The walls of the guest villa are ready for concrete.

Mary Ann's Tropical Building Page

Since our September 9th report about building on a Caribbean island, we have

• completed the foundation, cistern and slab of on our Guest Villa
• erected the walls of the Guest Villa out of 3-D Panels.

Hints: Click on any small picture below to see it larger and visit the Site Map for previous and future progress reports, house plans, bookstore and references.

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Guest Villa Walls

The 3-D Panel

Components of the installed panel include

1. Foam core for insulation.
2. Wire mesh on inside and outside.
3. Welded truss of wire cross pieces.
4. Sprayed concrete on both sides ("shotcrete").

We visited the 3-D sites on St. Martin and talked to the owners in St. Thomas whose 3-D panel homes went through Hurricane Marilyn in 1995. They said they had no damage during the hurricane with their Insteel structures, while concrete block walls sometimes blew in (it should be noted that US builders do not always put reinforcing rebar in their concrete block walls, while Anguillian builders go overboard on rebar).

3-D Panel Web Pages

• Magazine article with 3-D panel diagram.
• Panamex, Mexican manufacturer of 3-D panels.
• Mexican development and house plans.
• Lalanne, distributor in Uraguay.
• In early 1997, Insteel Industries was looking for buyers for their entire 3-D Panel business.

  [Update: In July 1997, Insteel Industries sold the Georgia plant to the managers and exited the business. Panels are still being manufactured, however, at the same plant in Georgia.]

Step 1: Install Rebar Rods

Step One is to drill holes in the slab for 3' lengths of rebar, which are cemented in with a special cement-glue. These rebar rods must be located in precise locations to tie into the panels. Therefore they build the slab first, then layout the walls and mark the precise rod locations. Above you can Geoff Sims-Davies cutting rebar to 3' lengths.

The crew showed up on Saturday night, ready to drill, but it was raining and the cement dust turned to muck in the rain and threatened to burn out the drills. Luckily, the next day was sunny and clear. Below is a picture of the installed rebar rods.

Step 2: Frame Up the Walls

The panels are very light - a single man or woman can lift one into place. Since the utility conduits stick up from the slab and will go within the panels, you must first burn out slots in the foam with a blow torch. The panels are levelled and temporarily braced. They are then connected with overlapping wire mesh sheets and fastened with wire ties using a special gun.

The corners of the building are strengthened with extra mesh and rebar. The final house will have concrete posts and beams just like a standard Anguilla house. When the walls are up, extra rebar is inserted wherever a post in desired, then the foam is burned out in and concrete is added to make a structural column or beam that is also integrated with the wall mesh.

The last picture above shows the electrical conduits coming out of the floor for the electrical panel box.

Step 3: Sub-Frames for Doors/Windows

As described in our August 22nd report, we purchased wooden louvered windows in Puerto Rico. For each opening, the workers cut a hole in the wire mesh, cut out the foam, and build a wooden subframe, which is then stampled to the mesh. Extra wire support was added at the corners, as you can see in the picture above.

The exterior electrical work is done and the walls are now ready for concrete to be applied to the outside.

Next Progress Report: Spraying the Concrete

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