ICF Construction: Why I Haven't Used Them as a Builder

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hi guys michael with open book build here so we get a lot of questions about building homes with icfs today i want to discuss the main reasons i've chosen not to use icfs for the new homes that i've built now for those of you that aren't familiar with icfs they're also called insulated concrete forms these are those blocks that look like legos that are used to form up and pour concrete walls for new homes they come with some very nice benefits they create a concrete wall that's crazy strong as they have rebar that's lined through it vertically and horizontally they can withstand hurricane-force winds and storm surge they're also fire resistant they also create a solid wall that prevents drafts and have a thermal mass to it that improves energy efficiency and who can't argue with concrete as a building material that will last for hundreds of years so there's some serious benefits to this method of building but in this video i want to share with you the main reasons i've stayed away from them as a builder and then you know you can kind of decide if those are deal breakers for your next project first thing if you're going to build with icfs you need to have the house plans designed specifically for them and there are two major reasons for this first the thickness of the exterior walls will change from the typical stick framed walls this means that if you try and use a house plan that was designed for the two by fours or two by sixes with traditional stick framing when you're actually using icfs any dimensions taken off of those exterior walls will be wrong so your trades people will be constantly required to do math which leads to mistakes so you might also want to grow the overall footprint of the house to keep the same square footage as the icf wall thickness will eat away at the interior living space if it's not adjusted it can also create problems with staircases and placement of windows and cabinets and doors you'll also want to include specific details on the house plans for the icf so consider the floor joist connection to the icf concrete wall the details will need to show how this connection will be made with properly sized and the numbers of fasteners to do that now in a traditional wood frame stick frame construction home the floor joists just sit on top of the frame wall and it really doesn't need any special detail for the carpenters of course you may instead choose to use the icf floor panel systems which will also require special details on the houseplants now another detail that should go on the plans are any conduits or sleeves that should run through the wall for wiring or plumbing or vents coring through these concrete walls after the vac can get quite expensive now these are just a few of the changes that you'll want to make to the house plans to prevent mistakes so if you pay an architect to make these adjustments to some plants that you already have it can easily cost you an additional two to three thousand dollars now this in and of itself really isn't a deal breaker but it really is something to consider for your project another reason i haven't used ics for the exterior walls is the moisture given off by the concrete now 15 to 20 percent of the concrete mix is water which will work its way out of that concrete wall over time the icf forms are sandwiched by polystyrene foam on either side with a closed cell structure that reduces the absorption of the moisture and migration of moisture into the insulation so the water will look for openings in that foam to escape now this could be through electrical boxes vents or plumbing chases in the walls so the concern here is that the moisture can damage any materials that are you know sensitive to moisture or water and can even create mold over time so it's recommended that several dehumidifiers be run in the new home with icf walls until the bulk of this moisture goes away now this could be a year or more depending on your climate and how you live in your home again this isn't a deal breaker in and of itself but something that you'll really want to consider when designing and thinking about living in a new icf home the third main reason i've steered clear of building homes with icfs is that the concrete is very unforgiving if the forms aren't braced just right or they're set a little bit out of plum square or they're out of level it can be crazy tough to adjust after pouring this is why we like concrete so much because it's tough right but if you make a mistake when building with it the repairs are very difficult think concrete saws and grinders and big messes when i was looking at the videos out there to see what other people's experiences were with icfs i found a couple that had several exterior doorway rough openings in their new home that were made too small now the adjustment for this in traditional stick frame construction is relatively easy right but with concrete you're looking at some serious work needed with concrete saws either with either lots of dust and or water on the saw blade which ends up all over the floor another thought is that in the future if you want to remodel or you know change the space make it bigger or add more windows the process is much more involved with a concrete wall costs are another thing to review carefully prior to deciding on an icf built home the current cost difference for the icf wall versus the quality stick framed wall is about 20 now this translates to about a five percent difference in the overall cost for the house which is not too bad if that's where the extra cost ended but as a builder i can tell you that the trades i've used that work in and around that icf wall will charge you more than a traditional stick framed wall take the electrician for example they need to dig out channels in that foam to in the wall to run their wiring and electrical boxes now they also will use a sealant around those boxes to secure them to the icf foam now this takes extra time on the job site on a side note my experience with trades people is if you can find those that have worked in a home built with icfs you'll be better off i remember years ago when we switched from building our homes with dimensional joys to ijoys a rough carpenter wanted to charge a premium to install them why because he feared the unknown he didn't realize that the eye joists were actually lighter and easier to install than the dimensional lumber that we've had in the past in other words subs like to pad their budget if they're working with something new that might up actually taking them more time the last issue that's kept me from building with icfs is strictly the trade supply now we're in a crazy high volume building environment which makes it hard to find quality trades people in general right layer on top of that a different way of building and your pool of qualified subs willing and able to tackle an icf house drops significantly in my market anyway again this isn't a deal breaker by itself but when you layer all of these issues together i choose to build the old way for now anyway if you choose a general contractor that uses icfs regularly and has the trade base that's familiar with them then i say go for it this is michael luckadu with open book build thanks for watching
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Channel: Armchair Builder
Views: 131,985
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Length: 6min 44sec (404 seconds)
Published: Sun Apr 10 2022
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