Wow, what a trip! Insulated Concrete Form building is very interesting! small margin for error , incredible strength and very fuel efficient! Structure only cost about 4 % more than traditional. lots of extension jambs! Quiet!!!! Anybody else getting into these? Have not sold it yet ( spec) as still finishing up lots of stuff.
Miami
Replies
Hey Miami; I'm not going to ask any serious questions, 'cause I know Florida has a problem with counting... just kidding.
What brand did you use? What would you do different? Any problems? DIY? You are a contractor?
Did you pour floors and walls at same time? How many pours from foundation to wall top? How about labour versus slab and blocks?
You are in Florida? Things are different here in Carolina. I am bidding a house in Lake Lure, NC, and will be first ICF for me.
Thanks, I'm interested in this. I think it was Andy E, the accident guy, who said the only thing he would do different was to use the icf's for the first story also.
David
007,
I am a contractor, been building for about 24 years, am moving into ICF building for lots of reasons, mostly to avoid being a commodity. The first house was built entirely using ARXX building systems.The biggest mistake was my own ignorance. I paid way too much for the product ( the distributor got really greedy) because I failed to compare price from distributor to distributor. The ARXX system worked very well! It is very important that the footer is level w/in 1/4 inch. The closer the better! By the way, I live in Indiana, Miami is just a nickname. Actually I used to live in Winston Salem, NC. Built the house on a crawlspace w/ an engineered wood I-joist system.Walls were 9 feet tall poured in three lifts took 40 cu yards of concrete( 4 full trucks!) gotta go, Miami
I have been working for a builder who is using the ARXX system. It does create a very solid and energy efficient house. There is a learning curve to them though. I'm no expert with the system, but here are some of my thoughts on the ARXX blocks.
Like Miami said, there is very little margin for error. We used the V-Buck system for windows and doors. They can be a pain to assemble until you get the hang of it.
Buy or rent the scaffold/bracing system system that ARXX sells, or find something similar.
Concrete pump trucks make the pour much nicer.
Take into account that the blocks will settle slightly when determining wall height.
Make sure that large openings are braced VERY well before the pour. A 16 ft garage door has several thousand pounds of concrete above it.
Make sure walls are plumb during and as soon after the pour as you can.
It is difficult to deal anything less than 1 inch increments on wall lengths.
You can get 45° corner blocks, but they take longer to work with than 90° corners.
Everything is screwed to the blocks including windows, doors and vinyl.
The house we are working on is about 5500 sqft. The living and dining room walls are 14 ft with part of it open to the basement. One wall is about 20 ft high with 9 large windows. The largest braces we had were 12 ft which made things very interesting.
We blocked up and poured to just above the first floor deck, then joisted and decked so we had a platform to work off of. Once the rest of the walls were blocked they were poured. You won't be able to pour the walls and floors at the same time. It is nice to have a flat floor to attach the braces to, even if you have to tapcon them in.
I hope this helps you. I'm sure that I will think of some thing else later.
MarkYes, I am serious. And don't call me Shirley.
I am a contractor in Tennessee. I just built my first ICF house using Reward 11 inch Iform blocks. It all went really well. I was pleased with the block and the support from Reward.
Danny
I've used Reward for an earth sheltered home a few years ago, the previous house I just finished, the one I'm working on now, and the one I hope to start in a few weeks.
There's definitely a learning curve, but I'm sold on the ICFs.
The most recent pour was a +/- 10' wall in one shot. A boom pump operator who knows his stuff is a good guy to have around.
The biggest things I've learned:
1) Bracing is good, more is better.
2) If you haven't bought turnbuckles yet, do yourself a favor and get some.
3) A trained crew is a good investment.
4) If you accurately and honestly convey the advantages of this stuff, it sells itself.
DRC
I couldn't agree w/ you more! This stuff does indeed sell itself once people understand what it is. I actually had folks wonder how a styrofoam house didn't blow away? Had to explain that concrete went inside the forms ! The bottom line is, currently I'm the only local fulltimer using the product. This gives me an edge on the sea of stick framers who are batteling the sq. ft. lowball game. I still try to be very competative as I know others will follow. Just being the first should help me for a little while! ;-)
Miami
I built the foundations for my house using ICF's (SuperForm), I'm not a contractor, just an advanced DIY. The first reason I even looked at them was because I was trying to find something that I COULD do my self as this area has such a building boom going that it is extremely difficult to get sub contracters, and much of what is done isn't what I would call first rate, just quick. Found a number of suppliers and ended up with Superform because they were local. Rented their bracing/scaffolding system which made things a breeze. Used them for frost walls and foundation walls on a walkout and evrything went together very well.
Biggest points to remember were:
1. Brace everything well. Any corners or partial blocks should be bridged or tied together with short pieces of plywood.
2. If you know you are using ICF then try to design the house for 90 and 45 degree angles. I didn't so I had to do a lot of custom cutting and fitting of two walls.
3. Use a pump truck to place the concrete and have an elbow on the end of the hose to break the pressure of the concrete so it doesn't roar into the cavity.
4. Rebar is cheap, I used rebar at 12" horizontal and vertical, double rows at the top and bottom. I didn't have any windows or door openings since it was a walkout.
5. Make sure your footing are level. Repeat, repeat. It is possible to correct a little for out of level footings, but it isn't easy. I used a laser level to set the forms for the footings, and then checked everything again just before the pour.
Everyone who saw this thing wanted to know about it, from the pump truck driver to the concrete placers to the guys delivering materials. And they all thought it was a great idea.
Total cost was more than just pouring normal walls, but once you figure in the fact that with the ICF's you now had an insulated basement that just needed drywall screwed up, the cost was pretty much the same. And of course I saved the labour component since I did it myself, and I know it was done right, which was even more important to me.
RV