Modak Houses

Discussion in 'Designing, building, making and powering your life' started by Bird, Nov 7, 2009.

  1. Bird

    Bird Junior Member

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    Hi All

    I am seeking any information on Modak Houses, they claim to be made from recycled materials IE: eco green housing, but do not specify what!
    They also claim to be Fire proof, Termite proof ect. ect. sounds to good to be true.
    would like to know,
    what are they made from?
    what chemical treatments are used in construction?
    The company will be starting in Sydney I think, mid 2010

    From what i have seen of them I may be interested, but what are they made of????
    Cant seem to find parent company but assume probably American


    Bird
     
  2. gardenlen

    gardenlen Group for banned users

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    Re: Modak Houses

    g'day bird,

    found this link:

    https://www.modak.com.au/

    couldn't quickly see anything on construction materials, they aren't cheap and at the end of the day just another design, designed to fit the indoctrinated dream.

    we designed ours to fit the price the pocket and more afford, and it was definately termite proof and fire resistant with no architectral artistry which all costs money for no avail.

    len
     
  3. ho-hum

    ho-hum New Member

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    Re: Modak Houses

    Bird,

    Just a 'careful' not about cheap modular units for the NT.

    Many of them are pre insulated. What this means they are like mini-fridge units, all fine.. until you run an air conditioner in them. What happens is that via convection, the panels condense on both inside walls and start to rust and rot.

    Not kidding you. I was in Gove for 9 years and saw a dozen types of 'this is the one' type prefab units that this happened to. Normally the first you know about is that the shower liner or the kitchen cupboards fall onto the floor. This can happen in as short a time as 6 months.

    Territory built units have dealt with and largely solved a lot of these issues. There are enough of them round the NT that you can [and should] ask. I myself live in the original ancient demountable supermarket that originated from the Ranger Mine at Jabiru. We dont have the convection issues but it still glows in the dark>>>> hahaha..

    I say this 'cos the cheapies come and go and the tropical ones last forever.

    cheers,

    ho-hum

    ho-hum
     
  4. Bird

    Bird Junior Member

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    Re: Modak Houses

    Hi Len, Hohum

    Thanks for your replys,
    At this time i'm just looking at options, I think i stayed in some of those demountables you spoke of in gove, and some at Mcarthure river and port keats have looked at local demountables around $50.000 new have seen cheap 2nd hand ones, but allways when cash is tied up elsewhere. I do have 40ft bus to live in for time being but no water supply. Need a tank and structure to collect rain water soon i hope then i can move up to it

    Went to planning dept the other day RE my idea of van sites, apparently Marrakai is not in a planning zone, no council, no super shire anything, they told me i could build any thing i want absoloutly no Gov dept to deal with. Seem i didn't buy a block of land i got my own indpendant country. Find it hard to believe so will check with other gov depts before anything somehow i think the young girl has misinformed me, what you think?

    Do you think mud brick or rammed earth would work in Darwin if source of clay can be aquired, i've heard that fresh cow poo is excelent for sealing mud brick but would humidity affect it, large veradah would help keep dry in wet season, straw bale? once again humidity, do like earthships but to much work and to much transport required to get materials.

    Bush rats invaided the bus since my last trip out there, so i've put an olive python in the bus should have fat snake on next visit and then i can replace snake back to where he came from, he can get out of bus if he dont like it but hope he stays, not sure how snakes cope with relocation, he was only moved approx 200m

    Would like to check out your place one day, your just down the track a bit, pick your brains, steal some ideas for my place

    All the best
    Bird
     
  5. ecodharmamark

    ecodharmamark Junior Member

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    Re: Modak Houses

    G'day Bird

    Lots of options out there. There is a mob here in Bendigo (Victoria) building 'enviro-pods'. I have yet to have a serious look at their product, or do an energy audit on them in order to see just how 'sustainable' they really are, so I can not vouch for them. I will be paying them a visit at their 'display village' sometime in the near future, and I would be happy to give you an account of this event just as soon as it happens. In the meantime, you can find their 'glossy' here:

    https://www.environmentalvillages.com/

    Cheerio, Mark.
     
  6. donh54

    donh54 Junior Member

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    Re: Modak Houses

    Hi Bird
    Read a bit about the pioneers around the Ord, etc - all their homesteads were mudbrick or rammed earth. Big verandahs means no erosion worries, and keeps the walls cool as well. For any earth-based building material, lime-based mortars and plasters are the go, they allow transpiration of moisture, where cement-based won't. (never, ever, ever, repair an old sandstone building with cement mortar / plaster - the building will be stuffed within 10 years).
    Take a look at "superadobe". https://www.calearth.org I'm hoping to attend one of their courses early next year, and I'm currently practicing on an 8' diameter chook pen, with attached greenhouse. Planning to write it up once it's done - I'll post a link when I finish it.

    Regards
    Don
     
  7. Ecopanels

    Ecopanels New Member

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    Re: Modak Houses

    Hey Bird!
    just passing and saw your post. Modak builds using a little known product called Magnesium oxide boards.
    It is a product that has been used for centuries ad is not very well known here because of the stranglehold on wallboards that other un named companies have had for decades.
    Please visit my website www.eco-panels.biz and you will see some photos there of it in use.
    Yes, I am an importer of these products and have secured supply from the top 9 suppliers in the world.
    I have had some chats with Modak but they are a little slow at returning my calls at present.
    I am happy to help with any information you might require regarding this product. You can contact me thru the website.
    Cheers
    Mark
     

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