Concrete House
Hi Martin,
We are building a “concrete house” and wanted to get some input from you about how we are thinking about the exterior enclosure.
We are in climate zone 5a – Princeton NJ
We are basically following the System 5 – interior insulated cmu wall
from The Masonry SYSTEMS Guide, Northwest Edition. see link below.
http://www.masonrysystemsguide.com/chapter/chapter-5/
We are substituting the cmu with poured in place concrete
here is our basic exterior wall systems from exterior to interior
– surface-applied clear water repellent
– 8″ poured in place concrete w/ integral water-repellent admixtures
– continous 3″ of closed cell spray foam insulation
(3″ air-space between interior framed walls and concrete)
( some pressure treated framing @ windows and floors, etc will be in contact with the concrete)
– interior 2×4 framed wall (may add additional non-faced batt insulation)
The foundation/ basement will be standard concrete basement with interior Thermax insulation
The floors and roof will be conventional framing.
Please let us know if you see any issues with our exterior wall system.
Our concern is moisture.
Any other advice would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance. John
ps: let us know if you need any additional information.
GBA Detail Library
A collection of one thousand construction details organized by climate and house part
Replies
I will leave the technical aspects to the experts, but I will point out since you're posting the question on a green building site that a concrete wall system with spray foam insulation is about as far away from green building as you can get.