Week One - Aircrete Bricks
WOOHOOOO! One week into actually making bricks. It really takes a village to make this kind of stuff happen. Because our daughter is 9 months old, we need someone to watch her while we’re working on bricks. Thankfully everyone has been ‘all hands on deck.’
We didn't even finish this first aircrete mix because the foam density was wrong.
The process we’re using is based on DomeGaia’s aircrete brick method. So to build our dome home, we are creating the bricks ourselves. The mixture is part portland cement, and part foam(dish soap and water). We use the DomeGaia tool set that we purchased to mix the aircrete. Once we have the right consistency, the aircrete is poured into the form.
There are many ways to go about creating bricks. In order to save time and effort, we also purchased two large forms from DomeGaia. Each form takes 2 batches of Aircrete to fill. And each form creates 36 Bricks at the size we are using(12”x12”x4”). BUT there are many ways to go about creating bricks. Because aircrete can be cut like wood, you can pour large rectangles of the mixture and cut it when half cured(using string or metal slats) or using a saw when it has fully cured. We plan to experiment with creating our own forms eventually as well. The more bricks we can make in a single day, the faster we will be able to finish our home.
Each batch has been a learning experience. Before we even got to mix one, we had been struggling to get the foam to the correct density. In order for the aircrete to be the right consistency, the foam has to be JUST right. You can adjust the recipe to fit what you need. And you can also add extra ingredients to create stronger bricks. We’ve seen videos of people adding fibers and even pieces of chicken wire for reinforcement. Once we figured out the correct settings for our compressor and foam generator, we finally were able to mix our first batch.
Communication was part of our first failure. You definitely want to be on the same page and have a good game-plan before starting. And ALWAYS wear your mask and protective glasses while mixing. We didn’t mix the foam all the way in, and there was some showing at the top of our container before we poured. Hayden thought we needed to mix more, but I was afraid of mixing TOO much. Hayden was right. The foam that had been sitting at the top didn’t ‘mix in’ while we were pouring. It rose to the top of the form and the top parts of those bricks were very soft. Additionally, we didn’t realize it would take two batches to fill the form. So, some aircrete seeped into other brick spaces and only a couple bricks turned out to be the full size.
Lots of lessons learned! The next round of bricks we poured, we mixed thoroughly and gave ourselves enough time to fill the entire form. They turned out great. Maybe even worthy of being part of our future home? More adventure updates to come!
You can really tell which aircrete bricks came from the first batch vs the second hahaha