Inhabitat » GRANCRETE: Quick-dry sprayable concrete

April 25, 2005

GRANCRETE: Quick-dry sprayable concrete

Grancrete, sprayable concrete, sprayable ceramic, spray on concrete, sustainable building

Grancrete, developed by Dr. Arun Wagh at Argonne National Laboratory, is a sprayable ceramic that is stronger than concrete, fire resistant and provides good insulation in both hot and cold climates. Dr.Wagh, the developer, is originally from India, and wants to see Grancrete used as a cheap and efficient building material for the poor. He believes that anyone will be able to erect an effecient house in a matter of hours, simply by creating a house frame out of styrofoam (or natural materials) and then coating the outside with Grancete. Dr. Wagh hopes the United Nations and other international organizations will subsidize mass-scale production around the world. Once this product goes to market, one can only imagine the other less socially responsible uses people will think up with for Grancrete.

Grancrete was listed in R&D Magazine?s top 100 innovations in 2004.

via Worldchanging

23 Responses to “GRANCRETE: Quick-dry sprayable concrete”

Robert Juengel Says:

May 26th, 2005 at 7:44 pm

I need a source for this … somewhere the material can be purchased. Does anyone know from whom it can be purchased?

ginger Says:

May 27th, 2005 at 1:22 pm

homes could be built using any shape or curve. Curved windows and doors will be easier. Sculptured housing and furniture could be cheap, easy and fast. What would be the quickest, cheapest way to build the framework? Use wire netting to make a shape and then coat it? You could build a house from branches and tree trunks (using their organic shapes) and not worry if it was strong enough because it could be covered in fine netting or fabric and then sprayed with Grancrete. Would Grancrete be strong enough to build stairs? Would it take wear and tear? Maybe you could recycle furniture that has a nice shape but is not strong or is in bad condition (build up first with Styrofoam to alter the shape?) and just coat it with Grancrete and use as outdoor furniture? Build garden urns and ornate raised beds? Build a cute shed or chicken coop? Recycle old computers and telephones into ceramic art? Turn straw baskets into ceramic bowls? Turn old store mannequins into statues? Grancrete will be loved by artists. Wonder if colour can be added. Or can things be stuck to the Grancrete before it dries (twigs, beads, shells, feathers, metals, plastics, Mylar, etc).

Michelle Arthurs Says:

May 29th, 2005 at 2:42 pm

I would be interested in building with this material. Is it available in South Florida for residnetial construction? It it certified under the Martin County, Palm Beach County and Broward Dade Counties’ stringent building codes?

Jill Fehrenbacher Says:

May 29th, 2005 at 5:58 pm

Hi Guys-
As far as I can tell, Grancrete is not available on the market yet, nor has it been tested to meet any building codes in the U.S, as the product is still being tested. If anyone is able to find out anymore information about people currently using Grancrete, I would love to hear it. There is a long and interesting comment thread at Future Feeder on this subject matter: http://futurefeeder.com/index.php/archives/2005/02/07/grancrete-spray-form-building/

david benefield Says:

June 5th, 2005 at 9:34 pm

Please send ALL and ANY information on this product available in GA. I pump concrete for a living . I would be very intrested in finding out about franchise information if available in GA, FL, AL.
Thank you for all your help and support,
David Benefield

mark vandekieft Says:

June 6th, 2005 at 5:26 pm

Would like to use product in Mexico and want more info.

Jill Fehrenbacher Says:

June 6th, 2005 at 5:30 pm

Hi there - I just want to clarify a point of confusion here. Inhabitat is a weblog and I write about cool things I see. I am not a retailer, and I am not selling Grancrete, nor do I have any information about it other than what I have posted here. If you’d like more information about Grancrete, try following the links in this post, google “Grancrete”, or talk to your local building supplier. Thanks - Jill

Paul Welcome Says:

September 20th, 2005 at 1:36 am

I am very interested in using grancrete to build a house in Belize and would like more information on the equipment needed to spray on grancrete and if you have house plans.

Paul Peterson Says:

October 14th, 2005 at 3:44 pm

I’m left wondering why this product has not found its way to the homeless left after the Tsunami, Hurricane and the Earth Quake in Pakistan?

craig Says:

November 1st, 2005 at 8:39 pm

way isn’t being used in the hurricane damage area… I suspect because it’s up against traditional building materials that have a hold on the mindset of those who make these decisions.

I too would like to build with this. But I can not find the information I need here or at sales office for Grancrete. They just want to sell the stuff and are not prepared to answer basic questions. What’s it’s setup time… can you use standard shotcrete machiner… Can I color the mix… Does it need an additives to smooth the flow rate. What size aggregate?
Does it stick to steel?

gordon blanchard Says:

November 6th, 2005 at 4:13 pm

Hi I would like to try building a house in NH with styrofoam and gancrete. However, it would be helpful to have plans and sources of materials. Also, any info on franchises . Thanks

James Jones Says:

November 16th, 2005 at 1:14 pm

Just to echo the earlier responses you have had; I would be interested in franchise opportunities for this product and I can forsee many ways for it to be adapted and used in everyday construction. Please forward me any info on product pre release or availablity. Thanks

Alan Says:

November 17th, 2005 at 4:44 pm

I’d like to be informed about the physical characteristics of the product. Namely, application thickness, strength, shear values, muodulous of elasticity, etc.

Jon Says:

November 18th, 2005 at 1:40 am

order Grancrete here
http://www.grancrete.net/order_10.htm

nick Says:

November 22nd, 2005 at 5:42 pm

Grancrete has been released at Grancrete.net, however due to overwhelming response their website has gone over the bandwidth limits (thank that huge 80mb+ video they have) I have a phone number / email for anyone interested in purchasing.

$22.50 / 50lb bag (covers 15 sq ft)
$20.50 / 50lb bag for orders of 11 pallets or more

Patrick Briley Says:

November 28th, 2005 at 4:24 am

If anyone has already had a building experience with this product I would love it if you would contact me. I have a host of questions ranging from application to costing. I have entertained the thought of using this product but need a little more information before ordering the amount of product I will need to make my project happen. Thanks for your help guys.

Barry Says:

November 28th, 2005 at 2:13 pm

Characterized as a environmentally safe, biochemical habitable, ceramic tough, quick dry, earthquake, hurricane and extreme weather resistant along with superior load bearing structural capacity has all the ingredients for incredible design capabilities and credible cost saving advantages.
However they have a WEB site you can?t get to, everyone has questions and no one replies with positive results of demonstrations. No one seems to have a clue of its existence and looking at all the hype it seems to be another Internet hoax. I just cannot let the possibility be brushed aside because after all it has been kicking around for a while in all the home building and scientific magazines so there must be some merit to the stories. I suspect all the SIP and IFC manufactures along with the lumber giants and whatever labor unions they threaten are beating them to death with all the legal technicalities they can muster up.

W.T. Engledow Says:

January 4th, 2006 at 8:09 pm

Do you have chemical make up of grancrete?

Tom Cook Says:

January 7th, 2006 at 3:24 pm

Me too! Got tons of questions re: grancrete. I’m interested in building a whole house, including the hard slab floor w/radiant heat. Is it strong enough? Can I make it stronger, like for a garage floor?

Would like to chat with anyone with some answers.

Tom Cook
tcook@centric.net
406-273-4663

crystal le Says:

January 20th, 2006 at 10:46 pm

please send me any and all info on grancrete! i am very interested and excited about this product and would like learn more of it!

wbj Says:

January 23rd, 2006 at 8:19 pm

This whole setup (composition of product name, .net designation for web site, insufficient information to make any objective assessment, idea of “micro fabrication”, unresponsiveness to e-mails, etc.) has so much in common with another product with similar attractive properties - GigaCrete, that it is becoming more and more difficult to see this as anything else than a stock pumping scheme.
If I am wrong, and I wish I were, please GranCrete and/or GigaCrete folks do something to convince us that whatever you promote is not vaporware.

plaster jon Says:

January 7th, 2008 at 11:32 pm

I have worked extensivley with grancrete in exterior installations. My background is in stucco systems. What I have found is the product doesn’t fully live up to it’s claimes. we have had problems with cracking, color fadeing and delamination. I feel there needs to be more true testing in different enviorments (not a lab). We have also encountered problems with Grancrete standing behind the product the way we feel they should. I have a 13,000 sq. ft. project that is half finished and is stalled until spring in hopes that Grancrete can figure things out. Even with the problems my self and the homeowners hope to be able to continue to work with Grancrete but if we can’t get answers form them on why we are haveing the problems we will be forced to go back to synthetic or conventional stucco. we have been consulting grancrete before and during the project to apply the material the way they suggest

Scott Says:

February 5th, 2008 at 4:42 pm

Hey Jon I sell Grancrete in Centeral Amercia and would like to talk to you about your experience with the material I havent had any complications with it but would love to here about your projects and see how Grancrete corp helped. my contact info is 708-259-6600

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