We design concrete for 75 years. So why are we okay watching it fail in 12 to 24 months? That’s the uncomfortable question Seth Tandett puts on the table with Dr. Jon Belkowitz in this episode. Codes, specifications, and budgets are still written around a 50–75 year design life. But…
We design concrete for 75 years. So why are we okay watching it fail in 12 to 24 months? That’s the uncomfortable question Seth Tandett puts on the table with Dr. Jon Belkowitz in this episode. Codes, specifications, and budgets are still written around a 50–75 year design life. But…
People ask if concrete costs can be reduced. They get options. Then they reject every option. Rich Szecsy explains why cost reduction isn’t about refusing solutions — it’s about knowing which questions to ask and when to ask them.
Walmart once specified no fly ash. Ever. Then they tried to build in a county that required fly ash to get a permit. Rich Szecsy explains what actually happened, why the building didn’t fall apart, and how local authority can override even the biggest national specifications.
Everyone says they want concrete to improve. Lower cost. Better performance. New approaches. But fear shuts the whole thing down. Rich Szecsy explains why you can’t claim to want change while being afraid to do anything differently.
Contractors and suppliers can work together all day to optimize mixes, reduce cost, and improve performance. The real problem? Someone outside the contract keeps changing the rules. Rich Szecsy explains why concrete cost conversations fail when decisions are made by people who aren’t part of the agreement.
Concrete Is Losing on Cost. Here’s How to Take It Back. Concrete keeps getting priced out of jobs, not because it can’t compete, but because we keep doing the same things the same way. In this episode, Seth Tandett sits down with Rich Szecsy to talk about where concrete costs…
Concrete isn’t just competing against other contractors or producers. It’s competing against steel. It’s competing against wood. And those industries are actively working to lower their costs too. Rich Szecsy explains why cost conversations in concrete can’t stop — because the competition sure isn’t.
Everyone wants cheaper concrete. Everyone wants lower carbon. But it doesn’t work if only one party in the contract is expected to absorb the hit. Rich Szecsy explains why cost and carbon reductions only work when everyone in the contractual food chain is aligned — not just the contractor or…
Concrete Is Losing on Cost. Here’s How to Take It Back. Concrete keeps getting priced out of jobs, not because it can’t compete, but because we keep doing the same things the same way. In this episode, Seth Tandett sits down with Rich Szecsy to talk about where concrete costs…
Digital formwork isn’t just about concrete. It allows concrete and millwork to be designed separately, built in different factories, and still fit together on site with precision.
Boards and aluminum forms are physical. Digital formwork lives as data — and that changes what’s possible, what’s repeatable, and what you can recreate years later.
A 12-foot concrete fire pit sounds simple — until you factor in stem walls and gas lines. This 3D printed, hollow design eliminated both and simplified the entire install.
Square. Rectangular. Hard edges everywhere. There’s a reason most concrete columns look identical — and it has nothing to do with engineering limits.
Not everything should be 3D printed. Darren Baldwin explains when precast and cast-in-place are still the right answer — and when unique geometry changes the equation.
Most concrete looks the way it does for one simple reason. We keep designing around the forms we know how to build. In this episode, Seth sits down with Darren Baldwin, President of PIKUS, to break down the real difference between analog formwork and digital formwork—and why that distinction quietly…
Most concrete looks the way it does for one simple reason. We keep designing around the forms we know how to build. In this episode, Seth sits down with Darren Baldwin, President of PIKUS, to break down the real difference between analog formwork and digital formwork—and why that distinction quietly…
Higher floors had more moisture than lower ones. That alone tells you it isn’t coming from the soil.
In building science, moisture isn’t just “wet or dry.” It shows up in multiple forms, and each one affects buildings differently.
Even in a controlled lab with proper curing, concrete still lost about 20% of performance. The field doesn’t come close to those conditions.
Many vapor barriers are gone long before the slab reaches mid-life. Recycled plastics, soil salts, and weak quality control break them down faster than people realize.
Type 1L was marketed as a drop-in replacement. Same mixes. Same behavior. Same results. That story didn’t hold up for long.
Diffusion and moisture migration are not the same thing. Concrete isn’t an open system, and absorbed moisture doesn’t follow simple rules.
The middle of concrete stays adiabatic. No temperature change. No moisture movement. That breaks a lot of assumptions.