Thread: ICF Built Homes
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Old 06-26-2018, 07:01 PM
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JTRED JTRED is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Central Kootenays BC
Posts: 432
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We've been building exclusively with ICF for the past 12 years(approximately 2-3 houses per year plus my own), they are a pleasure to work with compared to traditional cribbing methods. The concrete used to fill the forms is not "watery' it has a plasticizing additive making it flow without changing the strength and somewhat reducing the hydraulic pressure at the base of the forms. Insulation on the outside reduces thermal bridging and the insulation on the inside keeps the warm where it's supposed to be, If you're looking for a thermal mass in regards to passive solar you're better off with concrete floors and a mass center of the house. Another advantage is the sound damping qualities of both concrete and styrofoam. As far as finishing goes it's easy just screw the drywall to the foam on the inside and we usually put 1/2 plywood over the ICF or strap it to create a rain screen.
We've just started to build complete homes out of ICF, mainly due to price of lumber and energy costs. Labour costs are significantly less as well.
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