What type of floating foundation?
In the case of a floating home, think of the hull as the foundations of a house. What are the key ingredients required? It needs to be strong, require little or no maintenance, and be financially viable.
Now consider the traditional method of using steel to build houseboat hulls in the UK. It comes riddled with problems: rust, high maintenance and poor longevity. However, a hull made of reinforced concrete or a mixture of concrete and EPS is strong, does not rot, requires no maintenance and has excellent longevity (in many cases, better than a house). Of course it is built to float, but, like the foundations of a house, most of the structure sits below the ground; or in this case, the water.
Benefits of a floating foundation using concrete
Whether it be for a residential floating home, office, restaurant, clubhouse or other commercial structure, there are many benefits in using a floating foundation built using materials that are already used in the construction industry for the rest of the superstructure. For our first prototype floating home measuring 16m x 4.3m we have used a reinforced concrete hull.
- Maintenance free.
- No antifouling or treatment needed.
- Very large floating foundations can be built using the FlexBase system.
- Enables floating homes to be seen as buildings so they can have build regulations applied to them.
- Fantastic longevity when compared to steel hulls (in fact, even better than many house foundations).
Concrete and EPS is eco friendly
Concrete is extremely long lasting therefore its carbon footprint is reduced over time. EPS is 96% air.