Old vs. New: Concrete

Ed pointed out this discussion taking place on another blog regarding the durability of the concrete used in Roman times vs. what we have to work with now.  I thought it was really interesting, considering that folks building a castle with non-traditional methods might choose a concrete reinforced structure as a building option. 

The author's opinion is that reinforcing concrete ruins it, causing splitting and cracking; adding too much water to the mix is bad (Roman concrete was "zero slump"), that ancient structure's longevity is partial proof of this. 

I think he is partially correct.  Yes, steel will rust and expand, causing failure of the concrete.  Without a doubt.  But there are some major differences between then and now in construction philosophy.  I'd be willing to bet that an Roman engineer, presented with re-bar and shown its abilities, would have fired half the workforce used to build those massive structures and put it in his concrete!


So, the Romans used rubble walls with stone or brick cladding.  This allows for a lot of flexing, and essentially makes a composite structure.  Even if the concrete begins to crack, the stone or brick will prevent it from going anywhere.  The structures were also massive, many feet thick.  This also prevents shifting or collapse.  Try building a one foot thick wall using Roman methods, I bet it never makes the 500 year mark, and would probably be lucky to make 100 years. 

Also, let's consider that reinforcing concrete allows us to build structures lighter, thinner, and higher than any Ancient Roman could have.  It also can prevent us from being buried under our structure in event of an earthquake, even if some of the concrete should fail. 

So, while I agree that re-bar is bad for longevity, the alternative is massive structures needing much more time, money and material; and that's from bridges to the slab under your house.

BTW it was nice to see the pics of Rome again, we were just there a couple of months ago and saw a lot of the same places.  We ate at that very pizza roach-coach in the foreground of the Pantheon picture.

Castle for Sale

I found this castle for sale in Hiram, Georgia. It looks to be of the "modified residence" type, but I can't tell for sure. The pictures lead me to believe that it was a regular house that has been remodeled and added to. If I had to guess, I'd say the exterior is concrete block and stucco. At any rate, you can have this 3,200 sq. ft. castle plus maid's quarters for $1.3M USD.

Rickman Castle

Rickman castle is a normal home modified to have castle like features.

Taking a look at the website, the builder has taken a normal home and put quite a bit of effort into creating the facade of a castle. It looks like a combination of wood, split faced concrete block along with a little bit of regular stone. Quite the transformation from the home it was before.

Dane Castle

Dane Castle is an owner built castle in PA.

This is the second owner built castle I've located in Pennsylvania (the other one here). This one appears to be constructed of what appears to be the current popular trend in owner built castles: Split faced concrete block. It's hard to tell from the site how much they might have done themselves though. A visit to the site shows that the owners have an impressive collection of reproduction medieval arms and armor, and do have the occasional tour available to interested party. There's more information on their website.

EDIT: I've emailed the owners of this castle at the address on their site a couple of times to see if they'd be willing to share info about their castle. I have received no reply. Sorry there isn't more information to share with readers out there.

A Pittsburgh, PA area castle:

Char Branstetter and Cara McCandless are a Pittsburgh area couple who've decided to build their own castle. They've also put together a website featuring the design they started with as well as construction photos. See the "Builders" links to the left.

Edit: Here's a link to their site: http://www.pitt.edu/~caram/castleindex.htm

EDIT II: I've emailed the owners a few times and have received no reply. Sorry castle-builders, it doesn't appear that there is any information forthcoming on this castle's construction or history.