I’m going to be adding to the foundation of the house shortly. Small addition. Because need to hire a pump to get the concrete into the front of the house I want to do it all at once.. Therefor I’ll set up the footings, set the ICF’s in place and put the insulation down all at once.. The problem as I see it is that I won’t be able to strip the forms from the inside of the footings..
As I see it it won’t matter. The forms will be covered by at least 4 inches of concrete, if they should rot or decay so what? covered by at least four inches of concrete it’s highly unlikely that anything will happen? Won’t it?
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If you were really worried about the void that could eventually result you could always use pressure treated material for that inside form, Frenchy. But there are countless houses built on a crawlspace here in the Pacific Northwet that the footings are not backfilled against on the interior. If you do end up with a void, what would be the difference?
Then again, termites don't like pressure treated material and I try not to invite them by leaving ANY lumber in the dirt under or around a building. Maybe that's not an issue where you live, but it is here.
Jim,
Nah we don't have termits here, they stay where it isn't cold 11 months of the year and one month of rough sledding..
I always try to remove all form work. Having said that, there are times when it's just not worth effort. And other times when it's just not possible, in fact sometimes it's planned that way, ei: plywood box in stair form.
I'd be hard pressed to find a problem with leaving the footing forms in your situation. Someone else may disagree. But even at the point when they do rot, 4 " of concrete will span a 1 1/2" strip.