I am trying to construct concrete walls in a rather unique way. Will my plan work?

Question

I plan on posting up two drywall boards about an inch apart running parallel and then sealing off the ends and pouring concrete between the drywall to create a concrete wall. Will this work? any problems i need to worry about?

Answer 1

The weight of the concrete will force bulging. The may even break and, why ? you'll not get more then one board.

         This was all tried in WW2 in Las Vegas and other communities due to a shortage of wood. They made plywood with large holes in the and filled them with cement. I worked on many homes in that area made this way, I turned them down for work after a while, they're impossible to work on, ruining many drills and OTher tools.

         This is ot a unique idea, only old and already tried. And, in fact, they call it Cement board and you can get it from 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch for floors and walls with tile.

Answer 2

no.......ur wasting ur time and money....what ur doing is called 'forming" and the material ur thinking of using is not going to hold the presure of the concrete......i dont know how high u wnat to go but we form out of plwood and reinforce with 2x4 along the top and bottom and up the sides and then have to put n 45 deg. bracing........

lic. gen. contractor

Answer 3

A 1" concrete wall would be very weak if it was not reinforced.

Answer 4

Two problems with your plan:

1. Drywall will not work as a form material. It will absorb the water and weaken, allowing the concrete to possibly escape.

2. 1" thick concrete will not be strong enough to work as a wall. Concrete has very little strength in tension, and if anyone leaned against the wall, it might colapse. I would suggest a wall thickness of 3-4" with some rebar or wire fabric placed down the center. You will also need to vibrate the concrete as you place it to prevent air pockets (commonly called honeycombing). You will not be able to do this in a 1" thick wall.

Answer 5

get some plywood...drywall is not strong enough to hold the weight of wet concrete

Answer 6

no it will blow out on you. The weight of concrete would push that apart before you even had it a quarter full. drywall is intended to be a wall, NOT a concrete form!Dont even try it.

Answer 7

Drywall is suppose to stay dry. ANd yes Dale and the other person above are correct it will blow out on you. In fact the wall wont even last at 1" thick. You wont be able to shake out the air at the bottom (using a viberator) You wont have enough room to use any wire to reinforce it. Why would you want a 1" thick cement wall? My home has 6" thick walls and had to have 3/4" plywood both sides and 2X6 every foot for forming with 3/8" rebar tied every foot vertical and horizontal, Its never cracked and we used a viberator to eliminate the "honeycomb effect". If you use 1/2" plywood and 2X4's the forming will have to be every foot if your making a 8 ft tall wall.

Answer 8

even with stronger formwork this is a very thin wall and will have no strength at all.  why don't you try a precast product like CSR Hebel powerpanel or soundfence- 75mm (3 inches)thick reinforced lightweight concrete? just need end posts to secure it and you're all done.  comes in standard lengths 1200, 2400, 2700 and 3000 long by 600 wide.  depending on your site and intended use something like this is better structural option and a lot less messy.

Answer 9

I would recommend using sheets of foam as your "frame".  Drywall may be more of a hassle once it gets wet and absorbs water.  It will weaken...Foam will provide a much easier removal.  You could always splurge for some sheet of plywood...