Ferrocement - a simple, cheap, long lasting building medium

Ferro means iron, and although we do not use iron in ferrocement, we do use steel, an iron alloy.
The cement we use is Portland cement, a form of limestone.
Cement is used to encapsulate the steel mesh in thin layers forming the walls of the tanks. This method utilizes the compressive strength of cement and tensile strength for a marriage of unequal quality.

Ferrocement was first used back in the 1850s, by the great French architect Henri Labrouste, a Boulogne gardener Joseph Monier and a country gentleman named Jean-Louis Lambot. They made plaster vaults, flower pots, doors and boats. In 1876 mechanical engineer W.E. Ward built a ferrocement house in Port Chester, New York which is still in good condition!

Ferrocement boat built in 1887 and still afloat today.

The building of our tanks is modeled off that of Martin Iorns and Lou Watson who invented and patented this building process in the 1960s called laminated ferrocement - the use of a mold to accurately reproduce super strong and long-lasting boats. And their boats are still in great condition today! We took their idea a step further to make water tanks and integrate a modular system for off-site manufacturing of the tank sections.

A ferrocement boat built by Fibersteel, Iorns' and Watson's company, in 1978.

We make pre-cast modular water tanks in 2 foot tall sections. Currently we make a 3 foot diameter water tank, but will have other sizes available in the future. The bottom section (seen in below photo) includes the 2 foot tall sidewalls and a bottom, then we can stack additional 2 foot tall sidewall sections on top of the using a male-female compression lip. This allows the sections to nest snugly against each other. Then we seal the seal with a super-strong industrial polyurethane sealant which is potable grade so it does not affect water quality.

The short modular sections allow for an easier casting/curing process and make it much easier to move the sections around. Once cured, we roll them on our trailer and right into your yard where we stack them together, then add a lid. This way we don't need big cranes or a lot of space for installation.

Bottom section being placed on gravel frame, ready for second section.

Our laminated ferrocement building process uses approximately 80 percent less cement that conventional reinforced concrete and is far stronger and does not crack as is often seen in foundations, bridges, other cement structures. The walls of our tanks are only 3/8" thick but super strong and will hold your water for decades to come!