• brachypelmide@lemmy.zip
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    12 days ago

    I’ve always wondered, how do you cast concrete vertically? I’ve never really seen it being done, so maybe this is something obvious.

    • tburkhol@lemmy.world
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      12 days ago

      Build a form strong enough to hold the concrete, pour the concrete, take down the form. Essentially, you build two wooden walls, make the concrete wall between then, then remove the wooden walls. ICF lets you build the form like LEGO and leave it mostly in place after.

      • LH0ezVT@sh.itjust.works
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        12 days ago

        Wasn’t that semi-standard to build large, sturdy buildings just some years ago? I swear “concrete with wood pattern etched on” was the background to all my high school memories.

        • tburkhol@lemmy.world
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          12 days ago

          Absolutely. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brutalist_architecture Uncommon for small residential projects, even then. Now, I feel like it’s more common to build poured-concrete floors supported by columns, which gives them a lot more flexibility in what the facade looks like - more glass & natural light, shiny metal patterns, fancy colors. There’s a couple buildings I remember thinking, “Wow, they put a really realistic wood grain pattern in that concrete - is that supposed to fool us into thinking it is wood?” before I realized it’s just that they were too lazy to cover up the molding texture.