Mercedes Homes — the Cadillac of Concrete Home Builders

On Thursday, June 9, Mercedes Homes, along with the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), hosted an open house in Rockledge, Fla., highlighting the company’s proactive stance in utilizing hurricane-resistant technologies in its homes.

Melbourne, Fla.-based Mercedes Homes, recently ranked by Builder magazine as the 17th largest home builder in the country, is making extensive use of concrete wall systems in its central Florida operations.

Both homes showcased at the open house event featured structural concrete exterior walls. The first was a two-story design with solid-grouted reinforced concrete masonry walls on both floors. (See photo.) The second demonstration home was a single-story home with cast-in-place (CIP) concrete walls. Mercedes has been a pioneer in using CIP removable form systems for above-grade walls and has built more than 3,000 such homes to-date in selected Florida markets.

Both the CIP and reinforced block systems provide superior protection from hurricane-strength winds. Mercedes reports virtually no structural damage to its concrete homes during 2004’s record hurricane season — despite the fact that some areas in which the company builds were hit by three consecutive storms. [ return to top ]