Mikey Block...what is that? Those are some weird looking blocks! Well in my search for the ULTIMATE construction material, I stumbled upon this humble little styrofoam block website. R-28 is a phenomenal insulation rating, and the reason these blocks are so stout, is that they are created with more styrofoam than other blocks, but use less concrete filler (ok, so grout is the proper word, but concrete fills the holes). The blocks are 4 feet long, 12" high and scored every 12", so easy to measure. I will be designing the house in even foot increments now! Walls end up being 10.5" thick, so nice and sound proofed too!
Last week Greg and I ventured down to Tucson to visit Mikey Block. Dave Taggett is the owner and mastermind behind this amazing product. He even takes in styrofoam from shipping boxes, grinds it up and mixes with cement to make these foundation walls and counter tops!
How cool is this? Recycled!!!
Dave was awesome and gave us a tour of his Mikey Block plant. The blocks are stacked 6 feet high then rebar and cement is put in, our walls will be 10' high, so we will have 2 pours. You d not need to wait until the cement is set to start your next layer either! If you want to look at more Mikey Block FAQs or check out homes built with the block, visit Dave's site at www.MikeyBlock.com.
This last photo is of his mobile refer...refridgerator that is kept cooled by a little window unit! Cheap and easy! Once we get our house plans drawn up we can get a quote for materials. Since we can literally build this ourselves and quickly, we will save a ton of money on labor costs, use recycled materials instead of expensive wood framing and insulation, have very low utility bills in the future, and overall build for less than a frame house anyway.
That's it for tonight, will post more soon! Keep an eye on this blog for continued research. I'll be adding a materials and research area as well!
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