SF Bay Area builder develops new method for crafting concrete homes

San Jose, Calif.-based Sollars Home, a subsidiary of Sollars Construction Inc., has introduced an advanced technology that, the company notes, produces a better, more efficient home from concrete at a comparable price as well as in half the time of a wood alternative. The Multi-Flex Formwork technology is used to cast buildings in place and is considered by the company as the first new method for building homes since the mid-20th century.

“We don’t need to employ traditional precast concrete techniques due to our superior technology,” affirms Don Sollars, CEO of Sollars Home and a licensed engineer and general contractor in California. “Two patents have been granted on the technology, and several more are in process.”

Sollars says that the company’s initial focus will be in the residential and light commercial space. “We will be constructing buildings that have a concrete exoskeleton with a non-structural wood frame interior,” he explains. “This ‘shell,’ as we call it, is cast one story at a time with floor, walls and roof poured as a monolithic casting. For buildings with a basement, we cast the basement structure monolithically followed by a monolithic pour of the main floor structure with walls and roof.” A two-story structure will be done in two pours: the main floor, first floor walls, and first floor spandrels in the first casting; second floor slabs, walls and the roof in the second casting.

Benefits of the reinforced concrete exoskeleton includes a permanence that is not possible in a wooden structure. A Sollars Home has the strength of a commercial building and is highly termite and mold resistant, as well as dramatically more earthquake, flood, wildfire, and tornado resistant than a traditional wooden home, company engineers note. The concrete shell also blocks external noises and provides a relatively constant internal temperature independent from the temperature outside.

“We’re proud to offer homeowners a revolutionary option that is much faster to build, completely customizable in design and good for the environment,” affirms Sollars. “Our concrete houses are comparable in price and can be completed in less time than a traditional wooden home.”

The first Sollars Home for a client will be poured this month in Woodside, Calif. The builder has already broken ground on the project.

Sollars concrete homes are energy efficient and can be designed without limitations. Homeowners can choose from one of many pre-designed models, such as the Webster, or have a customized floorplan to fit their unique needs.