Have You Ever Seen A Concrete House?

Have You Ever Seen a Concrete House? FARM HOME Houses 12-2-30 "It took me three years to build but I never borrowed a penny," says Albert Nicholas, Chiefland, Fla., who built a one-of-a-kind house out of poured concrete. The roof, walls, floor, bathtubs and every other component of the 1,600 sq. ft. home - except for doors and windows - are made of concrete. "I got married for the first time at age 53 and promised my wife I would build her a house. I made many blueprints until I was finally satisfied with a 2-bedroom, 2-bath design that included living, dining and utility rooms in addition to the kitchen. I formed bath tubs out of concrete directly in the floors of the bathrooms. One is pear-shaped and the other, in the master bed-room, is in the form of a diamond. The living room is 14 by 30 ft. and the free-standing fireplace - made out of concrete - is located 5 ft. from the front door to form a natural foyer. The arched room at the center is the iving room. I decorated the outside walls y installing 8-in. glass blocks and 4-in. dia. ieces of pvc pipe with red, white and blue enses in them. I put phone and stereo jacks n every room. To build the frame of the house, I bought 6,000 ft. of 3/8-in. dia. reinforcing rod and elded them 1 ft. apart vertically and horizontally. I used 5/8-in. rerod around the windows and doors. I put panels of 1-in. styrofoam between rows of rerod. Forms were built and the liquified concrete was `injected' with a special gun that required a compressor, mixalator truck, and a concrete pump. It cost $90 a yard and I used 71 yards, or 142 tons for the entire house. I put two coats of white sealant on the outside." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Albert Nicholas, Chiefland, Fla. 32626.

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