Just poured my ICF basement walls, and can’t rave enough about what a great experience it was! I’m very satisfied with my choice.
It was a pretty simple job: 8′ foundation walls, 13’x38’2″, C-shaped against an existing foundation wall, with two windows, no funny angles, no T-walls etc. The blocks I chose were Amvic, and it’s a well-thought-out system with blocks that come assembled and are symmetrical top to bottom. The blocks fit perfectly and went together with very little effort, with 1/2 day of advice from an experienced guy and 1 1/2 days of novice “help” (myself included), we had the walls stacked out completely. Another two man-days to brace, tie and foam it up, and that was just because it was me, I’m the nervous type, and it’s my own house and I wanted it just right.
The pour went really smoothly. These were 8″ walls so they filled really easily, with no worries about pocketing/honeycoming and no need for vibration. From what I’ve seen in my research and in talking to ICF contractors and block suppliers, over-vibration is what tends to lead to blow-outs.
I rented the smallest pump truck that the big concrete pumping outfit in my area had available (which had a 70′ boom and was able to pour the whole job from the street…). It was all over in 2 1/2 hours, with no bulging, blow-outs or other problems. The walls were straight as an arrow after the pour and we didn’t need to adjust the braces after the pour at all.
The only shock was the 1/2 (probably more like 3/4) cubic metre of concrete which was left in the hopper of the pump truck after the pour and which the pump operator had to “dump” on my property. I knew I needed extra ‘crete, much of which went directly into a few garage foundation pier holes I had ready to pour “just in case”, but that was a fair bit of “leftover” to contend with! Fortunately I had another pier hole ready to be mucked out, and the bars cut (but not bent). Somehow I managed to get the hole mucked out, the bars bent, the form in place and level, and to get the concrete in place with shovel and wheelbarrow before it set (yep, I’m hurtin’ today, but it was worth it!) It was also good luck that I had a 45 gallon drum for the pump prime (slime), though I’ll decide how good an idea that was when I figure out what the &*@% I’m going to do with it!
The consultant I hired was worth his weight in gold. His advice in the first 1/2 day setting out the forms made the job go far faster and with less waste than I would have accomplished on my own. He also gave me security during the pour, and that “sleep at night” factor was worth it to me as a DIYer.
Thanks to FHB (the very informative recent article) and to all who’ve posted about ICFs here over the past couple of years. You gave me the confidence to tackle this. Too bad it’s a single-use skill- if all goes well I’ll be retiring in this place and won’t have to build another one as long as I live!
Replies
Congtratulations, MM. May the rest of it be just as satisfying.
Ron
A round of smiles for everyone!
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when I started my house a local contractor told me , when I dig my footing get the backhoe to dig a deep hole under the drive way. then when ever you wash out from concrete trucks, wash in the hole. after construction throw all the bricks and blocks in the hole. fill with sand and then concrete the driveway over the top of it.
So you are ready to pour the house walls now ? Go to the eaves at least.
If I knew it was going to be this easy, you betcha I'd have poured to the eaves! "That house won't take long, did it?" Man, that has some appeal! But it's too late for that now. I bet I'll have the place framed by the time the building department would approve a change in plans!
Besides, I kinda like swinging a hammer. And I need some framer's arms to go with the 15 pounds I lost hacking out half of 38' of underpinning trenches with a pick and an adze. The other half of the digging was divvied up between friends and relatives. There was plenty of pain to go 'round, and I'm certainly grateful for the help. (Don't worry, we had the bobcat guy dig the spoils out of the hole with the backhoe attachment- I may be crazy but at least I'm not completely out of my tree!)
ICF'n fabulous experience!
I had a feeling that it's you. Nice going MM.
Hey Tom- thanks for the coffees and the words of encouragement. Your visits really cheered me up! My FIL and I should be at least starting the framing next week if all goes well. If you're in the neighbourhood again, make sure you drop by!
Congratulations.
I'm starting a similar project soon with Amvic block - I hope I have good news to report, too!
If you're interested in a few pointers given to me by my consultant, who was very experienced with Amvic, feel free to e-mail me by clicking through on my profile. They may or may not be useful for your situation, but I'm happy to offer them. The Amvic system was really well engineered and worked like a charm for my application. Hope things go as well for you as they did for me!
I did my IFC foundation almost 4 years ago. I had a similar experiance.. in the next few weeks I'll do it again... Read my comments about to strip or not!