I am building a 1000 sq. ft. home and was wondering about insulated foam foundation versus using forms.
I am a pretty fair carpenter but have not done concrete foundations,is the foam foundation that much better?How does the cost compare.
Any info would be appreciated.
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Rand, welcome to Breaktime.
Till someone responds, try the Advanced Search for ICF's. You should find a whole lot of previous posts with info for you.
We laid block for our stepped foundation hillside construction. No experience with ICF's.
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Thanks for your input Calvin,I'm pretty convinced to use ICFS.Just wanted some input.
RANDWOOD.
Here's a recent thread that will get you started.
http://forums.taunton.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=tp-breaktime&msg=117320.1&search=y
Joe H
ICF: easy to install. Lots of support from manufacturers so a competent carpenter without much concrete experience can pull it off by following instructions pr.
Better R value.
Forms: Harder for a beginner who hasn't formed much, since much of the knowledge is only learned by working on a concrete crew.
Less expensive, though you will likely throw away a lot of form material. Really not a good system for the one-time user.
Conventional forming involves more heavy lifting both in building and stripping forms.
Less R value.
Thanks Marson and everyone who responded I'm from the interior of British Columbia and R value is damned important here.
RANDWOOD.
I built my house's foundation with ICF's and found them to be so easy that my sister-in - law with no prior construction experiance finished it..
it's sooooooooooooooooo.......... easy!
I believe that I saved over $10,000 by doing it myself over having someone come in and doing it..
Plus I wound up with a much superior foundation.. please ask for details!
I'd add that while stacking the blocks is very easy and fun, you also have to have the wherewithal to pour footings (the flatter the better for ICF's) and brace, straighten, set up walk planks, and pour them too. You'd have to do these things with conventional forms as well.
We never level footings. We build them and the foundation wall at the same time and pour them together. The great majority of the material gets used in the framing and what little is left, along with the odd tree limb and offcuts, gets burned berfore landscaping. Nothing gets moved from site to site.
Edited 4/4/2009 7:38 pm ET by fingersandtoes
Edited 4/4/2009 7:42 pm ET by fingersandtoes
Well, we don't do it that way, maybe because we rarely pour a wall less than 9' tall. Frost depth is 5' here, so most people go with full basements as long as they have to dig that much.I wouldn't deny that you could do it that way, I just don't see the support out there for a guy who has never formed a foundation. The thing with ICF's is that there are very detailed instructions for every step.
I think my point is that I was able to build a nice foundation without any prior experiance or skill..
Another words it's extremely easy for a beginning DIY person to do..
Some time this summer once my dock is out from under the portico I'll take pictures of my second effort at working with ICF's
ICF foundations are better IMO, and for someone without the investment and experience with forms, they are the way to go, they are more expensive to some degree depending how you count your labor value and the cost of adding foam to a regular foundation later.
Frenchy always claims extreme savings because he values his own labour at about -$00.02/hr
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where ...
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"Frenchy always claims extreme savings because he values his own labour at about -$00.02/hr"Thanks for the laugh! How's your fibro been? Hope this winter wasn't to hard on you.Kevin
Fibro doing better, partly due to ability TO laugh! Does that make frenchy a miracle worker?;) Actually I have been on Cymbalta for it since around mid December. Made steady daily improvements for three weeks then leveled out. I rarely take other pain meds now. I still have to remind myself that I'll never be 30YO again, but live is liveable now.Lot of Tylenol last couple days due to bad cold tho.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Paul, has the docs ever suggested Lyrica for your fibro?
No, it took them a couple years to confirm diagnosis of Fibromyalgia in the first place, then a month to search and confer which would be the best med for me. Looks like they hit it right on first try once they decided to actually treat it.I could say more, but that's getting off track of this thread - how to beat yourself up by pouring your own foundation.or something like that.;)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
" I still have to remind myself that I'll never be 30YO again"
I tell people all the time how I wish I were 30 again, work 12 hr day, go to bed exhausted, get up the next day full of energy. Now, at 48, I do that kind of work and spend 3 days recovering. Who would have thought you would long to be 30 again. "Youth is wasted on the young", understand that quote more and more as I age.
Glad to hear things are better.
Kevin
It's hard to remember, it's been so long ago now, but I think my prime was about 34-36
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
34-36, like pro golfers.
How Dare You !
I've never paid myself such an extravagent sum in my life! I mean .02, what do you think I am made of money? Besides if I paid myself such a massive sum I'd have to pay taxes and insurance plus all the other requirements of employment..
Nah! It's simply not worth it to me..
That was minus two cents, frenchy. You don't pay yourself to do the work, you pay yourself for the opportunity to do the work.Glad we got that straightened out!;)
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Oh but were that true!
However I should then have to declare the income and endure all the consquences of that!
You must be determined to get me into difficulty! <grin>
Now that you have me inspired with grand ideas - you could give yourself a raise soon with inflation and start paying yourself minus three cents an hour
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Ahhh!,.... But as a humble workman I simple cannot afford such largess. Remember it's not only the minus 3 cents it's also taxes, and insurance, profit, and all the other requirements of a business that must be met..
In addition that would also require me to keep some track of the time and as I do not own a watch it would be estimates..
We all know my estimates are wildly off, So I feel the best course for me to follow is the course I've thus far established for myself .. Which is to do whatever I want for as long as I wish to do it!
True that will inevitably lead to a loss of profit but since I've never been to a funeral where the deceased is buried with his money I suspect I shall leave this world no worse off than what I arrived with..