Owner-builder Steve Ryan of Victoria used Thermacell to build his home and was thrilled with the result.
“We first discovered Thermacell at the Melbourne Home Show in 1999 and were impressed by the apparent ease of construction and the thermal qualities of Thermacell,” he says. “Geoff Bennett (owner of Thermacell) generously allowed us to inspect his home, which was built using Thermacell. We were amazed at how cool his house was in the middle of summer - and the soundproofing qualities impressed us as well. We decided to experiment and built a 12m2 shed out of Thermacell. We had no previous building experience and we found the product really easy to work with.
“That done, we decided to build our 32-square home out of Thermacell. We have now been in our house for 10 months and we have found the house to be incredibly warm in winter, requiring very little heating, and cool in summer. Financially, Thermacell is on a par with bricks being laid, but as we were able to do the building and pouring ourselves, it was much cheaper.
“We also saved by not requiring wall insulation, the concrete doing double-duty in that area. In the end, we have a house that is structurally very sound and will save us even more money by not requiring much heating or cooling. It also means we are doing our bit for the environment. Building with Thermacell has been a very positive experience and we are more than happy to endorse the product.”
Geoff Bennett says he’s not surprised by his client’s happiness with Thermacell. He says, “Steve is a perfectionist and he has built one of the best Thermacell homes I have seen. His time cost him nothing. He chose to mix his own concrete and fill the blocks as he went, a couple of rows at a time.
“Steve, like most owner-builders, didn’t need to brace his walls as they went up a few rows at a time. This saved him a lot of money, as hiring braces can be a considerable cost. This is one of the features of Thermacell that inferior ICFs can’t compete with. Thermacell can be pumped in one go, up to three metres in height at a time.
” Thermacell has a faultless record. No home built out of Thermacell has ever failed. This, combined with the reduced product and labour costs, ease of construction, rapid time to completion, environmental and lifetime cost-saving factors, means Thermacell is the smart way and the only smart choice when building.”
