Excuse me? You mean complete houses made of concrete, right? Frank Lloyd Wright build many homes this way- hotels, too. His use of concrete was over 100 years ago and it still happens. The inspectors told him they wouldn't allow his concrete lily pad roof support columns at the SC Johnson HQ because they didn't thing they would be able to support the load, so he built one, so it could be loaded with bags of sand and gravel. It was still standing when they exceeded seven times the maximum load support ability they required. If you're referring to poured basements, it's done all over the country.

However, central vac, shade pockets and accessories like these are small details to those who do it. Ever think about the amount of concrete in a dam? How about a nuclear reactor and its cooling tanks? Airport runways? Roadways that are over 12" thick and made to handle heavy vehicles?

If you want answers, contact this organization-

https://www.concrete.org/

In agreement.  Of course there are houses and other buildings made completely of concrete... still doesn't make it a common construction method in the US.  During your career how many homes & businesses have you been involved with during construction?  How many of them were all concrete?

When Wright built his homes, there were far less considerations than for a home now with all it's mechanical and electrical systems,  not to mention meeting current CA building requirements!



That's the problem... hardly anyone is doing this, so there are very few people with experience.  Trying to compare concrete dams, nuclear facilities, runways and roads to someones Living Room wall doesn't even make sense...


Do you really think that if I contact someone at www.concrete.org they'd instruct me on how to form in a central vac inlet?  I don't think they'd have any experience with this either.

Your statement guarantees that you will never know. If you call, they might not know, but you won't be outright guaranteed not to know!

This is a curious way to make a decision as to how to proceed. "I'm skeptical that they will have someone who can help me, so I'm not going to check."

I'd think they might put you in contact with some old fart who would love to instruct someone who doesn't know as much as he does. In fact, I sometimes call companies and ask for the information I need; if they have no idea what to say, I say,""I tell you what... would you let me talk to the oldest fart on your staff? Maybe he'll have some ideas."

People love to share what they know, and perhaps even love to be challenged to think of something in terms they haven't thought of before. You're proving that just by doing this project!

You are brave! I wouldn't touch this with a 8 foot stick (of PVC).

In agreement Ernie... I'm not certain, but I'm 90% sure the call would be a waste of time.  I'd rather focus my time to create some mock-ups that can be test poured so I can be certain that I have a solution that will work.

Look for Wright's concrete buildings in California and Japan.

If someone (Wright) could design cantilevered concrete houses in the early 1900s, they can do it now.

They might not give specific info about central vac, but they could certainly tell you about how the spaces in walls, floors and ceilings will affect the structural integrity and how to avoid failure. Call some concrete contractors and ask about it.

[Link: google.com]

Thank you, but I don't need any help figuring out how the spaces in wall, floors and ceiling will affect the structural integrity and how to avoid failure.  The entire house has been fully engineered and I've got a 346 page set of plans that spells out all the particulars on what is and is not allowable (just the electrical submittal and electrical sheets combined are more than 40 pages).

I worked with the architect and client for almost a year in planning before construction started.  The architect has designed and built concrete houses in the past, the concrete contractor on the job is very experienced and has built concrete houses before and the builder is very capable, just no one has done central vac in a house like this.

I appreciate all the suggestions... was just hoping maybe someone here had already done it and could provide some direct experience.  I have several ideas and have already discussed these with the builder.  Need to take the next step which is to mock-up a few designs and then do a test pour to see what happens.

The house has been under construction since last fall and I've already been setting wall boxes and conduit in concrete walls for the mechanical room and cabana which sits above it.  The concrete walls where the central vac inlets need to be located won't be poured for some time... house won't be complete until 2020.

You're not in agreement. Apparently I didn't express myself well.

You should call the concrete guys* and ask about this because there is a chance you'll get some great information. Not calling guarantees that a possible source of help cannot ever ever ever help you.

*After reading your latest post, maybe you should have called them, as well as started this thread, at least a year ago.

Hi Ernie,

I was in agreement that if I don't call them, I'll never know... you make a very valid point.

I did contact cvac reps, manufacturers and commercial/industrial installers a long time ago and no one could provide any information or advice.

Because of this, I think the chance of someone at a concrete organization having direct experience with this is even less likely.  I expect their focus is more on municipal stuff like building bridges than on forming in cvac inlets.

I still have a few months (at least) to figure this out, and now that the concrete contractor is onsite with the form board they are using for the walls I can work with them to make some mock ups that they can fill during the next pour to test.

The builder has a guy that can fabricate metal boxes (or about anything else I might need) so just need to get to work sorting it out.  We're already doing some similar work to recess Lutron keypads plus pool/spa controls & cover switches in exterior walls.  All the devices will be recessed into the concrete in custom fabricated stainless steel back boxes with stainless steel covers that flip down for access.

Damn, getting on arguably the best CI in biz and certainly here about a phone call and whether concrete is widely used in the US for complete residential builds? You guys are savage. I've only ever dealt with full concrete in Manhattan so I'm in agreement with Paul that is is very rare here in the states.

I would talk to H-P Products....their disty brand is Dirt Devil but they do very high end stuff too....they have full on metal pipe bending in house as well.

Contact the AIA- they should be able to tell you where concrete construction for residences is happening.

How is a central vac line different from plumbing and electrical conduit, which would also need to pass through or be situated in the concrete?

BTW- central vac WAS an option in the very early part of the 1900s- I have worked on a house that was built in 1905 and the 3rd floor had a brass cap on a fitting in the base molding outside of a closet, leading to a 2" pipe coming out over the basement stairway landing. It could have been installed after the place had been built, but it would have been a real bitch. They had vacuum cleaners, so a wealthy person who wanted central vac wasn't much of a stretch.

Do you think this is a totally unique build? Don't bet on it.

Again - why not just use 2" sch 80 PVC with the adapters on the ends?

Thanks again guys, but the problem isn't really the plumbing... already have some of the adapters and sch 80 pipe and fittings to play with.

The part I haven't worked out yet is how to create a form or box for the inlets that will be poured into concrete walls.  They are powered inlets so I need to bring conduit in for the low-voltage control wire and the electrical contractor will need to bring in conduit for high-voltage power.

The vac pipe will also need to sweep up into these and line up in a way that I can install the inlet after the wall is poured.  The walls in some areas are 15ft high so there's going to be lots of pressure on everything and the concrete is about the same consistency as pancake batter so everything needs to be sealed up tight so the concrete doesn't get in.

The form boards are too thick to make any kind of box out of so I'm going to have to fabricate something out of steel.  I have a few ideas, but have some other priorities on this job and another job so probably won't test anything out for a few more weeks.

Saw this online Paul.  Looks like they're in Bakersfield?   If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, it looks like they make/have inlets designed for concrete walls?

[Link: builtinvacuum.com]