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| Foam House |
| Foam blocks take over from bricks and mortar to block out Queensland summers. |
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Just over 5 years ago a couple built their dream home in the town of Eumundi on Queensland's Central Coast. Their home is far from regular, having been built without standard materials such as timber, bricks, mortar or paint.
The foam house was designed and built by husband and wife Bob and Chris Cameron. They describe it as a cross between a Santa Fe style and a modern Queenslander. The home is a showcase for special colourful coatings that plasterer Bob developed to colour the unusual foam block construction. The challenge that faced Bob was to protect the home from the harsh Queensland summers and from this experience the couple established their own company, ROCKCOTE, which employs more than 20 people and exports worldwide.
The richly coloured coatings used internally and externally overlay the unusual construction method of the house; built from hollow-core polystyrene blocks filled with concrete. The house was built in Bob's spare time, while he and his wife live in a garage on the property.
The doors and roof top plate are the only timber products in the house. The roof is made from "Ritec" a local material in which polystyrene is sandwiched between two layers of iron; making it self-supporting and insulating.
The Camerons decided to build with polystyrene after meeting with a company called Thermacell at a Brisbane home show. Basically, the blocks had two attractive features — ease of construction and excellent insulative qualities. Once the coating has been applied you could compare the cost to a house with a timber frame that has been plastered, then painted, however the beauty of the Rockcote coating is that you never have to paint again — unless you decide to change to colour.
The house has 10 rooms spread over two levels, incorporating a formal lounge room, formal dining room, kitchen, sunroom, 3 bedrooms, an office, a playroom and a library. While the floor appears to be tiled, it is a result of the process of rendering. To tile the house would have cost around $500,000, so Bob spent a week and $500 using a special Rockcote blend which incorporated local sand and white cement, plus coloured oxides. Bob mixed the coloured mortar, formed the tiles and trowelled them flat.
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More Info
Architectural Coatings
Contact Bob or Chris Cameron
Rockcote Enterprises Pty Ltd
18 Machinery Road,
Yandina
QLD 4561
Ph: 07 5446 7737
Fax: 07 5446 8303
E-mail: sales@rockcote.com.au
Rockcote custom match any colour from paint-charts, fabrics and accessories.
Polystyrene blocks supplied by Geoff and Joan Bennett:
Thermacell Australia
197 Bungower Rd (Po Box 447)
Somerville
VIC 3912
PH: 03 5977 7996 or mobile 0414 664 500
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Disclaimer
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