According to the United Nations there is a dire need for 58 million homes in the slums around the world. Though billions of dollars are spent each year, adequate housing remains a critical need because houses built to address this need fail. Some homes built from concrete fail within five years. Some fail with the next hurricane or other disaster. The causes include a lack of suitable raw materials, a lack of suitable infrastructure, and a lack of suitable training. An additional problem is the people producing the concrete may not realize that it is possible to produce better concrete. Then there is cost. When there is not enough money in the budget to build an adequately sized and safe home, compromises are made and the homes become unsafe to enter.
In building in Haiti, it became clear that engineered plans did not improve the life span of a home if the concrete, mortar, concrete masonry units, and stucco were not produced to meet quality standards. In the slums of Haiti, and for that matter in the slums around the world, very little of the building materials meet the standards they need to meet.
It would be wonderful if we could put in sand and gravel plants, concrete ready mix plants, and other construction infrastructure, but if it were done, would we have people trained to run them and to maintain the equipment?
This book addresses the need in a different way. Until that infrastructure can be built, operated, and maintained, let's use the available material in a manner to make the best concrete, mortar, and stucco possible. That is the purpose of this book―QUALITY CONCRETE FROM CRAP.