Concrete Tilt Wall Vs. Precast

Tilt Wall Construction

• Concrete slabs with footings installed must be poured and cured, prior to tilt wall construction. Workers assemble panel forms on the slab -- with cutouts for doorways, windows and other design specifications included -- then insert a grid of reinforced steel bars into the form. Inserts and embeds for lifting the panels and attaching them to other building components are put into place before concrete is poured into the panels. After curing, cables secure the panels to a large crane, which tilts the panel to vertical over the footings. The panels are secured to the footings with embeds, while metal bracings attach the wall to the slab.

Advantages and Disadvantages

• Because the wall is formed at the construction site, concrete panels may be built to virtually any size, allowing for very large, seamless walls. This method allows for greater architectural design flexibility. Experienced tilt wall crews can assemble and erect as many as 30 panels in one day, making for quick building construction. The largest drawback to tilt walls is bad weather, which can slow the process. Northern climates have a limited construction window for this method as tilt walls cannot be poured in frigid weather.

Precast Panels

• Precast concrete panels are molded in a controlled climate factory environment, which results in more uniform walls. Because the panels must be transported to construction sites, practical considerations limit their size. The panels typically range from 8 feet to 30 feet long, but panels of any size can be made if trucks and other moving equipment can be secured to transport the walls. Once the precast panels reach the building site, construction proceeds in the same manner as for tilt walls.

Additional Precast Features

• Factory fabrication allows for a variety of shapes, colors, textures and finishes that aren’t always available in tilt wall manufacturing. Joints around precast walls are filled with sealant at the factory, whereas sealant must be applied on-site for tilt walls. Precast panels used for building exteriors come in four types: cladding or curtain walls, load-bearing walls, shear walls and forms for cast concrete. The last type is used to construct tilt walls, with the prefabricated wall ultimately used as a support for the larger tilt-up wall.