Costs

A look at the competition

Just incredible what people pay for pure aesthetic , complete functional obsolescence.  With taxes and shipping the above is $200  for 14.25 square feet.  And, it's only 30 pounds.  So the price is $14 per square foot, the raw material.  Weight wise, it's $6.67 per pound.  The labor to install can be triple the materials cost.  And, this is attaching to an existing frame which already cost about $25 per square foot.  A stone looking exterior can be very expensive.

The name of the game is still MASS  for safety and longevity.  The Concrete Building System is currently priced on the average for various sizes artfully designed for aesthetic effect is about $12 per square foot including transportation.  Installation can be as low as $1 to $2 per square foot.  How is that possible.  Installing the exterior and interior panel at the standard size of 24" x 16" is 5-1/3 square feet.  With things organized and dialed in the can occur is about 5 minutes or less with two people working together.  So on the high side that's $10 per 5-1/3 square feet or $1.88 per square foot. 

Since there's no framing, sheathing, or siding or drywall, a considerable amount is saved by not using obsolete, expensive, and vulnerable materials.

More detail is to follow.

Granite concrete panels, one 47 pound sack portland per 280 pound load (including cement) in Ryobi 5 cubic foot mixer

280 pound batches

50 pounds ⅜” gravel, $40 per ton (2,000 pounds) = $0.02 per pound, total $1

150 pounds ¼”- granite crusher fines $14 per ton = $0.007 per pound, total $1.05

47 pounds type I II portland cement                        = $11 per 47 pound sack

1.5” No. 9 expanded steel = $65 for 144 pieces, one piece per 1.33 square feet, $65 / (144 x 1.33) = $0.34 per square foot

25 pounds water (3 gallons)

½ cup (4 ounces)   Euclid Plastol admixture        $170 per five gallons, $0.625 per ounce, x 4 oz = $2.50 per batch

PVA fiber   $7 per pound, 2 full cups weigh  3.3 oz, =$1.44       

38 pounds per panel, 7 panels (7 x 38) = 266 pounds

Makes seven 24” x 16”  = 18.7 square feet of panels

Total materials cost = $1 + $1.05 + $11 + $2.50+ $1  = $19.05,  /18.7 sq ft of panel = $1.02 per square foot

Labor per panel (2.67 sq ft) = 8 minutes, labor cost $32 per hour, 8 x 32 / (60 x 2.67) = $1.60 per square foot, 

Total cost = $1.60 + $1.02 (expanded steel)= $2.62 per square foot (does not include overhead and profit)

Installation can be as low as $1 per square foot based on this scenario:

Two people taking two standard (24"x16") panels from a pallet, placing the two faces into the wall, locking in place with the installation jig, and making the tack welds, that all can take under five minutes.  Two 2-2/3 panels installed, total of 5-1/3 square feet in under five minutes.  So that labor expenditure would cost $5.67, x 12 units per hour, = $68, for two people, $34 per person per hour.  With a good rhythm it can go faster than that.