An Overview of a Formworks Home ... page 6

A number of housing systems claim superior structural strength over conventional housing but two questions beg asking: "How strong is strong?" and "How much does this strength cost?" With Formworks homes we have twenty years of hard evidence concerning the strength of our system. How many other housing systems could bear the enormous weight of a cement truck resting atop its roof? What other structural system could bear the weight of a full-sized bulldozer driven over the top?

In addition to the structures' ability to withstand incredible weight, several Formworks homes have been subjected to some of the worst natural disasters in the USA and weathered them unscathed. The natural disasters that have tested the Formworks design have ranged from tornadoes and blizzards to several earthquakes, some over the 7.0 mark on the Richter scale! In every case, the Formworks homes have come away without any structural damage.

As an additional trial, a Formworks earth-sheltered structure was tested at a military test-facility against a simulated nuclear explosion in the multi-kiloton range and, again, was undamaged in the test.

As mentioned above, adding structural strength generally costs a great deal by adding steel, stone, concrete, heavy timbers or a combination of the above. For instance, a conventional (non-Formworks) earth-sheltered structural system requires roof and wall thickness ranging from 12"-18" and that quantity of concrete is extremely expensive.

Despite the incredible quantity of concrete and steel used, a standard earth-sheltered home with this great thickness of wall and roof could not support the weight of a tractor or a cement truck like Formworks homes can (and have). A standard Formworks home has only 4" of concrete in roof and walls and, due to the patented structural system this "thin-shell" construction will far out-perform standard "thick-shell" structures such as the 18"-thick roof mentioned above.

More concrete is not more strength, it's just more weight to support and more expense, and compared to a Formworks home, it is actually less strength.

previous

next