I freakin’ love the idea of these.
Of course, I could see a couple problems. First, unless you’ve got some lovely earthmoving equipment at your disposal, moving these things by yourself or with just one or two trusted friends is going to be difficult. Then there’s the matter of having enough concrete on hand….a wheelbarrow and shovel, or a portable mixer from the tool rental place, ain’t gonna do it. And then theres the matter of time…if you can only afford one mould, its going to take..what? days…for one block to dry and cure. And when you may need hundreds of blocks…well, thats a lot of time.
I suppose you could buy the mould and make a deal with a local concrete supplier. Give him the mould(s) and as him to make you as many blocks as you need. But, then you’re still locked into the transport and privacy issues.
A smaller version of these might make more sense. I sure do like the idea, though, of concrete Lego. Just the things for building outbuildings and that sort of thing. And probably make excellent anti-vehicle barriers for the perimeter of the property.
Cool idea, lotsa potential. Logistics is a bit tricky though.
I think a sandbag size would be pretty cool so of you get tired of the MG pit you could change it into a root cellar. But there’s always the times you need a 2×3 flat brick and all you have are 2x4s….
another idea, especially here in the desert SW, would be to use a similar, smaller, home made mold to make inter-locking adobe blocks.
https://www.onmanorama.com/lifestyle/decor/2019/09/27/interlock-bricks-houses.html
Concrete is 150# per cubic ft. so those look to be too big, and pricey for a DIY off grid build.
I remember seeing an old technology using similar shapes with mud bricks to keep them from shifting and reducing the amount of mortar needed. Rammed earth could be another option. Lasts for centuries.
Seek out an old technology named CINVA-RAM. A steel block press that used soil mixed with cement and pressed into shape to make larger-than-brick / smaller-than-CMU-block units. The block pres units were designed about 50 years ago to be transported in jungle and up mountain trails on a mule to remote locations where electricity doesn’t exist.
CINVA-RAM – look it up.
Otherwise known as Compressed Earth Block (CEB).
That building method is slowly chugging along in the background. There are high volume hydraulic production units out there now, even portable trailer mounted ones. And they are not just for the third world anymore, people interested in extreme efficiency building are using them instead of adobe.
May be a application for aircrete(shreded Styrofoam in concrete) the weight vastly reduced,much higher insulation, reduced material cost.
Sounds a bit like ICF (Insulated Concrete Form) construction. Expensive components, but build time is pretty quick and very well insulated from temperature extremes. If you have a little extra coin, worth your while checking it out.
Just styrofoam mixed into concrete to lower cost/weight/ increase insulation. ICF is a styrofoam form that is poured into insitu and is non-moveable, nonrearrangable.
Wet mix concrete companies frequently have these on hand for sale, in the “one yard” size (24WX30HX72L, whcih is actually 1.1 cubic yards, about 4700 lbs); when a truck comes back with leftover concrete it’s used to make the blocks rather than just dumping it.
Or Hempcrete depending on humidity concerns
Time can replace money, Money can replace time.
If you have the money you can have Aesop’s concrete culvert shelter installed in a week plus interior work to make it nicer. US government level money here.
If you have time, plenty of 3rd world style methods to build bullet resistant (as even concrete fails with enough ammo fired it to it) structures. Even two layer log structures with earth filling it as many Forts were built. Like Ft. Ticonderoga before they later (much later) found time and money to cover-replace that log and earthworks with mason laid stone. And Still had earthworks to protect that stone from cannon balls as earth soaked them up and was easily repaired by soldiers and shovels.
U.S. Army Combat Engineers have been using this concept for the past 20 years to build quick barriers. The U.S. Marine Corps have also utilize the same type of technique.
Drawbacks:
Price of concrete
Weight
Wait
If you can find them at a bargain price, pre-made, that’s another story.
Otherwise, not so much.
I could see cranking out a few dozen for smaller projects, like a retaining wall, or a range backstop, but without the capacity make hundreds, quickly, and move them, there’s nothing particularly revolutionary about them.
And no internal reinforcement?
Thanks/no thanks.
Google earthquake pics from Turkey, etc.
Several related videos show them being poured with rebar frames/cages in them.
One would hope. 🙂
Hereabouts, in Shakeyland, the industry term for unreinforced masonry and concrete is “rubble”.
I imagine multi-story unreinforced anything would be suspect in earthquake country. Maybe some construction expert could give an opinion on materials for reinforcement, rebar of course but maybe old chainlink fencing?
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They already clean their trucks out and dump into various molds around here.Including hiway barriers. They build their own retaining walls to hold back gravel and sand with the cubed ones./ I have seen them for sale as well. The ones that come out of the molds in decent shape get sold.
Looks like survivalblog.com may have been taken down. Does anyone have the IP address?
80.82.76.90
The IP address i’ve had saved for awhile.
Haven’t checked it lately, but there it is.
Sorry but I don’t see what’s up. They have sold interlocking cement blocks for years. Miles of block wall and yard fences made with them. yow can put them on a footer with rebar sticking up or fill with cement when done. Also make empty plastic “Bottles” that snap together that you can fill with concrete