My man made stone home in Gulf Shores, Alabama got a direct hit in Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and kicked in Katrina. Just as we hoped, the house stood tight. It got a LOT of press. Now my friend is building a much larger hurricane proof house about 4 miles down from me from the same building system. I am doing a photo journal of the process on
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It is an interesting process to watch and as w/ all custon home construction, esp using unconventional materials, there are headaches along the way.
Interesting idea. The goal is to create a house that will be there after a CAT 4 hurricane comes thru. As we have seen several times in the last 20 years, the devastation is ENORMOUS.
The huge thermal mass in these blocks creates a house that is warmed slowly by the sun, and cools slowly by radiation and convection at night.
However, a perhaps useful addition for thermal management is to drill a well and circulate water in PEX pipes though the blocks. Well water on the Gulf Coast will be roughly 70F. Water can then either be reinjected to another well or drained to the surface.
The point here is that at a relatively modest additional cost, you can keep the walls of this house near 72F year round with NO AC or heat required.
Added costs are PEX pipes, PVC headers to route water around doors and windows, various connectors, drill a water well, operate a well pump, and arrange for surface disposal or reinjection of the water circulated through the house walls. if you already are on well water, the cost is merely a pump that will deliver more GPM, and perhaps a deeper well.
Very interesting idea. It is so hard to find competent workers down here, at present there is no official DAC-ART builder w/ his own crews. Plus the houses are going up in various locations in different states, not a cluster of localized construction, so usually entirely different crews, and it is usually their first experience w/ the product.
But the problem seems universal down here that workers choose to not look at the plans as they go about the day. The result is a re-occuring headache ! To run water thru the walls, whould take a really conpetent & constant level of supervision....any leaks would be verrrrrrry difficult to deal with after the blocks are back-filled.
Leaks can be dealt with by pressure testing the PEX and fittings, PRIOR to concrete pour. The PEX and its manifolds around windows and doors has to be installed as each course goes up anyway. The PEX comes in long enough lengths that there should be no splices of the pipe between manifolds.
Yes, it would require DAILY supervision and a leak test prior to each pour, but the rewards will be a house that needs only dehumidification, and near zero utility costs.
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