Castle built of cinder blocks.

[JLGatsby]

I've been following these people who have this website about a castle they are building for themselves and by themselves (with their own hands).

Here is their homepage. http://www.dupontcastle.com/

Here are some pictures of their castle as it's still being built. http://www.dupontcastle.com/2005.htm

They're building this thing from stratch and by themselves, OUT OF CINDER BLOCKS.

I think they said it's going to be 7,500 square feet and will only cost about $300,000. On a price per square foot ratio, that's cheap.

I think this is amazing. It's been pretty cool to watch as it's built over the past few years since I first found the site.

 

[MikeMike]

one sledgehammer to a few appropriate spots and byebye house.

 

[jlee]

Interesting..

 

[JLGatsby]

Originally posted by: MIKEMIKE
one sledgehammer to a few appropriate spots and byebye house.

Well I believe the cinder blocks are cemented together somehow. I bet it's sturdier that most of these cheap cookie suburban homes.

 

[Pepsi90919]

Originally posted by: JLGatsby

Originally posted by: MIKEMIKE
one sledgehammer to a few appropriate spots and byebye house.

Well I believe the cinder blocks are cemented together somehow. I bet it's sturdier that most of these cheap cookie suburban homes.

i'd buy a house made out of cookies

 

[RCN]

Why is so amazing about it being built out of cinder blocks?

 

[Squisher]

I'd wanna bring a trebuchet if I ever visited.

 

[JLGatsby]

Originally posted by: RCN
Why is so amazing about it being built out of cinder blocks?

First of all, it's a castle.

Have you ever seen a house built of cinderblocks? As in, the cinderblocks being the exterior. I haven't.

Yes, I know cinderblocks are used to build houses, usually basements, but they don't serve as the entire exterior walls.

AND THEY'RE BUILDING IT THEMSELVES! ZOMG, WITH THEIR OWN TWO HANDS!

 

[Poulsonator]

I wonder what the resale value of something like that is.

 

[RCN]

Originally posted by: JLGatsby

Originally posted by: RCN
Why is so amazing about it being built out of cinder blocks?

First of all, it's a castle.

Have you ever seen a house built of cinderblocks? As in, the cinderblocks being the exterior. I haven't.

Yes, I know cinderblocks are used to build houses, usually basements, but they don't serve as the entire exterior walls.

AND THEY'RE BUILDING IT THEMSELVES! ZOMG, WITH THEIR OWN TWO HANDS!

Yes I have seen them. I grew up in one.

 

[Brackis]

I used to live, work, party, and eat in "one of the other 300 castles in the US".

Nickerson Castle in MA.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: JLGatsby

Originally posted by: RCN
Why is so amazing about it being built out of cinder blocks?

First of all, it's a castle.

Have you ever seen a house built of cinderblocks? As in, the cinderblocks being the exterior. I haven't.

Yes, I know cinderblocks are used to build houses, usually basements, but they don't serve as the entire exterior walls.

AND THEY'RE BUILDING IT THEMSELVES! ZOMG, WITH THEIR OWN TWO HANDS!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonry#Concrete_block

I wonder what their heating bill will be like.

 

[JLGatsby]

Originally posted by: Brackis
I used to live, work, party, and eat in "one of the other 300 castles in the US".

Nickerson Castle in MA.

Yeah but, you didn't build it yourself.

 

[K1052]

Check out the long range plan.

Holy fvck, thats a lot of concrete block. My back hurts just thinking about it.

 

[MikeMike]

Originally posted by: JLGatsby

Originally posted by: Brackis
I used to live, work, party, and eat in "one of the other 300 castles in the US".

Nickerson Castle in MA.

Yeah but, you didn't build it yourself.

id much rather a poured concrete wall for a house than a cinderblock house... cinderblocks provide VERY little insulation and any small shift can cause major cracks. im also wondering what they are using for joists as cinderblocks are inherently VERY unstable when stacked high without perpendicular support as you can tell when people backfill basements before the main floor has been set, or if the ground is wet and slides into the side of a basement before the main floor has been set.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: MIKEMIKE

Originally posted by: JLGatsby

Originally posted by: Brackis
I used to live, work, party, and eat in "one of the other 300 castles in the US".

Nickerson Castle in MA.

Yeah but, you didn't build it yourself.

id much rather a poured concrete wall for a house than a cinderblock house... cinderblocks provide VERY little insulation and any small shift can cause major cracks. im also wondering what they are using for joists as cinderblocks are inherently VERY unstable when stacked high without perpendicular support as you can tell when people backfill basements before the main floor has been set, or if the ground is wet and slides into the side of a basement before the main floor has been set.

How does one compensate for thermal expansion in a poured wall?

 

[pkananen]

also check out loveland castle, made by ONE man over 50 years, all the rocks carried in buckets from the river.

http://66.113.187.151/6.html

 

[DainBramaged]

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: JLGatsby

Originally posted by: RCN
Why is so amazing about it being built out of cinder blocks?

First of all, it's a castle.

Have you ever seen a house built of cinderblocks? As in, the cinderblocks being the exterior. I haven't.

Yes, I know cinderblocks are used to build houses, usually basements, but they don't serve as the entire exterior walls.

AND THEY'RE BUILDING IT THEMSELVES! ZOMG, WITH THEIR OWN TWO HANDS!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonry#Concrete_block

I wonder what their heating bill will be like.

Probably free if they chop the trees down around them.

 

[MikeMike]

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: MIKEMIKE

Originally posted by: JLGatsby

Originally posted by: Brackis
I used to live, work, party, and eat in "one of the other 300 castles in the US".

Nickerson Castle in MA.

Yeah but, you didn't build it yourself.

id much rather a poured concrete wall for a house than a cinderblock house... cinderblocks provide VERY little insulation and any small shift can cause major cracks. im also wondering what they are using for joists as cinderblocks are inherently VERY unstable when stacked high without perpendicular support as you can tell when people backfill basements before the main floor has been set, or if the ground is wet and slides into the side of a basement before the main floor has been set.

How does one compensate for thermal expansion in a poured wall?

im not sure, but poured walls are becoming very very common, my uncle knows a good amount about them since he does concrete finishing etc, and my GF's moms old house had them.

poured walls themselves carry an R rating of about 16 iirc, im sure you could find a LOT more info online than i know.

 

[Squisher]

You can insulate cider block walls, and you can stabilize the structure in may ways.

Cinder blocks are used a ton commercially and in areas of the country without local sources of lumber.

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: MIKEMIKE

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: MIKEMIKE

Originally posted by: JLGatsby

Originally posted by: Brackis
I used to live, work, party, and eat in "one of the other 300 castles in the US".

Nickerson Castle in MA.

Yeah but, you didn't build it yourself.

id much rather a poured concrete wall for a house than a cinderblock house... cinderblocks provide VERY little insulation and any small shift can cause major cracks. im also wondering what they are using for joists as cinderblocks are inherently VERY unstable when stacked high without perpendicular support as you can tell when people backfill basements before the main floor has been set, or if the ground is wet and slides into the side of a basement before the main floor has been set.

How does one compensate for thermal expansion in a poured wall?

im not sure, but poured walls are becoming very very common, my uncle knows a good amount about them since he does concrete finishing etc, and my GF's moms old house had them.

poured walls themselves carry an R rating of about 16 iirc, im sure you could find a LOT more info online than i know.

Insulated Concrete Forms are being used more and more in home construction. They provide an R rating of 30-40 or something crazy like that.

 

[MikeMike]

Originally posted by: K1052

Originally posted by: MIKEMIKE

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: MIKEMIKE

Originally posted by: JLGatsby

Originally posted by: Brackis
I used to live, work, party, and eat in "one of the other 300 castles in the US".

Nickerson Castle in MA.

Yeah but, you didn't build it yourself.

id much rather a poured concrete wall for a house than a cinderblock house... cinderblocks provide VERY little insulation and any small shift can cause major cracks. im also wondering what they are using for joists as cinderblocks are inherently VERY unstable when stacked high without perpendicular support as you can tell when people backfill basements before the main floor has been set, or if the ground is wet and slides into the side of a basement before the main floor has been set.

How does one compensate for thermal expansion in a poured wall?

im not sure, but poured walls are becoming very very common, my uncle knows a good amount about them since he does concrete finishing etc, and my GF's moms old house had them.

poured walls themselves carry an R rating of about 16 iirc, im sure you could find a LOT more info online than i know.

Insulated Concrete Forms are being used more and more in home construction. They provide an R rating of 30-40 or something crazy like that.

yea i knew they provided good insulation, but not that good.

i KNOW whenever i build my house i will use poured concrete walls.

 

[RCN]

Originally posted by: MIKEMIKE

Originally posted by: JLGatsby

Originally posted by: Brackis
I used to live, work, party, and eat in "one of the other 300 castles in the US".

Nickerson Castle in MA.

Yeah but, you didn't build it yourself.

id much rather a poured concrete wall for a house than a cinderblock house... cinderblocks provide VERY little insulation and any small shift can cause major cracks. im also wondering what they are using for joists as cinderblocks are inherently VERY unstable when stacked high without perpendicular support as you can tell when people backfill basements before the main floor has been set, or if the ground is wet and slides into the side of a basement before the main floor has been set.

In most cases they are reinforced with steel and concrete in the hollows.

Shifts also cause cracks in conctrete walls.

Blocks also provide quite of bit of insulation and can still be insulated on the inside. Also helps in sound proofing.

They are better than stronger than wood, termites don't eat concrete, and stand up a bit better to fires.

They are all over the south......

 

[Squisher]

Originally posted by: MIKEMIKE

Originally posted by: K1052

Originally posted by: MIKEMIKE

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: MIKEMIKE

Originally posted by: JLGatsby

Originally posted by: Brackis
I used to live, work, party, and eat in "one of the other 300 castles in the US".

Nickerson Castle in MA.

Yeah but, you didn't build it yourself.

id much rather a poured concrete wall for a house than a cinderblock house... cinderblocks provide VERY little insulation and any small shift can cause major cracks. im also wondering what they are using for joists as cinderblocks are inherently VERY unstable when stacked high without perpendicular support as you can tell when people backfill basements before the main floor has been set, or if the ground is wet and slides into the side of a basement before the main floor has been set.

How does one compensate for thermal expansion in a poured wall?

im not sure, but poured walls are becoming very very common, my uncle knows a good amount about them since he does concrete finishing etc, and my GF's moms old house had them.

poured walls themselves carry an R rating of about 16 iirc, im sure you could find a LOT more info online than i know.

Insulated Concrete Forms are being used more and more in home construction. They provide an R rating of 30-40 or something crazy like that.

yea i knew they provided good insulation, but not that good.

i KNOW whenever i build my house i will use poured concrete walls.

This particular house looks pretty tall, pouring a wall that tall is impractical.

 

[MikeMike]

Originally posted by: Squisher

Originally posted by: MIKEMIKE

Originally posted by: K1052

Originally posted by: MIKEMIKE

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: MIKEMIKE

Originally posted by: JLGatsby

Originally posted by: Brackis
I used to live, work, party, and eat in "one of the other 300 castles in the US".

Nickerson Castle in MA.

Yeah but, you didn't build it yourself.

id much rather a poured concrete wall for a house than a cinderblock house... cinderblocks provide VERY little insulation and any small shift can cause major cracks. im also wondering what they are using for joists as cinderblocks are inherently VERY unstable when stacked high without perpendicular support as you can tell when people backfill basements before the main floor has been set, or if the ground is wet and slides into the side of a basement before the main floor has been set.

How does one compensate for thermal expansion in a poured wall?

im not sure, but poured walls are becoming very very common, my uncle knows a good amount about them since he does concrete finishing etc, and my GF's moms old house had them.

poured walls themselves carry an R rating of about 16 iirc, im sure you could find a LOT more info online than i know.

Insulated Concrete Forms are being used more and more in home construction. They provide an R rating of 30-40 or something crazy like that.

yea i knew they provided good insulation, but not that good.

i KNOW whenever i build my house i will use poured concrete walls.

This particular house looks pretty tall, pouring a wall that tall is impractical.

building a house that tall is impractical.

if i were to build a huge multistory house, underground i go. makes it less assuming and the cops cant yell at me for noise at 3 am when i have like 80 ppl over.