Concrete . . . perhaps one of the duller subjects in the exciting world of new home construction. At first, one would probably admit that concrete is not the titillating topic of conversation at a cocktail party, even where new homebuilders are gathered. More press time is given to cutting-edge architectural trends, sophisticated structured wiring in "smart" homes and the latest styles in kitchens. But let's not underestimate the power and ageless strength of one of the most durable compounds known to man, because the legacy and future of concrete is indeed more exciting than many would imagine.

Concrete itself is actually a phenomenon of nature, with the first evidence of its existence in Israel dating back to 12,000 B.C., when natural deposits of cement compounds were said to have formed due to reactions between limestone and oil shale, employing spontaneous combustion.

Fast forward to 3,000 B.C., and you'll find ancient Egyptians using mud mixed with straw to bind dried bricks. These geniuses of yore also furthered the discovery of lime and gypsum mortar as a binding agent for building the Pyramids. About the same time, the ancient Chinese people used cementitious materials to hold bamboo together in their boats and in the Great Wall, one of the other Wonders of the World.

300 B.C. saw the Romans employing slaked lime and volcanic ash called Pozzuolana, named after the town of Pozzuoli, near Mt. Vesuvius. This was a hydraulic cement that hardens with the addition of water, but (hold onto your stomachs) animal fat, milk, and blood were also used as admixtures. Pozzuolana was used for aqueducts and for the still-standing Roman Coliseum, built by Emperor Vespasian. The most famous ancient use of concrete is reputed to be the incredible Pantheon in Rome, still considered one of the most historically and architecturally significant buildings of the ancient world, erected in 200 B.C during the rise of the Roman Empire. After 400 A.D., however, the art of concrete was all but lost, when the empire fell.

It wasn't until the middle ages, when people like Joseph Moxon wrote about a "hidden fire in heated lime that appears upon the addition of water" that concrete again comes into focus. And in 1750, English engineer John Smeaton reinvented hydraulic cement to rebuild the Eddystone Lighthouse off the Cornwall coast.

The British furthered the evolution of concrete in 1824, when a Leeds bricklayer, Joseph Aspdin, invented Portland cement, so called because the resulting concrete looked to him like stone quarried on the Isle of Portland. He used limestone road surfacing ground into powder by carriage wheels, added clay, and discovered that, when burned, the mixture could be formed into a uniformly strong cement. Aspdin, by the way, was arrested for shoveling up the "public dust" from the road.

Americans imported European Portland cement for the first time in 1868 and began to manufacture it for themselves in the 1870s. This cement now accounts for most of the world's output of hydraulic cement, and can be ground so finely that it can sift through a screen with 40,000 holes to the square inch. Unlike building materials relying on scarce or non-renewable resources, concrete is made from three readily available ingredients: water, aggregate (stone, sand, gravel) and Portland cement. Green folks can take heart in the fact that cement manufacturing can use recycled materials, even old tires, for fuel. It can be recycled, crushed, and reused as a road base, or used in large chunks for erosion control and fish habitat.

Today's use of concrete can take many forms. For the significance of residential and commercial building, however, concrete is having another heyday at last. It is now the most widely used building material in the world, a signature construction component in skyscrapers, bridges, superhighways and dams, houses and sidewalks. As an "artificial rock" with Portland cement as a required element, concrete protects against fire in homes and public buildings, suffers less damage due to flooding than do similar wooden structures, and has taken huge strides in modern days towards producing earthquake-safe structures. The most dramatic progress has been taking place in California, where research and testing programs have intensified over the past 20 years.

Hurricane country is benefiting from newer concrete block construction, creating "safe" havens from the forces of nature. Insulated concrete-formed homes can account for significantly reduced energy consumption, and a concrete-built home can save 41 trees from their demise.

Concrete is soundproof as well, as can be attested to by architect Craig Smith, who recounts a story of one of his clients, who used to be able to "whistle his kids home for dinner" from inside his kitchen, until moving into a new concrete-built home.

The client complained that he now had to actually exit his house and go into his yard to achieve his purpose, since the concrete "swallowed" the sound. What this central California architect learned is that concrete-induced-soundproofing is what impressed his clients most about their concrete homes, with the walls reducing sound transmission by more than two-thirds over frame construction.

Any of us having traveled to parts of Europe, Mexico, or South America could attest to the broad use of concrete in new home construction, particularly in countries where wood is one of the rarer natural resources. In countries where families must pay cash for new homes, they sometimes build in "stages", evidenced by standing concrete "skeletons" of homes-to-be, some waiting for years for another influx of cash to finally complete them. This confidence these families have that the future will provide the remaining funds could only be realistic by virtue of the fact that concrete endures, as it has in centuries past.

True, concrete may never become the topic of lively conversation in the big scheme of things, but it may well be the foundation upon which other conversations take place, remaining long after the last echoes are gone.

Editors Note: Thanks to the California Cement Promotion Council for providing information for this article.

Published: January 28, 2000

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A veteran of the real estate and homebuilding industries since 1986, Dena Kouremetis first joined Realty Times as a new homes writer in 1998. Since then, she has authored four books, written consumer columns on new homes issues for websites and newspapers all across the country, contributed to builder trade magazines, appeared as a guest expert on several radio shows and even created a ten-chapter podcast for LendingTree.com’s homebuilder website, iNest.com, now available on iTunes, entitled Uncharted Waters; Navigating the Purchase of a New Production Home. Kouremetis recently joined her local Folsom, CA Coldwell Banker office as a broker associate while continuing to write for the real estate industry. For the past three years, she has been training real estate agents for both the resale and new homes industries, putting her experience, research expertise and gift of expression to work to help others entering the business.