We were running a few minutes late to our 10am interview in Okeechobee, Fla. Chris was driving and I was checking my email. we eventually made our way to Royal Concrete Concepts. Turns out the place is huge. Nearly 200 acres devoted to the construction of 100% concrete homes and school rooms. Huge cranes and concrete mixers and high scaffolding. It’s a mans world here. I cant imagine too many women getting excited by seeing all this stuff.
Then I met Anna Niehaus. A petite woman with a strong German accent, whos been working at RRC for a few years and loves her job. And Anna knows what every piece of machinery does and why it does it. Impressive.
We are entering the third month of hurricane season and whenever we hear about something that claims to be ‘’hurricane resistant’’, we listen up. So there we are, listening as Anna takes us on a tour of the place. We watch as a huge crane lifts up a concrete slab wall. The crane operator is slow and moves the wall without any problem. Remember when you were a kid, using legos to build something? That’s what this looks like, but these walls weigh tons.
RRC is busy building and shipping close to 250 of these concrete homes. Shipping to Mississippi, Georgia and Texas. A big selling point is the strength behind the concrete. Built to withstand category 5 hurricane winds. The company tests the walls, roofs, and floors. The homes range in price from about $50,000 all the way up to $200,000. There are 18 floor plans, and once the home is trucked to the homesite, RCC says it can be assembled in a matter of hours!
I spent time with Phil and Shannon Shannon (yes shes a double Shannon) in the Florida Keys. They’ve lived in their 1,200 square foot concrete home for about three months now. They love it. Shannon told me she feels secure. Phil says the concrete make all the difference in a storm. Nice couple, married now for 5 years. Phil starts a sentence and Shannon finishes it. They both are big believers in concrete. I want to know what it would take to build a concrete ‘dome home’. My ultimate dream home.
