SA’s Premium Walling

Welcome To Our Site

Flashbuild  is a Johannesburg based cc that’s  developed a system which has allowed us to use moulds (on site) to produce a concrete wall that is faster, stronger and cheaper than the conventional alternative of brick while looking exactly the same.

Time management is critical in this process as most boundary wall clients are very keen to limit their exposure as much as possible – this is our speciality. We can build premium solid walling of up to 100m in 5 days.

After a decision was made to specialise in boundary walling, we realised that while brick offers very good flexibility of design, a serious shortage of skilled and dependable labour makes it very difficult to build a quality long wall in a reasonable timeframe. We decided to build a set of moulds which we could use to cast concrete walls in large sections on site, using only semi skilled and non skilled labour and creating a production line type of build. The result is a wall which in most cases really is stronger, faster and cheaper than a brick structure, all while looking exactly the same. (After plastering there is no visible difference from a well built brick wall.) The pillars (or columns) are cast as one solid unit over a large square foundation with the required steel reinforcing. The panels (or sections) are then cast between the pillars, acting as one large beam carried by the pillars on either side. All the structural integrity, as per engineers design, is contained in the columns.

The moulds at this stage allow for 400mm square pillars with 150mm sections running from centre to centre of each pillar, at a maximum span of 4.15m. This results in a neat, albeit fairly standard look. To upgrade aesthetically, one could use caps, copings or plaster effects, but actual design change is not possible without re-designing and replacing the moulds. Height is limited to 3.2m.

In terms of time, for residential projects of 100m or less, we would typically send in one team to do the actual build, removing the existing structure and casting foundations on day one, casting the pillars on day two and casting the sections on day three to five. The building team is then replaced in week two by the finishing team, responsible for all the plastering, finishes and tidying. For commercial projects, however, substantial improvements in production are easily achievable.

As far as costing is concerned, the rate per meter is affected by a number of factors. The obvious one is height, with options available from 1.8m to 3.2m. Other major influences on running meter price are the total length of the structure and the area where the wall is required. A short wall outside our main area of operation (the Northern & Western parts of Jhb) would incur a premium for example. Setting up a production line offers more productivity advantages the longer the wall gets.

Our system is not cost effective on walls less than 20m in length. Other costs could include removing existing structures, trees & plants, as well as any decorative extras that may be required. Ideally there shouldn’t be any trees within a meter of a solid structure. Contact us for any further enquiries or for an informal estimate per telephone.