Tilt up concrete walls

[ForceFed70]

The window beside my desk at work offers me a great view of construction happening next door. It's a big logistics building/warehouse.

The construction technique is pretty cool. They're finished the slab, and started a whole bunch of forming on top of the slab. After a week of puzzling, I think I figured out what's going on. They're pouring concrete walls that will be tilted up in place.

Technique looks pretty neat. They pour about 4" of concrete with rebar, place 3" of foam board insulation on top, then pour another 4" of concrete with rebar. Basically making a concrete and foam sandwich with a bunch of tie bars going through the foam to connect the 2 sides of rebar.

Perhaps the future of garage construction?

 

[Doozer75]

Tilt wall construction has been around for a long time.

-Doozer

 

[SARG]

That's the primary technique used in Mexico to build all the new factories.

 

[mike in tucson]

Tilt up was first used in America in 1905 according to Wickipedia. I thought I had invented it when I was about 6 years old but my dad (who worked with concrete every day) told me that I was a bit late on my invention.

 

[Cyberbear]

When I studied architecture in 1966 I watched them pour and lift up the floor and walls of a new gymnasium. The floor slabs were pre-tensioned as were the flat roof units which made them water proof. Very interesting as I watched them lift the large floor slabs by hydraulic means and screw jacks and welded the pieces into place.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I think it's more common these days to purchase the tilt up walls already fabricated - they're built in a factory, then trucked to the site and erected.

 

[Nexussian]

A family friend built his two story house that way, had to find the right inspector (inspectors that had yet to gain any gray freaked out when they saw it, "you can't use that in residential!", "why not?" amazing when you get an experienced, non beligerent inspector what you can accomplish).

 

[wolfhawk73]

Perhaps the future of garage construction?

My dad's best friend's first big workshop was built this way a little over 30 years ago. He poured a roughly 60x40 slab and formed the walls on top. I don't think he used layers of foam, though. When the walls were still wet he sprinkled small river rock on them so they would have that texture on the outside. When all the walls were lifted in place they were anchored to the floor with angle iron, and he hand-framed the roof. He built steel trolleys in the larger room so he could move his equipment and projects around. He often bought old equipment from the pulp mill where he worked, so he had a nice collection of metal-turning lathes, mills, and presses. It was an impressive place, especially for me when I was a kid. Hell, even as an adult.

 

[CSRPenFab]

95% of commercial warehouse and industrial buildings in CA are tilt up poured in place concrete. Glu-lam beams into wall pockets, sopported by metal columns for the plywood decked roof. It's amazing to watch how quickly they can build massive space this way. Amazon just opened a 1 million square foot distribution warehouse near me, all tilt up.

 

[shelteredV]

This is not popular around here at all however, just yesterday I saw a line of trucks at a jobsite that had what looked like stress skin panels made with concrete. Actually looks very cool with wire lath already on them ready for stucco. They basically erected an approx 5000 s.f. house shell in a day.

 

[southalabama]

Never seen it here. I've seen plenty of prefab panels come in on truck and lifted into place.

 

[mikegt4]

I can't believe that people haven't seen them, maybe they just haven't noticed. Around here probably 95% of new warehouse and big box stores are made with tilt up concrete walls and have been for decades.

 

[brownbagg]

we do alot of them, both ways, prefab and poured on site. only problem, you need a big crane and a good welder before you can release them

 

[Joemctag]

Worked erecting a lot of them along with the interior steel columns, trusses, roof joists, roof deck. When you’re at Home Depot, just look up. Panels too big to be trucked in. Why made on site . Formed and poured stacked 3 high on interior slab, which is 6 to 8 ft in from where tilt up panels will be stood. The panels have special lifting fittings cast into them or provisions for fittings to be bolted to them. Diagonal erection braces are hammer drilled in before lifting . Panels sit on concrete piers about 5 ft below floor level. Panel Brice’s booted to slab, have a turnbuckle to plumb. Shins on piers get the elevation right. Then interior steel. Trusses, joists, beams can go into pockets o in panel or rest on brackets welded to plates embedded in the panel. The good side (outside) of the panels are on the bottom when cast (poured). Last, the area between the panels and the slab is filled in, compacted and floor poured.

 

[blacksporty]

They are all over here, my building that I lease was made that way, been around at least 40 years.

 

[brownbagg]

we do alot of them, its a little hairy till you get them welded off, you always think one going fall.

we pour the footer that has a big groove in it, The tilt up will set in that groove. the wall have embeded weld plate so you can weld off, once all four side are up, we pour the slab so the bottom of the walls are tied in. some roofs are joist trusses and i have seen concrete roofs too

 

[nadogail]

Tilt Up's are very common in San Diego County, probably all over Southern CA, and probably beyond.

 

[manwithtools]

Tilt Up's are very common in San Diego County, probably all over Southern CA, and probably beyond.

They are the most common form of construction of large warehouse type structures all over the US. They have been in wide spread use for over 40 years that I can think of.

 

[QwikKotaTx]

That's the primary technique used in Mexico to build all the new factories.

Is that where they practice first?

Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk

 

[egdede]

Naw, they learned from the foolish mistakes made just over the border to the north.

 

[stillnostrebor]

I am on year 31 of my career in a Prestressed Concrete plant, where we make the prefabricated version of this process. Our company is over 60 years old... the prestressing industry started domestically in 1952.

It is a fascinating industry that does much, much more than warehouse construction.

 

[Jeepster04]

How does it anchor to the footing?

Do they vibrate the concrete around the rebar?

 

[A**holes Garage]

don't let one of those wall fall on you...ugly

 

[CN Spots]

A slab is expensive enough. I don't want to pay for 4 more.

 

[cvairwerks]

There is another 6+ million square feet of warehouses going up on my route home. Two mobile batch plants were brought in to do all the concrete work. From the slab being complete, it's about three weeks before they are hanging steel for the roof work. Wall sections look to be about 16' wide and 60' tall.

 

[1931S/X]

I worked on a few tilt up jobs. Making them on site, setting them, and setting the pre fab ones. I want to say the ones made on site were around 50 ton.

 

[2Rocky]

I'm going to resurrect this post since my Great Grandfather built 3 buildings on our 100 year old ranch this way...Of course back then it was purely DIY and no inspection.

Since it is basically an above ground Basement, what would an engineer look at to determine if you could build a second story on a 9 ft high tipup wall?

 

[sjvicker]

I'm going to resurrect this post since my Great Grandfather built 3 buildings on our 100 year old ranch this way...Of course back then it was purely DIY and no inspection.

Since it is basically an above ground Basement, what would an engineer look at to determine if you could build a second story on a 9 ft high tipup wall?

Wall thickness, base attachment, foundation, compressive strength, rebar schedule.

I bet if you wanted to add a second story an engineer would design piers and footings so your first floor walls aren't load bearing.

 

[PopcornSutton]

I have worked around the Washington DC area my whole career, tiltups were a thing at one time. Precast has taken over the warehouse/parking garage/data center work. The concrete is poured and cured in a controlled environment, they batch their own concrete, they have made it work well. They are never out of work.

 

[strength_and_power]

Our modular vaults are along the same lines. Stand the panels up and weld them together. Building a box inside a box to store boxes of Jewelry, art, weed, all things valuable.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I'm going to resurrect this post since my Great Grandfather built 3 buildings on our 100 year old ranch this way...Of course back then it was purely DIY and no inspection.

Since it is basically an above ground Basement, what would an engineer look at to determine if you could build a second story on a 9 ft high tipup wall?

The engineer may need a time machine to know what's inside the walls - the strength of the concrete, is there any steel rebar and if so what's the size and spacing, and so on. I agree they may want to design piers and footings to support the second story, instead of relying on the existing walls.

 

[Dagny]

A few years ago we made a very large walk in cooler for a cheese factory this way. I didn't do the concrete just the electrical and refrigeration. When we were almost done a crew came and jackhammered several large holes out of the floor. I was puzzled so I went and asked why. they have to make the floor perfectly flat so the walls are straight. They were making a slope towards the floor drains.

 

[driftpin]

It's amazing to watch how quickly they can build massive space this way.

don't let one of those wall fall on you...ugly

One of my neighbors, like me, is a retired firefighter/paramedic. He worked for Miami-Dade County Fire-Rescue, I worked for an adjoining dept here in S.E. FL. We often swapped stories about work. Whether EMS calls or fire calls, and fire doesn't have to mean 'a building's on-fire,' but that the equipment and personnel responding to whatever emergency are called into action, are trained and equipped to do what needs to be done.

He and I were talking about our recent calls, and he asked if I had seen the big warehousing going up on the west side of town, in an industrial zone.

"Sure," I said, "I saw that they're doing the panel erection now."

"One of the tilt-wall panels fell," he said. "There was a workman unaccounted-for and they presumed he was in the path of the collapse." He said, "when they did the rigging to lift the panel, he was under there, and he was about an inch thick." More-like an angry red smear.

 

[Rusted Nut]

One of my neighbors, like me, is a retired firefighter/paramedic. He worked for Miami-Dade County Fire-Rescue, I worked for an adjoining dept here in S.E. FL. We often swapped stories about work. Whether EMS calls or fire calls, and fire doesn't have to mean 'a building's on-fire,' but that the equipment and personnel responding to whatever emergency are called into action, are trained and equipped to do what needs to be done.

He and I were talking about our recent calls, and he asked if I had seen the big warehousing going up on the west side of town, in an industrial zone.

"Sure," I said, "I saw that they're doing the panel erection now."

"One of the tilt-wall panels fell," he said. "There was a workman unaccounted-for and they presumed he was in the path of the collapse." He said, "when they did the rigging to lift the panel, he was under there, and he was about an inch thick." More-like an angry red smear.

There’s a reason we don’t allow any personal under a tilt panel as it’s being lifted. Once it’s vertical, only the guys that set the tilt braces angles can go in, with spotters watching.