Concrete ICF home continues

[Tim_in_IA]

I would insist on the vibrator from the inside. On my house they did the hammer from the outside and I had 2 spots that were honeycomb. I have heard that some of the insulation board kits for pouring concrete are notorious for honeycomb, so I would try to make the vibrator work.

[czechsonofagun]

Nice pictures, keep them coming please. We are planning house addition, and I want to go ICF myself. Well, thats understatement, ten years ago, with fresh green card I worked for a developer (CADing house plans). He was building houses the old way, but I learned about ICF back than and wanted to build a house with it ever since.

[ding2520]

This is what was done on my ICF construction. All window openings have to have a "buck" installed. The ones in my construction were treated 2X12's ripped to match the wall width. These are the forms for the concrete, they stay in place and the windows are set inside of the opening that they create. An opening was cut into the "sill" area of the buck and the concrete was vibrated through the opening and pulled up and out of the opening a little and then the cutout piece was laid back in to the hole. I have to believe that with the damping qualities of the styrofoam, a lot the the vibrating on the outside will just be absorbed by the foam. Another thing is you still won't have any idea if the concrete made it where it was supposed to go.

[ding2520]

Tim
If my thinking is correct, the most important place to vibrate (the vibrating end pulls the concrete right along with it) is under the windows. If your dropping the concrete 12' there shouldn't be a lot of need for vibrating the entire height of the wall.

[Tim_in_IA]

Originally Posted by ding2520

Tim
If my thinking is correct, the most important place to vibrate (the vibrating end pulls the concrete right along with it) is under the windows. If your dropping the concrete 12' there shouldn't be a lot of need for vibrating the entire height of the wall.

I don't know. The place where I had honeycomb was not near a window. I had 9' forms. They did the pound from the outside trick and it didn't settle it well enough. Even if the vibrator can't make it all the way down they sure shake the heck out if it.

[CATMAN]

Bob Villa has done TV programs on this for a mother-in-law addition to a house. You can view the episodes online if you have high speed internet. I found it interesting. I thought they braced the walls temporarily before the pour. I think they used a vibrator, too. I'll try to link to the correct page.Building with Polystyrene Forms and Concrete Video, ICF Building System for Foundation, Floors, and Walls, Building an Addition for an Elderly Parent, Bob Vila, Bob on TV, BobVila.com

[BobRip]

Originally Posted by Paddy

EdC,

The 100 yards is for the basement. 325' of wall, 12 feet tall (except for the steps and 0.666' wide (8") =2600 cubic feet/27 cu-ft per yard=96 yards.
Personally, I would like to see the pour vibrated but can't see a practical method of getting a 12' 'snake' down to the bottom. I will inquire today about renting.

More photos as we progress

Vibration is always a debate. I keeping here using a mechanical vibrator is abvised. But when I have inquired from the ICF block rep and another installer, they have used a Saw-all with out the blade the hammer away from the outside.

Patrick T.

My builder warned against using an in cement vibrator. It could cause a blowout. The hammer on a wood block worked fine, just a few taps per location. The Saws-all on a wood block might be OK. We did not try it.

We did brace the forms with 2 X 4? running down to stakes in the ground or on the second pour to the interior flooring. You have to do this, at least on Poly steel. The concrete is heavy. On the first house they did not brace enough and had to shave foam to straighten the walls. Talk to your local rep and get his recommendations or better yet the company who makes it. We did a lot of bracing. We put 2 X 4s vertically on both sides of the wall and tied them together with wire going through the foam. Then braced it to the stake.

[gemini5362]

I have not built an ICF house but did a lot of research before I decided to stay in my original house. If I did not have a house that is payed for and I dont want to sell I would build a ICF there are a lot of websites about it and there is a couple that tells you things to look out for. One of the problems they talked about was having things on the pad when you pour the walls that area will not get concrete to it and will leave a void at some point. I noticed that someone mentioned blowouts. What I am reading says to have several sheets of plywood available for blowouts they say to take some all thread then put a piece of plywood on both sides and run the allthread through it then bolt them together. With that much concrete I would make sure the pumper truck operator knows exactly what he is doing. Blowouts are your worst problem you are going to face.

[Paddy]

Czech,

I bet you like the ICF. When I have traveled to Praha over the last ten years I have wanted a concrete structure. As you are, I'm an engineer too. Something about a soild built building. thanks for the photo comment. I'm tring to document the progress, or maybe get out of the sun!

Patrick T.

[Paddy]

BobRip,

Here are the bracing going in. I found a website that sells adjustable feet that you add to your 2x4/plywood braces. We are bracing ever 6' pluss two ft from the corners. The plywood triangles are for setting the walk planks

Patrick T.