Lava Concrete is a friendly concrete for residential application –the entire house — walls, details, niches, etc. are all created in one solid, seamless unit that is integrated with the roof and floor.
Accessories can be installed into an empty form and are effortlessly integrated as a result of the pour, reducing complexity and time required for trades’ installations.
Structural innovation and integration is easy with retaining and buttressed walls, raked and diagonal walls, curves and compound curves, vaults and arches, beam pockets and structural shapes, as well as transitional shapes like cast receiver planes for direct-set glass.
Creating non-traditional details is cost effective – integrated cast fireplaces, niches, light sconces and window/door frame detail, as well as art of all types are possible.
LAVA CONCRETE PROPERTIES
Volcanic concretes have been around since Roman times and used in many parts of the world. Lava Concrete is beautiful, and is dominated by the inherent qualities of the volcanic aggregate used – the light weight, color, insulating qualities and inertness are inseparable from the material. Lava Concrete has extraordinary 3-dimensional building abilities, and takes the best qualities of the volcanic aggregate and turns it into an artful castable building material.
Use Lava Concrete for residential architectural application, given its superior thermal and sound insulating performance. Lava Concrete’s thermal, acoustic, and aesthetic performance is inherent to the material without additional insulation, surface finish or structural additives to deliver performance.
Lava Concrete maximizes a range of performance and aesthetic qualities.
- THERMAL PERFORMANCE
- ACOUSTIC INSULATION
- FIRE RESISTANCE
- TERMITE RESISTANCE
- NO OUTGASSING
- RAW FINISH AESTHETIC
Lava Concrete is a separate class of concrete distinct from traditional concrete in workability, performance and applications. It uses the same three core ingredients: aggregate, water, and cement but is blended to become highly aerated and “fluffy”, trading off strength and durability for insulation and sound absorption.
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
Lava Concrete can be mixed to achieve concrete and masonry code strength. It meets ASTM C330 for lightweight aggregate concrete, with allowances to reduce density further. In general, Lava Concrete works within un-reinforced concrete code, and can work within reinforced and adobe codes.
Lava Concrete is not prone to shrink-cracking than regular concretes because Lava Concrete is so dry when installed, meaning that less water has to evaporate in the cure. Cement block tends to develop staggered cracks along the masonry joints, while Lava Concrete structures have no masonry joints and are most resistant to these kinds of cracks.
FINISH
Lava Concrete is most practical when scoria, pumice and other volcanic materials are regionally available. There is a range of Lava Concrete colors available based on the volcanic aggregate source. In general, natural scoria aggregates come in a range of red or black colors that soften to plums or greys in the Lava Concrete material; natural pumice ranges from medium to light grey. Finished walls can expose natural color, be lightened with white cement, and/or be stained or given a thin final coat of plaster to achieve any variety of colors.
Lava concrete textures can vary based upon the size of the aggregate used. Fine-grained Lava Concrete can be milled to a smooth finish or sandblasted to a rough finish. Gravel-sized Lava Concrete can be milled, sandblasted or left as natural for a pebble texture.
Lava Concrete can be milled to finish the raw surface. Milling can also remove embedded graffiti, returning the surface to new.