Why Formatubes are Best for Wet Season Construction
If you're orchestrating the construction of a home or building in one of the tropical or subtropical regions of Australia, it's important to keep seasonal weather in mind. These parts of the country have a six-month wet season from November to March which brings high humidity, heavy rainfall, and flooding. Ideally, construction work should take place during the dry season, but avoiding the monsoon weather isn't always possible.
If your construction will be taking place during the wet time-frame and your building will feature concrete columns, using formatubes can be a big help. Formatubes are cost-effective, cardboard moulds used to pour columns, and offer many benefits over traditional wooden supports in adverse weather. Here are two of the main reasons to use them.
Increased Protection
Many tubes of lumber used in concrete column moulding offer no natural or artificial water-resistance. In periods of heavy rainfall, water can slowly seep through the wood and into the concrete. This can cause numerous problems, including structural weakness that could jeopardise your entire construction job. Unlike these woods, formatubes are coated with waterproof plastic, preventing any moisture from getting through to your concrete as it cures. This allows you to keep building even when the weather gets bad without fear that your whole build will be at risk.
Increased Speed
Formatubes can also speed up the construction of any building. This is especially useful for smaller construction jobs, as increased speed may mean you can avoid the hazards of rainy weather altogether by finishing build work before the wet season begins. Formatubes decreased build time in multiple ways.
Unlike wooden supports, formatubes are designed to stand upright without constructed reinforcements. This means you can save time that would normally be spent nailing and wiring up lumber it keep it straight. It also reduces your chances of building distorted columns that have to be scrapped.
Formatubes also have an inner oil coating. While rough wooden supports can stick to a concrete surface, the oil coating of formatubes stops any adhesion from taking place. This means your workers don't need to remove the supports before the concrete is fully dry. Formatubes can be left on until the drying process is complete and then easily released, fully protecting them from rain.
Finally, while the texture of wooden supports creates a rough concrete surface that needs to be sanded down before painting, formatubes have smooth, a plastic inner surface. When your columns leave the mold, they'll be as smooth as the lining, allowing you to forgo the sanding process altogether.