Masonry Magazine April 1963 Page. 11
Earthquake Provides Tough Test For Salt Lake House
An experimental house in Salt Lake City, Utah, marks the first commitment to insure issued by the Federal Housing Administration under the provisions of the Section 233 Experimental Housing Program which was authorized by the 1961 Housing Act. Concerned primarily with wall construction, the experimental system passed its first test by withstanding a moderate earthquake (which registered 5.7 on the Richter scale.)
"It's not very often that you get an opportunity so soon to obtain visual proof of a new system in home building," said builder Alan E. Brockbank, who constructed the home in cooperation with The Dow Chemical Company, FHA, and Structural Clay Products Research Foundation. "The earthquake cause considerable structural damage in the area and the fact that our five-day-old masonry Nominal Face Size 4" x 12"-8" Thickness swayed with the quake and were otherwise unaffected is most impressive."
A view of the Brockbank experimental home utilizing high mortar. A total exterior wall thickness of only Sta inches is ly possible with the use of Saraband liquid and high bend permitting the use of the 4 inch brick in a load bearng structure.
Brockbank's house is a mid-foyer model constructed with two new wall systems developed by The Dow Chemical Company and The Structural Clay Products Research Foundation. Located in the Rose Park subdivision of Salt Lake City, the house was constructed and insured under a 1961 amendment of the National Housing Act which "fosters the advancement of new designs, materials and techniques, including new and untried items that are likely to reduce housing costs, raise living standards and improve neighborhood design."
Basically, two experimental systems are used: A high mortar containing Sarabond, which permits construction of load-bearing four-inch-thick brick walls without the support of an inner framework or masonry backing, and an adhesive-applied interior walls finish system which combines Styrofoam polystyrene foam insulation and regular gypsum wall panels applied without the use of nails.
The exterior brick walls were laid in the normal way, to comply with local building codes, builder Brockbank had to construct an 8-inch concrete wall 4 feet (Continued on page 14)
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ONRY
April, 1963
11