Tilt up concrete: Domestic construction Wellington

unclejake, Apr 21, 5:32am
Does anyone have a company they would use again for the supply, siting and erection of a tilt-up concrete home in the Wellington region?

Google isn't much help. Thanks

aprilguy, Apr 22, 6:05am
Try googling `tilt slab'

zeepaardje, Apr 23, 3:50am
Homestead builders in Levin?

hammer23, Apr 23, 4:02am
That'll be right,you see them around Wgtn often,in fact they have recntly done some motels? on the esplande in Petone.

unclejake, Apr 23, 5:37am
Thank you. I found Homestead online last night. I'll give them a call. I appreciate the responses.

apollo11, Apr 23, 11:57pm
I thought it was an expensive construction method(?) Assuming you are wanting to use concrete, Have you thought of using insulated concrete forms?

budgel, Apr 24, 3:49pm
It can reduce the overall cost of a project by getting the building up and occupied sooner as the panels are usually made off site, and has advantages on sites with difficult access as most of the structural elements can be delivered in one big hit instead of battling away every day for weeks on end.

unclejake, Apr 25, 2:00am
It's more expensive than a timber frame and ply clad home, but I'm not as motivated by price as I am quality. It's a personal thing I guess. There are a number of other building systems I'm still to discount, but tilt concrete seems best suited for our particular apllication

budgel, Apr 26, 4:04pm
My folks had a house made from tilt slab. The acoustics in the lounge room were great for playing loud music when they werent home!

Another thing I liked about it was that most windows went from floor to ceiling to fit in with the panel modules.

crackerjack19, Apr 27, 6:06pm
Being an ex chippie and having seen first hand the results of concrete panel construction going wrong---after erection. I would not advise any one to go down that path. In fact timber framed with ply cladding inside and out would be my preference, with every possible insulation included in our land of earthquakes.

5425, Apr 27, 8:30pm
From memory in NZ. the first tilt slab building was built in Cambridge around 71-72. which manufactured stuff made from Punga trees .

viking60, Apr 27, 11:06pm
What problems have you seen. Ours is 10 years old and haven't as yet had any problems. Should we expect to in the future?

unclejake, Apr 28, 3:37am
^ Did you use the Nirvana system?

viking60, Apr 28, 5:02am
Not sure what system. Our home was built by a Tauranga builder. There are also 2 neighbouring houses built with same system but different styles. All 1 level homes. All look as good as new and no problems.

unclejake, Apr 28, 5:28am
Thanks. If you have bare concrete on the interior of the perimeter walls it's probably something like Reid's Nirvana system. That's the one I'm favouring at the moment. but it's a million dollar decision so needs some research

viking60, Apr 29, 5:01am
Not bare concrete on interior. It is gibbed, skimmed and painted.

apollo11, Apr 29, 7:11am
I did a quick search to see how tilt slab buildings survived in Chch and found this interesting article:
http://www.rebuildchristchurch.co.nz/blog/2012/8/the-christchurch-earthquakes--observed-performance-of-tilt-up-buildings

They survived better than I would have expected- and after the recent earth quake in Nepal it gives me new appreciation for our building code.

unclejake, Jan 20, 12:56pm
^ Agreed. I'd seen that before I decided tilt up seemed like the best option for what I want. I also like the thermal properties of a home with thick 'internal' concrete walls and floor. Entirely covering either (with GIB or carpet) partly defeats the thermal benefits, hence many of my inside walls, and much of the floor, will be bare concrete.

Not to everyone's taste I concede, but if I do it right it could be epic