Pros & Cons of Insulated Concrete Forms /ICF construction
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- Опубліковано 25 лип 2024
- In my last video, we toured a factory that produces Insulated Concrete Forms or ICF blocks. Today we’re going to look at how an ICF wall is built with Fox Blocks as well as the pros and cons of this type of construction. NOT SPONSORED.
Chapters
0:00 Intro to Fox Blocks
1:02 Types of blocks
2:10 So how do you build ICF walls?
4:00 Advantages of ICF
6:04 6-in-1 assembly
8:22 Disadvantages of ICF
10:30 Summary
All Fox Blocks are made of molded polypropylene plastic ties which secures two pieces of 2 ⅝” thick Expanded Polystyrene foam pieces. The distance between them can vary from 4” to 12”. The blocks have teeth so they interlock on the next block, like Legos. The blocks should be staggered in a running bond method to avoid continuous seams. Horizontal rebar sits inside the ties to strengthen the wall assembly. Concrete is poured inside this sandwich and vibrated to eliminate air pockets, pack the aggregate, increase the density and strength of the wall.
After excavating the site, the concrete footing is poured on the perimeter walls with rebar sticking out of them. Next, the corner blocks are placed to define the edges. Straight blocks are then stacked in a running bond, staggered layout towards the center of each wall. Rebar or reinforcing steel bars, snap into the polypropylene ties of every single ICF block. The concrete in ICF walls must have a slump of 5” to 6” which is higher than a concrete mix for a floor which may be at 3”. The aggregate in the concrete must be between ⅜” to ¾”.
Advantages: Strength of the wall. They will withstand hurricanes and tornadoes, floods and they are fire-resistant. Air-tightness provided you use good quality doors, windows and a roof. The continuous interior and exterior insulation prevents mixing of cold and warm air, thus reducing condensation and mold. They have 1 to 1.5 ACH. They have a HERS rating of 30-50. Low sound transmission, STC rating of 50. Good R value. Great DIY wall assembly. Fox Blocks uses full-height ties and they have an extensive BIM library.
Fox Blocks markets their wall as a 6 in 1 assembly. The EPS foam acts as a natural vapor barrier, and provides continuous double layer insulation. The solid concrete core acts as an air barrier. The polypropylene ties have inbuilt rebar support and also act as fastening or furring strips for any finish. Their reversible interlocking design saves construction time and reduces waste.
Disadvantages: It is more expensive than wood construction in the States. They are not as good in cold climates. Waterproofing is expensive. Running electrical and water lines through the house, and even installing electrical boxes in your walls requires you to melt and cut out the EPS foam or even the ties. Any connections to the outside have to run through PVC sleeves which are placed before the concrete is poured. ICF homes can have humidity issues if it isn’t properly ventilated. The walls also occupy a lot of space. Concrete has a massive carbon footprint and is pretty destructive to the environment. But you also need to compare the short lifespan of a poorly built wood home to the 100+ year lifespan of an ICF home. Remodeling the exterior walls of your ICF home is nearly impossible. Less forgiving construction.
I think homeowners are slowly going to demand better-built homes because of all the information that is available on the internet. Right now, most people are just concerned with interior finishes like the type of granite used, shiplap walls, and hardwood flooring. They don’t realize that the bones of the building should take precedence over the stuff that you fill your home with. I can see ICF homes becoming more and more popular especially with custom builds.
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SOURCES:
• Fox Blocks 12" Core Po... -
• Fox Blocks Startup on ...
• Just another concrete ...
• Fox Blocks Stacked Cor...
• This Pink Stuff is The...
• ICF Electrical Quick a...
• Zont™ Insulated Concre...
• SHUTTERING FAILURE | c...
• Air Tightness Testing ...
• Mrs. Doubtfire (4/5) M...
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#insulatedconcreteform #icf #diybuild #diy #construction #architecture #constructionscience - Наука та технологія
I'm a Spanish literature professor with no experience in engineering, architecture or design, but I find Belinda's videos fascinating. Keep up the marvelous work!
I'm a main-contract manager from the UK Belinda. Thank you for making these wonderful well researched videos. We have something called 'toolbox talks' over here as part of good practice (part of construction design nand managment) to give all staff a knowledge of what everybody else is doing basically. I watched your video on Laminated flooring finishes and insulation (neither of which are my fields but as an ex chippy I'm going to re-do ours at home) and was blown away. I came to see a couple of your 'Structural' videos out of curiosity. These are just wonderful!
I’m a ex general contractor. I truly love ICF walls. When you build a home with icf walls; make sure to install good dehumidifier, it can regulate the moisture in the house. Waterproofing? In northern part of state applied spray tar on the basement walls; it is fast and cheaper instead of applying expensive layers of sheathing.
Thank you so much for your educational videos. It is good to hear from a architect views on the building. One of many things I see in usa 🇺🇸, not many people doesn’t know what is better way to build a house. The most production builders, they will skin the cat in the structural of the house and very poor quality carpenters and concrete. The most the walls not even level. They can’t even build a 50ft wall in a straight line. It is so sad.
The production builders just do a modern lipstick on interior finishes and make looks so pretty. The house will start breaking down in 5 years.
2nd.. the recent freeze happened In Texas; most of the pipes are broken from attic. It is not climate control. The pipes were exposed on exterior temperature; little bit of temperature changes and stayed in 15 degrees for few days; many Houses got damaged.
Do you think, the lessons ever learned? No, the production builders keep building same way. They are completely forgotten what is happened 2 weeks ago In Texas.
I do remodels and repairs and can second everything you've said. Floors, counters, ceilings- nothing is level or square. Pipes ran next to cracks in the sheathing provide super freezing wind tunnels every winter even in the somewhat milder area where I live. And then under the buildings...a long list of deficiencies and problems waiting just a couple years to happen. One huge housing tract built on old marsh land where they all have sump pumps pumping water into each other's homes and all the heating ducts under the house leaking and destroyed and causing mold throughout the homes. And they are on regular 8 inch pier blocks that are sinking. I bet the whole area has sunk significantly over the past couple years.
@@seasidescott Back in 2007 my Wife and I were house hunting. We narrowed it down to 2 homes at around the same price: One built in 1973 with 1500 square feet per floor, or one built in 1999 with 1200 square feet per floor. We went with the older home because of how cheap the construction on the newer home was. Sure, we knew we'd have to renovate the older home and update windows and appliances, but bones were much better.
@@matts1166 Imagine those being mass built right now with wood so expensive. Every corner cut and never touched by a hammer.
What kind of dehumidifier?
@@kwatts5364 The large units are measured in pints (of water they take out of the air per day). Biggest regular ones range 150-210 pints. Growers use them too. They are like AC window units basically but not in the window and the heating and cooling radiators are close to each other so the air comes out near the same temp it came in.
These are by far the best construction education videos I’ve ever seen. Well done.
i know it's quite off topic but does anyone know of a good website to stream newly released tv shows online ?
Check out Matt Risinger. He is REALLY good as he is a builder
Im a personal project builder in Toronto and finished my first all ICF two storey 3600 square foot home a few years ago. Fast, quality, and "considerably" less expensive than traditional methods, materials all around. An absolutely astounding incredibly comfortable quiet home. There will have to be a revolution in materials and processes before I consider using a different process than ICF. AND SO EASY!
I’ve watched three of your videos and being a content creator myself, as well as a build channel, I must say bravo! These videos are perfect educational content!
11/10 educational content!
Thanks you! :)
We built a 3 level, 12 classroom addition to a school using this method last year. Part of the reason it was chosen was cost. The budget was $2 million which we were able to stay on. Note: Much work, was done by volunteers such as the wired network, floor finishing, painting, and bathroom tiling. Interior walls were metal studs to allow "smurf" tubing for the AV equipment. The floors were Spancrete. The ICF part of the project went very smoothly, and it is a durable and safe building.
I've been wanting to build a semi-off grid weekend getaway home. Something far enough away that I can have privacy from the world, yet sill be within 30 minutes of a town. I was thinking of making an ICF ring about 25 feet wide and 4 feet tall, then topping it with a steel geodesic dome of the same diameter and using shotcrete to cover the dome.
We built a new home 14 years ago with all ICF exterior walls. I am sold on this type of construction with one of the greatest advantages be the comfortable living space . Living in Michigan we get some very cold days and with the thermal mass of the concrete walls you get a very consistent and comfortable living space throughout the whole house.
Did you use additional insulation to deal with the coldest days or has the R22 + thermal mass been enough?
If you used additional insulation, what did you use and what R-value does it bring your walls to?
Thanks for another educational video! I was a little kid when Typhoon Pamela hit Guam in 1976. We lived on base and had a cement home. Those cement walls really are tough!
I just learned about ICF this morning, and I'm elated to see you've already done a video on it. Your videos give so many helpful visuals, in-depth info, and a light refreshing balance of humor while giving all relevant facts. Very easy and entertaining to watch.
I’m surprised how balanced and intelligent your video is. It’s refreshing, ty 🙂
This was much easier to understand than the Pro-Builders I watched, I actually understand it now not just the pros and cons, and the focus on water management. Obviously both presentation styles are miles ahead of me walking past a construction site and looking over at the workers as they're there to work not teach strangers.
Great points in the conclusion, I think combining this with Solar and air exchange devices will make these very safe and economical. If planning to expand the home it seems prudent to leave provisions for that in the initial build like a wall that isn't ICF or has an oversized door/window opening that can be adapted for another use. Yes all the stuff inside will be out of date in 20-30 years why not focus on the parts that can't be easily changed (the bones).
I was also impressed with those three standing homes in that neighborhood, they looked completely unscathed, I didn't pixel peep to see how the windows and doors did, but the roofs looked fine in that quick glance too.
Thanks, Kacey! Hope your home build is coming along well.
Thank you for these beautifully done and informative videos. I'm still about 6 years out from building my home. Im a tech nerd, so I am going to be running a lot of network and fiber cables to each room. I live in the upper midwest USA and think this will be a great choice for me.
In the early 90s when I was in professional school we already used this kind of material to build a house (called house of the future) as practical training. The platics brackets weren't included in the block though. We had to place them manually between each layers
I have now watch several of your videos and I applaud you for you attention to both the theoretical and practical Building Science foundations you adhere to in all of you examinations and discussions of various building systems and principals - Great work Belinda!
This is one of the best educational videos I've seen. Accurate, researched, practical and to the point.
Subscribed, and please keep them coming!
Great video. I basically agree with all your points about pros and cons.
I would add one more pro that I only realized fully after I finished my 2000 sf home in 2013: The huge thermal mass. I live in central PA and I heat my house with a wood burner (gasifier) and radiant floor system. Even during the coldest days I only need to run my heater about every other day and just for 4- 8 hours depending on the weather. In the summer the house stays cool except for prolonged heatwaves (over 1-2 weeks). I don't have AC so a basically have no heating or cooling costs.
The house is very tight though, and if we have a lot of people together (i.e. for Christmas) during the winter, we have to open the windows to get fresh air and cool down the room we are in.
Thanks for the videos - I still have to watch more of them
Do you have a fresh air system installed in your place?
If not, look into it. It'd cut down on the need to pop a window (which lets all the environmental dust, allergens, and other filth in from outside). And you could control the temperature the same way.
Everytime I watch these videos they never disappoint. Also love the miss daughtfire clip and jim Carey, nice touch. The shop in which I work has the foundation made of this stuff, but I've also seen full homes in Canada made of this stuff. R50 would definitely make the best Insulation, most homes are batted at r24 but icf has air sealing properties. Plus nowadays there are stronger storms so this option would be best for your permanent family home. Well done Belinda.
Had an ICF home that I truly miss. It was 3500sq-ft but even in the same temperatures was far cheaper to heat and cool than my current 2000sq-ft stick home. The home had a metal room with 16in of spray foam insulation applied to the underside so the attic was conditioned space. The thermal stability of that home was pretty amazing. I'd have another one in a heart-beat.
This was EXTREMELY well done and an easy listen.
Great presentation, you hit all the high points and advantages of ICFs.
Very good run down of things to keep in mind/watch out for when planning an ICF home. I'd love to hear your take on ICF vs CLT for a new home build.
I are adding on a 1400 sq ft ICF addition to my 1100 sq ft 135 year old home in Tucson, Arizona. Your research confirms my data on this project. Thanks.
Ben
My parents built an ICF steel interior home 18 yrs ago and it is like a fortress. Great R value and sound dampening. I am starting the process of building an ICF home in coastal SC so I don’t need to worry about hurricane damage. Attaching hardiplank outside and stucco protects foam and drywall interior. Steel wall and truss systems allows longer unsupported walls for first and second floors. The only drawback is attaching required metal cutting screws in old block but with new plastic ribs allows attachment of drywall screws.
This is a far better education on how ICF construction works than was imparted to me by my employer, 20 years ago when I was DOING ICF construction... even so- the blocks have come a long long way since then. I am going to build with this for my home, mainly for the reasons you mention, I can improve quality of the lower levels and get amazing insulation and sound proofing using ICF, and there is no reason not to use stick framing elsewhere on the build, so creative designs are only limited by ingenuity...
What a great video, I wasn't expecting such a well laid out explanation on the topic of ICF. Thanks !
To avoid confusing natural air changes per hour with induced air changes via infiltrometer. ACH values are typically expressed as ACH@50, or simply ACH50, and natural air changes are expressed as NACH.
I love your vids!! You do such an amazing job. My husband and I have looked into icf, but haven’t seen something this well put together.
Keep up the great work!!
Don't know exactly how I found you. I'm glad I have though. Learning a good deal of information. Appreciate you taking the time to share your knowledge, and application of your knowledge.
As an experienced builder, I love your no nonsense, fact based research...subscribed and liked!
I’ve been looking into these..and even did a presentation on them for my university studies. I like them! Thanks for this video!
I've been a fan for years! Thanks for sharing your intelligence and knowledge with us.
I find your videos so interesting!! My grandfather built a home out of ICF in the early 2000's, and I helped him with a lot of it - including stacking all the blocks. It's got an isolated standing seem metal roof on it. The place is really air tight! One issue with the ICF construction is when you want to hang something on the wall, the only place you can drill a screw is on the high density plastic part.
Great content, I have been a fan for many years of ICF.
This was well researched, well presented, and well edited.
I’m yet to find a better building product.
Yes my house is ICF.
Cheers from Oz
Great explanation Belinda. I built 2 commercial offices and three residential homes. Using a foam blocks. If you don’t have professional during the pour, you will have a blowout or worse the wall will not be plumb. Make sure who you hire for the pour has several references. It can get a little tricky, but the finished product is as advertised. And a great value since lumber has gone sky high.
Dear Belinda, Thank you for such a high quality content. I am also big fan of ICF homes. I have purchased a small lot in Southwest Florida (Naples area) and my plan is to model and build my home with an Owner Builder affidavit (I am looking at Vertical ICF). I am also looking at an ICF roof, using LiteDeck Steel Rib System, but that is even more challenging undertaking. One area of concern is termites, because they known to bore through foam insulation in search of wood. There are very few ICF homes built in Southwest Florida and what I was told, it is due to huge CMU construction industry. In fight with termites, the best practice is to use CMU blocks where ground contact is necessary and install ICF above the ground. There is also termites treated foam, but from it, derive numerous health risk speculations. Being in engineering myself, I love the idea of thorough CAD modelling, reviewing the design with family and subsequent BOM generation. Thank you so much and may God bless you!
I wanted to get into architecture when I was in high school, the idea of making a home and living in it was fascinating to me and learning that it is somewhat a well paid job it hyped me more. However, there wasn't enough hype in me to dedicate myself to get into this field since I grew rather really depressed and people pressured me to do better with my grades. So I just didn't go to college at all after high school. Stumbling upon your videos remind me of how much I used to secretly love drawing homes especially illustrating my ideal homes on notebooks. It is a pleasure to just learn stuff like this. Love your channel, Belinda.
Great content. Love your insights. Please keep it coming!
Thank you for making such an informative video! It's people like you why I keep watching UA-cam.
I built an ice home for my family in Texas. Harder, more expensive, but well well worth it. Results are amazing. Great video on the subject. Another con is contractors that have no experience with it. Like trim work, hardware, plumbing, electrical,. I’d love to see a video on termites by you! You easily earned my subscription.
Excellent! Very informative and unbiased review while skipping all the verbal fluff we see so often. Instant subscribe.
This has made me reconsider ICF construction and building techniques. Thank you.
Belinda,
Thanks for this video. We are going to be building an ICF in Nebraska, climate zone 5. I really enjoy your content and production and appreciate your professionalism and knowledge that is helping me design our new home. That is why I help sponsor your channel every month, it is a value to me and I gladly support you. Keep up the good work!
Dr. Douglas States, MD
Great job! Very well presented and informative, you've done your homework. My wife and I are getting ready to build our ICF house on Siesta Key in Florida in 2 months. We picked ICF for it's strength but love all the other advantages it has. Surprisingly, there are not a lot of ICF specific builders in Florida. We found home builders who said they could do it but I wanted someone who specializes in it. Keep up the good work!
I would be happy to help you out! We are Miami-Dade Certified for Category 5 Hurricanes.
Great video, i built a bunch of basements with icf and now we are doing entire homes and I love the outcome with the right planing
Continue doing the nice job with your videos. Very educational
Thank you!
WOW! What an awesome video! Thank you
Thank you for taking the time to produce this video
Love all your videos! Keep them coming please.
Would love to see you do a video on straw bale construction?
Good job. Enjoy your tech approach.
Excellent informative review, thank you!!
Very unique experience adapting low voltage (alarm, audio/video, central vac) systems to these forms during rough construction...very unique
I've changed over from wood construction to CMU walls due to cost. A lot of advantages beyond cost. The last homes were left exposed on the out side, metal stud furring and drywall on the inside. For me the drawback to the Fox blocks is having to install a finish to the exterior side of the ICF. The ICF blocks are going in the right direction but the cost is a big drawback along with the cons you pointed out. Thanks Belinda for another great educational video for us dumb architects...hehe
I've helped do 3 icf basements and 2 icf homes when in high-school. My dad built a SIPS house.
I live in Tornado Country now. I'm planning to build an ICF house with a over built SIPS roof. Both systems are very strong and easy to work with.
This was such an informative video. Thanks!
Great video. We have an ICF walkout basement and it is noticeably more comfortable than the conventional 2x6 construction above it. It is quieter and it does not fluctuate in temperature.
Thank you, this was so informative and easy to follow. I loved it.
I am planning on building an ICF home this spring I found this video extremely helpful thank you
Excellent video, thanks!
Sub'd! Love your presentations, sound reasoning, and the sound of your voice!
Excellent content and well presented.
i really like your videos. You will acknowledge your biases yet give balanced pros and cons.
Thanks, David. I try! Don't always succeed, but I try.
I'm learning so much thank you for what you do.
Well Done. Great Review...
Great video good tutorial on ICF.
Well done Belinda, you create some very good and informative content. ICF blocks is a quite interesting building method and is quite well known here in Denmark. Maybe not very widely used, but is used and it have been used for one of my projects. However, I would say that CLT elements are the overall best construction material, available today. :-)
Thank you for the information !!
I just found your channel Belinda. Love your content. We have been building with ICF in the North Texas area since 1992. We are about to start an urban infill project off of 1-30. It will be 2 stories with an ICF roof deck. We just sold our ICF home in Argyle that we built in 2005 and have a new home designed with ICF walls floor and roof system.
Hi Norman, I am in north Texas and am looking into building an ICF home. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions about it? Do you have an email address I can send the questions to or is here ok?
I have designed a number of ICF homes. I first used them about 25 years ago but they have more recently started to become more popular. The number one disadvantage in my mind is that if the rebar design is complex and the contractor makes a mistake, it is very difficult to fix. It is suited for simpler rebar designs. You tend to have more complex rebar designs in seismic areas and/or large windows and tall walls.
We also use it in cold climates and that has not been too much of an issue.
You can also use it just as a foundation wall. Where I am from, we usually use membranes etc on the foundation walls anyways so it is not an additional cost.
Thanks for sharing your experience! I've even seen it used to build in-ground swimming pools.
What if you use Helix micro rebar? That would eliminate conventional rebar complexity.
@@rockys7726 I have never seen it used to replace reinforcing in a wall. I have seen it used in ground supported slab on grade and composite floor decking. These are items that do not cause a life safety concern when there is a failure of the reinforcing. I have heard of it used in walls but not as the main rebar. I would be very hesitant to use it as a replacement for rebar in walls. You also need a high slump concrete for tall 6" thick walls (for IFC this is more economical than 8" walls) and I don't know if that is feasible with the steel fibres. There is also nothing in the codes (where I live) that would permit the replacement of rebar with steel fibres.
I once had a conversation with an architect who was involved with the renovation of a parkade where steel fibres were used. He swore that he would never use the product for any future projects. When ever they needed to cut the concrete there were steel slivers everywhere. They were getting all kinds of claims for punctured car tires.
I would also be concerned with the flow of concrete around areas of high congestion of rebar.
The review of dosing and mixing is not practical for most engineers if there is a life safety concern. That is not to say that at some future point this can't be addressed in some manner. I am also sure that the product has it place and uses.
@@yodaiam1000 For non-seismic areas you can get away with replacing some of the rebar in the structure with Helix.
In a seismic area, I'd use Helix in addition to the regular rebar schedule. This adds to the ductility of the concrete throughout the whole wall structure, rather than just at the points where the rebar exists.
@@PhotonHerald Please reference the codes and research papers and I will take a look into it. If I have another product available to me that helps reduce construction complexity and costs, that would be of interest.
I don't doubt you will gain ductility. How much ductility and the significance of the increase in ductility and capacity is what is important. We normally use a ductility and over-strength factor of 1.5 and 1.3 respectively (I am not from the US and we use slightly different values) for most concrete or steel houses. If we use higher factors we also have to review the relative increase in shear strength versus the bending strength if you want the bending strength to remain the weak link. Slump is also an important factor for these cases.
It looks like you are from the US. Are you registered as either a P.E. or an S.E.?
You're a wealth of knowledge.
Liked very much !!!
you do a superb job on your vids!!!
I really appreciate your clarity and knowledge on your channel!
Excellent.
Looking GOOD !!!!!!!!
Thank you for the great video. You addressed moisture issues with concrete being absorbent particularly at the foundation level and that some builders like to wrap the house with a Plastic membrane that has a tar like substrate. This I would suspect is quite combustible if Exposed to the high heat wild fires such as seen I California Spain and Canada. There is waterproof concrete used in bridge abutments as well as superstrong concrete and concrete with Fiberglas fibers. It seem logical one could put ingredients into the concrete for pouring the walls that would make it waterproof, just another cost.
Excellent presentation..
Would be fascinated to see a similar dive into the pros and cons of rammed earth construction, either the traditional or compressed earth blocks. I know there's a few places in Texas that specialise but it's hard to trust someone that's trying to sell you their wonder material to be objective about downsides.
Love your videos, And love the idea of having concrete exterior walls. would love to have the comparisons between ICF and tilt construction or traditional pour in place walls like how most basements are built.
I read that ICF is cheaper than pour in place because you don’t need to build the form work. You also don’t need to attach insulation to the concrete as it’s already done.
If you are finishing basement and maintaining as heated living space go with ICF.
I’m about to build an ICF home in a hurricane zone. Very excited to see how it turns out. Hopefully ICF will hold up to it’s reputation.
Very happy that I found your channel. Very well presented video. New Subscriber here.
Excellent video. You’re absolutely right, there is an awesome Versatility with ICF. For instance, if a person wanted to build an ICF boat ;).
I have an ICF house that I was the Gen contractor on, supper insulated and mouse proof. Used ICF blocks, 10 inch blocks with extra foam on outside wall giving me 8 inch walls. 5 bars on 16 center and 4000 psi concrect.
its also bullet resistance , fire , termites , high pinch sounds resistance
Well done. I think you hit the nail on the head when you touched upon the fact that Styrofoam and concrete are not the best for the environment, but balanced against a well built, well drained home that could last over 100 years, it is certainly a good use for these materials.
Plus there are ways to cut down on the "green load" of both foam and concrete. And, with proper formulation, you can come close to making concrete a CO2 sink, rather than a source.
Also, ammortized over the life of a building that could be around several hundred years, the "green load" dwindles into insignificance.
Partly because of the lower HVAC bills/use, and because even the remaining load can be offset with various forms of renewable energy.
In Mexico City, the appartment prices are very high in some areas, and people tend to disregard the 'bones' and be attracted more by the looks. Very sad. Very dangerous, given the fact we live in a seismic-prone valley. * Wish you the best, Belinda. Great video.
Very educational
Very informative
I really love these videos
EXCELLENT VIDEO! THAN YOU!
properly installed some very good reasons for doing ICF. Sound resistance, thermal resistance, air and moisture resistive barrier, bugs and other vermin might eat the foam but not the concrete. So many good things. The bad is that there are not lots of builders using it. The cost per Sq Ft is very high in comparison to other means. If one want to do remodeling it is $$$ prohibitive. One really has to plan out where penetrations need to go: pipes for plumbing electrical and mechanical. Especially mechanical one tube per penetration so that there is never a problem doing air and moisture sealing. Really raising the ICF is dead simple. Can be done with a crew of high school kids. Even doing the zonts for truing the walls.
A lot of these downsides are things that can be solved with a little initial skull work and communication with your architect.
Then with good communication with your GC and subsidiary contractors.
Also, some contractors sell ICFs impregnated with things that make them termite resistant.
Additionally, there are some finish details and types of coatings and membranes that render the ICF protected against such things.
Thanks very useful!
Great video. I'm considering building an ICF house and would love to have heard a more comprehensive comparison on price, like: ICF with barrier VS 2x6 with matching R value and zip R.
Building material pricing is constantly changing, especially these days. Any price comparison won't be accurate for long.
Belinda, look up steel framing as an additional way to get rid of wood. There's at least one company in north Texas that'll convert wood frame architecture specs to steel and deliver all the steel pre-cut and numbered to the site.
Very informative and I also want to have a home made with this technology.
These things are neat! I thought about buying some just to play with
Belinda love the info & learning experience that you give... Could you pls do a review of building with interlocking bricks pls as I have been hooked on the technology for the past 7 years & see it as a solution for expensive build costs in Africa
Great video however! Thank you for sharing.
Good job of explaining the benefits. This method of construction has improved since it's inception about 30 yrs ago. It's still a concrete structure with a convenient and beneficial forming system. Works great when done correctly as you stated. Can you give your opinions of AAC construction?
Pros, oros, and more pros. I have built both icf and metal framed and solid pour goundations. Icf foam blocks are insanely efficient for both heating and cooling costs, the houses are very very quiet.
You could drive a truck I t9 a icf wall, and not have the truck come threw.