ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 25, 1997 TAG: 9703250090
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF THE ROANOKE TIMES
Concrete houses save their owners about 50 percent to 60 percent in heating and cooling costs. They also do a better job of shutting out noise and air pollution.
They've been pouring concrete for the colonial-style house - not for its foundation or driveway, but for the walls.
Members of the Roanoke Regional Home Builders Association are building the area's first all-concrete house.
The dwelling is at 3014 Bonsall Lane in the Brookfield subdivision being developed by Fralin & Waldron Inc. It is off Virginia 116 in the Mount Pleasant section.
Melody Williams, executive director of the association, said the public is invited to inspect the house while it is still under construction. When the exterior is covered with vinyl siding and interior walls are in place, she said, it will look like other houses in the neighborhood.
On Monday, the home builders held an open house at the site, primarily to show the technique and structure to architects and vocational students interested in building trades. They saw the concrete already in place forming the structure's first floor and the forms being constructed for the second level.
The 2,200-square-foot house will be for sale at the end of the summer listed at $159,950 as an association fund-raising project.
She said members of the home builders association are experimenting with a total concrete house because they are looking for an alternative to wood framing. The price of lumber has been very volatile in the past few years, driving up the cost of new homes. In conventional home construction, wood is the chief building material, used for the frame, flooring and, in some cases, as the exterior facing and trim.
Andy Kelderhouse of Fralin & Waldron - and chairman of the association's committee building the concrete house - said the technology has been in use for about 40 years in Europe and Canada, where the thicker walls provide insulation against more severe winter weather.
Homes have been built almost entirely of concrete in Northern states, he said, and he estimated that 10 or 12 exist in Virginia. This is the first in the Roanoke Valley, Kelderhouse said.
With this construction method, walls are built of hollow styrofoam forms which are then filled with concrete. That means, Kelderhouse said, the walls are about 12 inches thick, compared with about 31/2 inches thick for a wood-frame home.
Kelderhouse said the walls are more resistant to hot and cold, saving the owner about 50 percent to 60 percent in heating and cooling costs. They also do a better job of shutting out exterior noise and air pollution.
Kelderhouse said the architecture of the concrete house complements that of the other homes in Brookfield. Fralin & Waldron has sold 16 of the 26 lots in the first phase of the subdivision and is working on the second phase.
Debbie Lindsey, a spokeswoman for Concrete Ready Mixed Corp., said all of the materials in the house are environmentally sound and are biodegradable. She said the concrete construction reduces air infiltration and withstands many types of severe weather.
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN THE ROANOKE TIMES. Construction workersby CNBunload the lightweight styrofoam forms into which concrete is poured
to make walls. The Roanoke Regional Home Builders Association is
building the area's first all-concrete house in the Brookfield
subdivision. color.