EPS

Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) consists of 95% air and the rest is made up of carbon and hydrogen. EPS offers unique qualities in lightness, strength, moisture resistance and safety of use and is now recognised internationally as an advanced alternative to traditional construction materials.

Light Gauge Steel Columns

Light Gauge Steel is used to provide rigidity to the EPS panels and is further supported by high quality steel columns and a ring beam that distributes the load of the roof. This combination ensures that walls are rigid, plumb and square.

Fibrecote™

Imison walls are finished with a high density, structurally classified plaster called Fibrecote™. Fibrecote™ patents are owned by Imison and it is exclusively used in the construction process of its structures. It is the only plastering technique of its kind and creates a chemical and mechanical bond between the EPS and the plaster. The mechanical bond is achieved by the unique velocity of the patented spray gun used in the application and the chemical bond because of the unique plaster mix used in Fibrecote™.

Processes
EPS walls are erected on-site from ready to build panels in a tongue and groove method making the erection of a 40 m2 (360 square feet) structure possible in less than 3 hours. Door frames, window frames, electrical conduits and plumbing components are pre-fitted in a factory environment, thereby significantly reducing costs and wastage.

Fibrecote™ is hereafter sprayed at high speed (10 minutes to empty a 160 litre mix), and due to the consistency of its batch mixing method, no retempering is required. Materials are often not batched and mixed thoroughly for conventional plaster. Tradesmen add water at random to achieve required consistency and frequently retemper the mix by adding more water. Fibrecote™ is batched and mixed in a concrete mixer using a preset formula depending on the required strength for the specific construction.

Our steel structure, foundation jig system, our precision EPS cutting machines that cut to within 0.02 microns and the preassembled door and window frames, ensure that our structures are plumb and square. If assembled correctly, there is no need to re-measure the structure after assembly for fitting of appliances and other post construction fixtures.

Benefits

While Imison uses alternative construction technology, the final product looks and feels the same as regular construction, but with a host of benefits:

Strength
The strength of the walls of Imison™ structures is obtained from the combination of light gauge steel, clad with EPS and reinforced by our patented high strength plaster, Fibrecote™, which according to tests conducted by Agrement, has an average strength in excess of 20Mpa. This is more than three times the strength of conventional plaster. Fibrecote™ is classified as structural plaster, an achievement unequalled by conventional methods.

The Fibrecote™ is reinforced with a fiberglass mesh that distributes the load of the plaster and it localizes any trauma to the wall arresting cracks from running and spreading throughout the wall.
In Agrément tests, a cross section of our walls was bent to 7 degrees without fracture or breakage. This flexibility is a key feature of strength which makes it far stronger than conventional brick and mortar walls.
Fibrecote™ is superior to conventional plaster for the following reasons:
Stronger. Fibrecote™ has a compressive strength of at least 22MPa and high density (2200+ kg/m3) that is consistently achieved. Conventional plaster has a cubed strength of 7 MPa and density of 1800 kg/m3 which is not consistently achieved. Fibrecote™ can sustain a 40kg point load on a screw allowing even heavy household appliances like geysers to be hung on the walls.
More Durable. Fibrecote™ is extremely durable because of its superior and consistent compressive strength, low shrinkage, favourable chloride conductivity and low oxygen permeability.

Less Shrinkage. The polypropylene fibres in Fibrecote™ absorb water and slowly release it over a period of time to assist in the curing process. The drying shrinkage results achieved by Fibrecote™ (160 – 495 microstrain) is substantially lower than specified limits, and radically reduced cracking is achieved.

Conventional plaster requires moist curing over a period of three days after application. As this is not done consistently in practice, shrinkage cracks in excess of the specified limits inevitably appear. Generally, drying shrinkage cracks may not exceed 700 microstrain.