Fabrication of Mold and First Pour

The first step is to build a well-constructed multi-use mold for the structural foam panels. It will take 12 panels to build the 8ft x 12ft prototype house.

The lumber from the timber yard was neither consistent in size nor true to a line so it took additional work to plane the 2” x 4” members to insure alignment. It was wood though and fit the bill. They were also not typical 2” x 4” measurements which affected the volume of the mold, hence made our first pour a bit of a guesstimation. It’s necessary to pour the right amount of mixture into the mold to accommodate for the 40 to 1 expansion ratio of the IADDIC chemicals, filling the mold completely, creating the structural foam panel.

The advantages of the structural foam fabrication are multiple, versus the traditional grass huts, twigs & plastic "igloos", and mud & timber houses. The foam is more durable, more fire resistant, completely damaging-bugs proof, easier (lighter weight) transportation to construction sites, less maintenance, better insulation, cost effective, and more timber-conservation efficient.

Form Fabrication

Wrapping the wood pieces keeps the foam from sticking. 

(Supervisor checking my work)

After vigorous stirring two component mixture for 30 seconds ...Filling the form and covering (foam expands and hardens in less than an hour.)

For more pictures, please visit album Structual Foam House on Foundation Facebook https://www.facebook.com/windandwaterfoundation