Shuttered concrete walls

None there is a concrete company in Co Monaghan providing that very method in an off-site solution.

The lads who build slurry tanks and silage holding walls for farmers,which are built to spec for grants, could be an avenue to explore if you're rural/semi rural.
Harder to drill holes in the concrete rather than the block wall for the external insulation mushroom fittings later,but other than that, it's doable with a good engineer and attention to details.

Interesting thread.

JonathonS wrote: »

From memory the fibre was to replace metal reinforcing, it didn't have any insulating properties.

I might be getting mixed up so, did he include rigid insulation within the poured walls?

moldy_sea wrote: »

I'm looking to discover the reasons for/against. I haven't decided to use this method yet, just gathering reasons. Maybe it is for the birds but people are doing it so I'm checking out why. Maybe it's the tractors

Why are windows/doors hassle?

I’ve done one feature board marked reinforced concrete wall earlier this year that’s 6.5m tall in a house that’s otherwise timber frame. The wall is in the double height space at the entrance and stairs. It was poured on site in three parts due to the height. These types of walls look amazing. One of the best people at this is the Japanese architect Tadao Ando who I studied a lot in college. Google his buildings for ideas. What I learned is the carpenter who makes the timber formwork is probably more important than anyone else. If the timber is wrong you can't fix it later without ripping the concrete down and starting again. The formwork is particularly important around windows and doors which is tricky and time consuming. If the timber moves under the weight of the concrete when pouring it you'll have opes which are off square.

I’ve also used precast concrete twin walls on a student housing project. Precast concrete walls are great where you’ve lots of repetition. Also great on inner city sites where you’ve limited access and it’s easier to just crane finished elements into position. A one off house doesn’t have a lot of repetition in walls but does in a floor which is why hollowcore slabs are used in floors in houses but the repetition isn’t there for walls.

Both these are way too expensive for a one off house.

An option is ICF (Insulated Concrete Formwork). These are foam blocks you click together and then fill with concrete. The foam is permanent insulation. The advantage is I believe you can construct these yourself relatively easily with basic DIY skills. You can get the foam blocks with different thickness of insulation and in Ireland to meet the regulations you’d need the thicker foam ones. Otherwise you’d be looking at adding additional external insulation to the walls once complete. This is probably the only realistic option (for a regular budget) compared to the traditional block or timber frame options for a one off house.

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Roofed this today, and I thought of ya!