Disaster-Proof Homes: How Concrete Construction Is Changing Real Estate Forever
Show summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, host Michelle Kesil interviews David Cary, owner of Beton Homes, who discusses the innovative approach to building disaster-ready concrete homes. David explains the technology behind these homes, their benefits in terms of safety and energy efficiency, and the challenges faced in bringing this concept to market. He emphasizes the importance of building homes that can withstand natural disasters and the potential for this technology to address housing shortages.
Key takeaways
- Beton Homes builds with structural concrete insulated panels: a 4-inch styrofoam core with wire mesh acting as rebar, finished with shotcrete on both sides to form walls, floors, and roof.
- The construction method has been tested to withstand a 9.5 magnitude earthquake and is rated to 11.0, exceeding the largest earthquake ever recorded (9.5).
- Despite using concrete, the build time and inspection count are comparable to stick-frame construction, so overall cost ends up on par with wood-framed homes while delivering a far more durable product.
- The 4 inches of continuous insulation can roughly cut energy bills in half; reinvesting those savings into the mortgage can effectively turn a 30-year loan into a 20-year payoff.
- The technology is not new globally - it has been used in Africa, the Philippines, and was used by Jimmy Carter for Habitat for Humanity in the 1970s - but is largely unproven in the US market.
- The panels suit ADUs, remote/off-grid builds (concrete can be mixed in small batches on site), and disaster-resilient housing like homeless shelters that need to withstand abuse.
- David sees an investment opportunity in buying discounted fire-zone or disaster-prone lots (e.g., a 1/3-acre Napa lot bought for $45,000), building a Beton home, and reselling - including targeting Silicon Valley buyers wanting a weekend/remote-work second home within about a 2-hour drive.
About David Cary
David Cary is the owner of Beton Homes, a Northern California company building disaster-resistant homes using structural concrete insulated panel technology. He says he came from a background in high-tech robotics before starting Beton Homes after his son struggled to find an affordable, fire-safe place to build in Napa. His business partner Chris has 30 years of building experience.
Listen to the audio
“Mother Nature's screaming, it's time to stop building with wood.”
David Cary
“This has been tested to 9.5 earthquakes and rated to 11.0. And the biggest earthquake that has ever happened in recorded history is 9.5.”
David Cary
“If you can get a house that is almost certain not to be impacted severely if one of these events happen for roughly the same total cost, wouldn't you rather have a better home?”
David Cary
Questions answered in this episode
How does Beton Homes' concrete construction technology actually work?
It uses structural concrete insulated panels: a 4-inch-thick styrofoam panel with wire mesh running in and out acting like rebar. Builders drill rebar into a prepped slab/foundation, stand the panels for walls, run electrical and plumbing inside them, then shotcrete concrete on the inside and outside (like you would a pool) to create about 2 inches of concrete on each side with 4 inches of insulation in the middle. The same panel system is also used for the floors and roof, creating one solid concrete structure.
Does building with this concrete panel system cost more than standard wood-frame construction?
David says it ends up on par with stick-frame construction overall because, despite using concrete, the method requires less build time and fewer inspections, offsetting the material differences.
What disasters can these homes withstand?
David says the homes are built to resist wildfire, and the structure has been tested to a 9.5 magnitude earthquake and rated to 11.0, exceeding the largest earthquake ever recorded. In hurricanes or tornadoes, unlike concrete block homes where roofs blow off, a Beton home may need window repairs but won't suffer total structural loss.
How much can this construction save on energy bills and mortgage payoff?
The continuous 4-inch insulation layer can cut energy bills roughly in half. David suggests that if an owner reinvests those energy savings into extra mortgage payments, a 30-year mortgage can effectively be paid off about 10 years early, becoming like a 20-year mortgage.
Is this concrete panel technology used elsewhere, or is it new?
It's not new globally - David says it has been used in Africa, the Philippines, and other parts of the world, and Jimmy Carter used a version of it for Habitat for Humanity builds in the 1970s. It is new to the US housing market, which is why Beton Homes considers itself an early mover.
What's the investment angle for real estate investors in this concrete home model?
David points to buying discounted lots in disaster-prone or fire-affected areas (he cites a 1/3-acre Napa lot bought for $45,000) and building a Beton home to sell, essentially speculative real estate development. He also sees demand from Silicon Valley buyers wanting weekend/remote-work second homes within about a 2-hour commute, and notes the panels work well for ADUs and backyard units given current housing shortages.
Resources and links
- Beton Homes Website
- David Cary on LinkedIn
- David Cary’s Email Address: dcary@betonhomes.com
- David Cary’s Phone Number: (707) 554-8463
Full transcript
David Cary (00:00)
First off, why concrete? Well, you’ve seen all the natural disasters, the LA fires, the hurricanes, everything else, ⁓ pretty much Mother Nature’s screaming, it’s time to stop building with wood.
You’ve seen lots of different attempts to solve different housing problems like prefabs and things, but they still suffer, generally suffer from the same problem that they can burn down, they can rot termites, insects, everything else.
we said, OK, the only way that makes sense is to build something that’s indestructible.
Michelle Kesil (02:07)
Hey everybody, welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Kesil Today I’m joined by someone I’m looking forward to chatting with, David Cary who is the owner of Beton Homes, building safe, disaster-ready concrete bodies homes designed to survive many natural disasters. So excited to have you here today, David.
David Cary (02:30)
Thanks Michelle, appreciate you having me on.
Michelle Kesil (02:32)
I think our listeners are going to take something away from how you’re approaching designing this new technology of home. So let’s dive in.
David Cary (02:42)
Yeah, so if you’re not familiar, Beton actually means concrete. So we’re focused on building concrete homes in an entirely different way. ⁓
Michelle Kesil (02:43)
Yep.
David Cary (02:53)
First off, why concrete? Well, you’ve seen all the natural disasters, the LA fires, the hurricanes, everything else, ⁓ pretty much Mother Nature’s screaming, it’s time to stop building with wood.
You’ve seen lots of different attempts to solve different housing problems like prefabs and things, but they still suffer, generally suffer from the same problem that they can burn down, they can rot termites, insects, everything else. They’re okay at, you know, when you add insulation, but they also just take a lot of time to build. So ⁓ concrete, it’s kind of started because my son was about your age. ⁓
Northern California, he was out saying, hey dad, mom, how am going to ever afford a house? He’s still single. And we saying, well, there’s a lot of different ways, but then he came back to us and we had had fires up here in the Napa area like they did in LA and a lot of homes were wiped out. And so he found a lot in fire country overlooking this gorgeous lake in Napa. ⁓
a third of an acre for $45,000 and we said, wow, that is a steal. But if we build with wood, they’ve had fires up there before, it’s going to burn down and or you’re going to have trouble getting insurance. And so we said, OK, the only way that makes sense is to build something that’s indestructible.
We contacted, I don’t know, three or four different builders. had a few try to scam us. had.
just really either people wanted a mint to do something that was going to be disaster ready or they ⁓ weren’t interested, right? They just said, hey, I have all the business. can muster making homes, they’ll fashion away with stick frame wooden construction. so we said, well, that just doesn’t make sense up here. And so started looking into it.
and ⁓ found a technology which is called basically structural concrete insulated panels. And these panels are really the way to build. So they’ve been proven but not so much in the US, right? So they’ve been used in other parts of the world. It’s essentially…
a four inch thick sheet of styrofoam and a wire mesh that goes in and out of this thing to perform to act like rebar. So you do the same thing when you build a normal home. You do your footings, your foundations, you prep all the plumbing and electrical into the slab and then essentially you drill rebar into the concrete where you want these panels to go and you build
a home out of these panels and then you run your electrical and plumbing inside of these panels and then just like you would a pool you shot creek on concrete on the inside and outside of the house to
give it a four inch layer of insulation and a two inch on each side. And this even becomes the floors and the roof of the home. So you end up with one solid body of a home made out of concrete. And so it’s really indestructible. know, it withstands wildfire. If it gets wet from, you know, obviously a tsunami might take anything out, you know, an asteroid could destroy it. But for the most part, it’s a pretty indestructible home.
And the other benefits are, if you saw like the hurricanes or the tornadoes that happened in, you know, Florida or the Texas area, what you see even when they build a concrete home out of block.
The roofs blow off of the house and the whole inside is trashed, everything else. Now, if some kind of disaster hits a Baton home, sure, we’ll have some cleanup to do. The windows will probably get broken unless you shutter them up and that kind of thing. But it is nowhere near a complete disaster, right? If your family’s inside or all your cherished items will likely survive.
And because of the trust system, even earthquakes. So this has been tested to 9.5 earthquakes and rated to 11.0. And the biggest earthquake that has ever happened in recorded history is 9.5. So we’re exceeding pretty much historic events on all fronts. So it’s really just kind of the way to build. The only reason you wouldn’t do it this way is if it costs a lot more. Right.
And so the benefit of this technology is that it actually requires ⁓ less time to build, fewer inspections, all those kinds of things. So in the end, you end up on par with stick frame construction and you get a much better home. And this is kind of a.
like in Europe where things are made out of stone, you end up with, okay, maybe not a 500 year home, but it’s gonna last many lifetimes. And the other nice thing about this thing is that termites, mold, all that stuff pretty much goes away, the rot.
⁓ You’re insulating much better too if you’re familiar with you know, just the general nature of concrete it tends to be better for heating and cooling and then when you add four inches of insulation everywhere pretty much contiguously these things You know pretty much cut your energy bills in half. So you’re repairing and so for somebody who’s you concerned about affordability They also make sense because you’re saving so much on these other
expenses if you were to take that savings and reinvest it back into your mortgage payment you can actually pay off your house in about 10 years faster so a 30-year mortgage becomes effectively a 20-year mortgage if you reapply that and you know so that pretty clear technology you know and we’re excited to be the guys to really embrace it and
I’m sure other people will copy it in other parts of the world when they start hearing about it, but ⁓ that’s good. We’re, guess, the early revolutionaries here.
Does that give you a ⁓ little bit of a background? Do you understand how it works? Okay, good. Good.
Michelle Kesil (10:38)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
So you have many models around Northern California.
David Cary (10:44)
Yeah, there’s three or four homes built this way in the area. We can take people to them. They’re also great for ADUs. There’s a lot of housing demand and shortage. So if somebody needs a backyard ADU or wine cellar thing, something like that, they’re great for that too. So yeah, so that’s what we’re in the process of getting going with.
Michelle Kesil (11:05)
Cool, what has been like the biggest hurdle or obstacle in this process?
David Cary (11:11)
⁓ I guess first off like any young company, it’s just getting going. ⁓ We have identified probably a hundred people that are interested already. So I think it’s just picking which is going to be the first, the best first builds, getting up there, getting them done. And then I think it’s just tractions eminent, right? So people are.
They don’t have a great solution, right? So if you go up into some of these areas, I I come from high-tech robotics originally, and ⁓ I’m watching people down in LA and getting on the national news for rebuilding the homes with robots, but they’re building them out of wood, and I’m sitting there going, that’s really cool. I love the robots, but how is that going to solve the problem if it happens again?
So, and there’s things like, even where my son’s lot is, there’s probably three or four homes that are either finished or near finished where they built out of wood again. And the state has standards, what are called the wooey standards for, and it’s things like keeping defensible space and other things. And that all makes sense. But in the end, if you can get a house that is, yeah.
almost certain not to be impacted severely if one of these events happen for roughly the same ⁓ total cost. Wouldn’t you rather have a better home? So ⁓ that’s kind of our discussion with customers and people really like it. So we’re excited.
But it’s new it’s different. You so you you deal with people who are ready and Just I mean one guy we didn’t build this home, but one guy who built with this technology in Napa had a ten million dollar home on one of the wealthiest communities in Napa it had burned down twice before and He’s he’s 80 some years old. He said I’m never gonna have that happen again, so they rebuilt with this technology just because
Yeah, there are places where this is going to happen. So we think this is the absolutely the only way to build if your home is in an area at risk, but the better way to build anywhere else. so, you know, obviously in a in a city you sit there and go, well, there’s fire departments and all that stuff. But we saw what happened in L.A. and I’m in northern Cal.
I live close enough to Oakland, the Oakland fires and hillsides. mean, fire just loves running up hills. And so if you’ve got a house on a hill, again, this is a great way, great technology to use.
Michelle Kesil (14:00)
Are there any areas where this wouldn’t serve its purpose?
David Cary (14:05)
not really. ⁓ in fact…
The way this technology works has been adopted in other countries like Africa and the Philippines and other areas first. Jimmy Carter actually used it back in the 70s to do Habitat for Humanity. It’s a great homeless solution as well because you can kind of build this house real quick with neighbors and people like that if you really wanted to. But once you apply the concrete, you think about it,
There are parts of the homeless community may be on drugs, may have ⁓ war, ⁓ demons from wars, and so it’s not uncommon for homeless shelters to be torn apart, right? Either just because of fire or…
whatever, right? And so having something that’s nearly indestructible, like, you know, like a college dorm room, really, right? Where it’s out of brick and concrete. This is a great way to go, right? If somebody does have something happen, it’s a pretty quick cleanup, right? Yeah, they could break the windows, but windows are pretty, you know, easily replaced. So ⁓ the other thing is just if you’re in a remote area,
the technology lends itself that you can actually build this home up and you can apply the concrete in lot of different ways. So you can even do the mixing in small batches if you wanted to. So that’s why in remote parts of the world it’s great. And then you go to places like Australia where they’re very familiar with wildfire. I’ve spoken with architects there. This is just a godsend.
Michelle Kesil (16:30)
Awesome, that’s exciting. What are you most focused on scaling to with this?
David Cary (16:36)
Yeah, really it’s just ⁓ getting customers and getting our business fully together and operational. And obviously we’d love to have some funding. And the funding doesn’t necessarily have to go into the typical business type funding. We’ve identified lots that are bargain lots. And so if somebody wanted to say, I want to…
I like what you’re doing. I want to help rebuild. I will invest in purchasing a lot and then you build the home for me and then I can, you know, sell the home for like you would any home. Right? So kind of speculative real estate home building. But the thing about it is we can line up buyers ahead of time for somebody who wanted to say, okay, yeah, I want to buy a couple of lots in this area where you’re building.
You find me some customers that want a home like this is, so we’re out in Northern California. We’re kind of in a really good location. I’ve seen that was beautiful, but we’re also close enough to Silicon Valley that if you think about it, there’s lots of people who are vested or millionaires that would love to have a second home where they could go and relax.
I call them four three home so they drive up on a Thursday night, do their remote software work. ⁓
Enjoy the weekend, maybe work Monday drive back to Silicon Valley for their meetings and everything else. So pandemic remote work thing. This would be commutable distance on a Thursday night, probably two hours from Silicon Valley. Whereas if you want to go to Tahoe or somewhere like that, it’s five hour drive on a Thursday night. It’s just a little bit too far. Plus you’re close to all the great restaurants and wine and art and everything else in the valley. So we think it’s great investment opportunity.
as well for somebody who wants to build some home for free vacation homes and then sell them to people who might like a home like that.
That make sense?
Michelle Kesil (18:38)
Yeah, yeah, amazing.
Sounds great. So the ones that are already out there, you just have a few models or people are already purchasing them.
David Cary (18:51)
Yeah, so at the moment we’re just getting started. The technology, I can show that working. We have friends that are making a few homes like this, but a couple hours away. So, you know, my partner Chris has got 30 years of building experience. So this is not a challenge from a building standpoint for us. This is just really just.
the typical young company, let’s get going and tell the world about it and get some wins. So that’s largely what our business is in the process of doing.
Michelle Kesil (19:25)
Awesome, that’s exciting.
Well, before we wrap up here, if somebody wants to reach out, connect, learn more, where can people find you and connect with you?
David Cary (19:35)
So the website is easy, betonhomes.com. ⁓ My phone number, email is all on the website. It’s B-E-T-O-N. Again, that means concrete.
are catching us late in the show. It’s in a bunch of other languages. So, perfect fit, nice and easy name to remember. And ⁓ yeah, we’d love to talk with you, particularly if you’re in Northern California and you’re looking for a home or you’d like to learn more. And if you’re a builder, ⁓ we’re happy to connect you to the Raw Technology Company and their CEO as well. We’ve got a really good relationship with them.
By all means just reach out. My name is David Cary and again my phone number is right on the website as well as email to reach me. ⁓
Michelle Kesil (20:26)
Perfect, well, appreciate your time, your story, and your perspective. Thank you for being here.
David Cary (20:31)
Great. Thanks, Michelle. All the best. And happy New Year, everybody. Take care.
Michelle Kesil (20:33)
Of course, you too. Happy New Year, everybody, yes. And for
the listeners that are tuning in, if you got value, make sure you’ve subscribed. We’ve got more conversations with operators like David, who are building real businesses, and we’ll see you on the next episode.
