ICF House

[MN Gardener]

Has anyone built a house with Insulated Concrete Forms? Our neighbor just did a garage like this and DH wants us to do a ranch style home on a heated slab this way. How easy is it for a "advanced" do it yourself? What are the pros and cons? Any suggestions and pics would be greatly appreciated!

[painterswife]

http://www.greenbuildingtalk.com/For...4/Default.aspx

Lots of info here,

[tab]

When we were still running our business, we built several basements and one whole house with what was then the ABS System. It is now another name. IF you are advanced in doing it yourself, it is very feasible. I would stongly recommend a pump truck as opposed to a bucket. You get more control of the flow of concrete, can do a better job, and if there are any problems, the concrete can be stopped. We never had a blow out with either way of moving the crete but it was easier and faster with the truck. You may need the truck twice depending on how high you go w/ walls so get a price on it as they are expensive. The homes are quiet, heat easily and go fairly quickly. Just the offset in labor vs. the pump truck is amazing. It really makes the truck seem much more reasonable when you start looking at it that way. My ds is going to build his house using that system. My dh is really kind of excited to be getting back into the building (now I'm gonna hear how he wants a new house again...) My suggestion is to learn as much as you can about it and then ask specific q's here and to your local rep. Many times the reps are really helpful.

[rzrubek]

My wife's uncle built a U shaped ranch house with ICF's and was very happy with the results and the building of it. He is an Architect and a Civil engineer, so he did his own plans. I would describe him as an advanced diy'er. Its a nice house and yes they are quite.

[Drew Cutter]

You might want to go this site. For me it was finding someone in the area who does it and sells the right ICF for what i was looking for. I believe the cost is higher , but the pay back is pretty good if you are staying for a while in the home.

http://www.greenbuildingtalk.com/For...3/Default.aspx

[cfabe]

I have not built one but have researched them quite a bit when I was planning on building.

Pros:
Very quiet
good thermal mass & insulation
easy enough for a DIYer to assemble
Very strong structure if properly reinforced with rebar

Cons:
More expensive than a well built well insulated stick frame house
Have to deal with concrete delivery & pumper truck - can be difficult for DIYer if not enough helpers available
More difficult to run utility lines in the SIP walls, electric or plumbing sub will charge premium if you use one
Very difficult to modify the house later, for design change, future addition, etc
Need extensive bracing before pouring, the pros have steel bracing systems, DIY would have to use wood which may or may not be usable elsewhere in the project

[Macybaby]

We only did the basement. Since we are major DYI's, this was the way for us to go. It took us a bit longer than we expected to set up the forms - we ended up pulling an all-nighter because the pump truck was coming in the morning.

If we did it again, we'd do way more bracing to keep the walls flat. DH said he would by plywood and sheath the entire forms inside and out. Only had one blowout but it was a bit of a mess. Cement guys said we had things braced up way better than they normally see. We hired a pump truck but DH manned the hose end.

It wouldn't want to do this with a house, but that is because I'm always wanting to make changes.

I have pictures, but can't access photobucket while at work.

Cathy

[catahoula]

I worked on a house back in the early 90's. We were the second crew to work on the house the first crew was fired and this is why. They built the foundation with the Styrofoam forms, they didn't brace them very well, but even worse than that they didn''t put the little plastic nailers in any sort of layout. There wasn't a flat wall in the whole basement, sheet rock and trim was a real treat. Some walls were so bad you'd almost get vertigo standing in the middle of the room.
If it were me, I would rent some standard forms, pour regular steel reinforced walls, then finish the basement by firing out the walls with framing lumber and insulating them.

Maybe those foam forms are the greatest thing since sliced bread when done properly, But they are quite unforgiving if set up wrong.

[fantasymaker]

I cant imagine why anyone would go with this method. Ive seen it used a few times and it seems to Maximize the disadvantages of both materials and mimimize the advantages. It seems EXACTLY backwards.

[MN Gardener]

I am trying to keep an opened mind about it because DH really wants to do it. I would rather do 2 x 6 construction with styrofoam insulation, a metal roof and fibercement siding or possibly a pole building that is finished off that way. We are in really cold climate and I would rather put my money into geothermal and / or solar then concrete.

[fantasymaker]

I like Concrete! Its great stuff, I just dont like the ICFs that I have seen so far.
It seems to me that concretes Cheif advantages are.
1 Mass
2 Design flexability
3 strength
4 inexpencive

Concrete is not easy to work with but its not complicated or too difficulet to work with it seems to me that a ICF gives up ALL those advantages above for a slight reduction in forming work.

[Sandhiller]

Our small congregation built an icf church (10,000 sq. ft) starting in 2000--two levels from the footings to the eves. After 7 years of occupancy we've loved it. Super cheap utility bills. Unbelievably strong, and quiet (during the unrelenting winds of Nebraska). In fact, we also built a 2800 sq. ft home completely icf and have lived in it for 2 1/2 years now. Same thing. I would be happy to forward some pics, or answer any questions. Our home cost $60 K (that includes 5 acres of land, well, septic...everything). Of course it was all owner built. I'll gladly share any information you may need. You really need to consider an icf building.

Regards,

Mark

[Witterbound]

"Energy Efficiency – Homes built with ICF exterior walls require an estimated 44% less energy to heat and 32% less energy to cool than comparable frame houses. Consequently, your HVAC systems can be downsized. Since floor systems are hung on the inside of the wall, real energy savings come when you design above-grade, thereby eliminating a huge heat loss area in conventional housing."

I think that ICF's will save as much or more energy as geothermal or 6x6 stick construction.