As Materials Prices Rise, One Phoenix-Based Company Is Building Homes With Foam
Supply chain disruptions have sent building materials prices soaring across the United States, but rather than slowing the pace of new construction, regional construction companies are finding innovative ways to build new homes. Phoenix-based Strata International Group is bypassing a lumber shortage by instead using foam to construct new homes.
The material is able to withstand winds over 200 miles per hour, and it’s also earthquake-proof, hurricane-proof, and fire-resistant, Fox 10 Phoenix reports. Best of all, the cost of Strata’s preferred building material has remained mostly unchanged over the past year, meaning that a new home constructed with foam can be 10% to 50% cheaper than one built with traditional materials.
At what could be the world's quietest construction site, machinery to cut wood is replaced with crews heating up a wire with crews heating up a wire with a battery pack, stretch it out, and slice the foam like butter. They then glue it to the rest of the house with a glue that turns into more foam. Eventually, the foam is covered in a thin layer of concrete formula, and people would not be able to tell the home was made from foam.
"So, it is 100% breathable 100% livable. FDA approved and 100% recyclable," said Amir Saebi with Strata International Group.