Composite House Goes Up in Two Days.

A house whose exterior walls consist of FRP composite-skinned panels with insulating foam cores is being marketed by PDG Domus in Columbus, Ohio. The demonstration house pictured here was assembled in two days, using a crane-like boom to hoist prefabricated box sections into place. Even the roof consists of self-supporting FRP panels without conventional rafters. The basic house skeleton is a steel box. Floors are steel plates. PDG's CEO Nathan Pingel plans to manufacture future homes using pultruded FRP frames instead of steel.

The five major components that compose the house each measure roughly l0 x 10 x 20 ft. The outer skins are a composite of glass cloth and mat, ceramic fibers, and 30% fire-resistant Modar modified-acrylic thermoset resin from the Composite Polymers Div. of Ashland Specialty Chemical Co., Dublin, Ohio. A blend of resin and chopped ceramic fibers is simultaneously pumped and vacuum-drawn into a closed RTM-type mold that has previously received a fire-resistant gel-coat by spraying or roll coating.

The panels' inner skin is steel studs bonded to drywall. After inserting electrical conduit, the two skins are bonded together in a press using Ashland's Pliogrip urethane adhesive. The panel remains in the press while isocyanurate foam is injected between the skins. The wall sections are assembled to the box frame in-plant. Then, when the house is assembled on-site, the wall sections have steel members that slide into slots in the steel frame and are fastened with screws and adhesive.