[Greenbuilding] Hot tub building

[Ken Beiser]

I know there are many other ferro things besides chicken wire but that is what was used up to 50 years ago in boat building.  I have used stucco mesh which is heavier than poultry or chicken wire for walls of traditional stucco.  I have also used expanded metal for concrete counter tops and some areas of stucco walls.  It is more difficult to cut, bend, and impregnate with the mix.  Besides it is more expensive, too.  I am no expert, but it might not be necessary.  Check out this from one site when I googled ferrocement:

Our next ferro-cement project was a water storage tank--possible "hot tub"--in our "plant starting room". The idea was not only to have water storage, but by the water heating up during the day, it would help keep the potting room above freezing at night. I laid down several layers of chicken wire on a section of cleaned ground (sand), for the bottom and foundation of our tank. I turned the edges of the wire up and filled the bottom with cement. Once this had set up I came up with several layers of wire and filled this with cement. We then painted the finished tank with pool paint and it has held water ever since. It holds about 500 gallons, is plumbed for turning it into a hot tub, and has a drain at one end. 

We were not keeping good records at the time, but we guess that the whole thing, including the pool paint, but not counting my labor, cost us less than $ 50.00. I went ahead and put the pipes into the tank, in case we ever want to turn it into a hot tub, because otherwise, making holes for them would be next to impossible once it was set up. For those interested, the wire on the bottom is 5 layers (I did not want any cracking), and the wire on the sides is 4 layers. I could have used less on the sides, but I was building the tank-pool more or less "free form" and needed the wire to keep the cement in place. Our tank is irregular shaped, 2.5 foot deep and about 6 foot by 4 foot in size.