage
to the homes, built by Habitat for Hu-
manity volunteers, was mostly limit-
ed to windows and wood-frame
roofs. Conventional wood-frame
structures across the street from some
of the WWSP homes were leveled by
Andrew’s high winds. In addition, as
reported in the April 1990 issue of
Concrete Construction, 200 WWSP
homes in Puerto Rico had no structur-
al damage after being hammered by
Hurricane Hugo’s 195 mile-per-hour
winds.

PUBLICATION #C930798
Copyright © 1993, The Aberdeen Group
All rights reserved