# Ferro-Cement with Basalt Construction



## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

If you're interested in long lasting easily formable building you might have heard of ferro-cement. This is one of the techniques we're using in the construction of our family's on-farm butcher shop. To maximize the space in our small building we poured the structural walls as trusses filled with air holes where shelves and such go. The covers of these holes are ferro-cement panels made using fiber sand cement and basalt mesh as shown in this blog post:

http://SugarMtnFarm.com/2013/12/26/flushed-away/


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## gobug (Dec 10, 2003)

Walter
In the pic above, I assume the mesh is Basalt fiber. What size is it, what size did it come in, and how did you shape it? 

I have spent a bit of time calculating how much of the Basalt rebar and the mesh I want to prepare for the erection of my Quonset.

Please share your concrete recipe and briefly describe your process from bag to parge. How big of a batch do you mix at a time? Do you use a mortar mixer? Which? How do you "parge" it?

Thanks,
Gary


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

That is the 25mm mesh. They have a variety of mesh sizes and I got samples of others, some of which feel like a silky cloth. The 25mm works well for us although I would be interested in a 100mm for some applications. I think they just started making that.

They also have a rope version which I bought 50m to test but we haven't done anything with it yet. It's waiting for the right project.

We've used a lot of the 6mm and 8mm basalt rebar to replace corrosion prone plain steel rebar in some locations. I would like to move to all basalt and fiber for the reinforcement as we start doing some animal housing which will be in very high corrosion environments (manure, urine) but I'm still testing the basalt. 

In the butcher shop we also used stainless steel rebar. That is about 10x more expensive than plain steel rebar. The basalt is about 2.5x more expensive than plain steel.

The parge is generally 1 lime : 2 cement (OPC) : 4 sand. It's about 1.125 gallons of water to a five gallon pail of parge. We've experimented a lot with that over the past decade building our cottage, various sheds and now the butcher shop and found that to be our favorite. Sometimes we'll vary it to change the strength and such. 

We parge with steel floats and spatulas out of five gallon pails. Wet down the surfaces before parging. See:

http://SugarMtnFarm.com/2013/12/16/more-snowy-cottage/

http://SugarMtnFarm.com/2013/12/13/parging-ceilings/

http://SugarMtnFarm.com/2013/12/08/partitions-placed/

We have three Husky mortar mixers. See:
http://sugarmtnfarm.com/2007/10/27/mixer/


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## gobug (Dec 10, 2003)

Thanks for the reply.

I had a couple customers who were meat processing companies. I recognize the importance of sanitation, and routine as well as permits, compliance, and inspections.

I suspect you will be using water to clean various areas. Does lime in your recipe help with that? 

Do you have a reason for not using flyash? I experimented making a thin shell cement water tank. I used 2 parts Portland, 1 part flyash C, 6 parts swimming pool aggregate, and a 26% acrylic additive mixed 50/50 with water. It was a small tank (~60gal), no metal, just 2 hula hoops and a roll of drywall mesh tape. The concrete was ~1/8" thick. It held the water and did not leak.

There are a couple products that you may have already investigated. 

One is http://www.anti-hydro.com/products.htm. They have a big selection of different cement additives.

The other is a porous concrete with 3 strains of bacteria in the recipe and no Portland, but a geopolymer cement with pH 7. It purifies water that flows through it. I did not immediately find the link I had seen a few years ago that showed using it on street drains and for cleaning dirty water.

I appreciate the detail in your on-line blog. During the past few years I have seen a few of those things and wondered how it was going. It is good to see all the detail of your hard work and progress.

Thanks
Gary


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

The lime is to weaken the cement sometimes for mortar and to make it sticky. All this is under a polyurea coating to protect the concrete from the acids in the wash water.

Fly ash is something I've played with but haven't been able to get a good source of.

Thanks for the link. I'll check that out. Here's a link in turn:

http://ferrocement.net/

Very interesting info and group of people.


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## Stetson (Dec 29, 2013)

gobug said:


> Walter
> 
> I have spent a bit of time calculating how much of the Basalt rebar and the mesh I want to prepare for the erection of my Quonset.
> 
> Gary



Hi Gary,
Could you tell me more about what you are doing with your Quonset? 
Thanks!


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## gobug (Dec 10, 2003)

I got the Quonset on Craigslist as a result of a divorce. It has never been assembled, so it is piles of sections and buckets of hardware. I bought it partly because of the price, and the kit nature. I was able to easily haul it to my mountain property.

The challenge is how to use it. I have been playing with different cad programs to see what creative use I can come to. I have not made any choices in how to use it, even though I have been playing with the ideas for a year. I have done some of the building site work and spoken with engineers, architects, and the county zoning board.

I can get a permit to erect it, but that requires an engineering signature on the plans. That means I must get my plans in order, then contact an engineer, then I can begin the foundation work. The foundation is different than a typical structure. That is my first interest in Basalt Fiber products. I like that the Basalt Fiber rebar comes in long rolls, easier to cut and bend than regular rebar, weighs less than regular rebar, and bonds better with the concrete.

Since the county considers it a utility building, I do not need a certificate of occupancy. I can erect it, then begin the process of doing the interior. Plumbing, septic and electricity are there and ready to adapt to the Quonset, although I will need permits to do those things, I can do them as I want or can.

Quonsets as a home have a complication with points of egress. The Quonset mfg does have those types of kits available, but I do not have any. Most of my initial design thoughts have tried to handle that aspect without buying more parts from the mfg.

Since my building site is on the southern slope of a granite mountain, I am considering that part of this Quonset may be buried. There is no doubt that condensation, radon, and insulation are all important issues to deal with.

My current idea is to make the Quonset shaped like a "Y". The junction would be a triangle so each Quonset section would be flat against it. This idea is about as likely as any of my other ideas. Time will decide.
Thanks for the question.
Gary


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## Nickgri (Apr 26, 2014)

http://www.basalt-mesh-fiber.com

If interested please call Nick 401-481-8422


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