A company in Mexicali is making what are
called Insteel 3- D panels; each panel has a core of polystyrene flanked with mesh wire
and connected with galvanized truss wires. They come in 2", 2.5", and 4"
thick 4' panels, but other sizes may be ordered. They are inexpensive and lightweight,
permitting rapid erection of walls with only a few laborers. A 2500 sq. ft. 2-story shell
can be put up in one day with this material. Once erected, the walls are machine-sprayed
on the interior and exterior with a concrete product called shotcrete to a thickness of
1.5". The R-factor of a 4" wall is 18. These panels meet all VA, FHA, and HUD
thermal requirements.
3-D panels are environmentally friendly; they are made with recycled steel; the
polystyrene core does not deplete forestry products and does not contain chloro-
fluoro-carbons. Buildings made with these panels are remarkably strong, having withstood
an earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale in California and Hurricane Andrew in
Florida.
These are some pictures of a Southwest style home I built in La Quinta, CA. This single
story 4 bedroom house is around 2400 sq. ft and has 17 ft high walls.
The truck of panels was unloaded easily by
hand in about 20 minutes. The lengths of the panels were precut at the factory.
The 17ft high walls took 2 days to erect.
At the connections of the panels a 12" wide wire mech was stapled on.
The ledger for the roof system was
installed prior to concrete. #9 re-bar was welded to the 4" by 4" by 1/4"
angle iron ledger. The re-bar was used to insure the correct spacing between the ledger
and the panels. The rebar was then tie wired to the panels to hold up the ledger system.
The TJI roof joists were installed every
4ft to the ledger before the concrete was applied.
Flexible PVC conduit was used for the
electrical conduit. The flexible PVC was very easy to use and inexpensive.
The gas lines were a little difficult since they had to be incased and vented to the out.
Nailing the perimeter of the roof
sheathing was difficult since it was a steel ledger system.
The interior walls were done with metal
studs and drywall.
