Semi-New Member Returns after Building an ICF House

[sriddle1]

Paddy, Hard to believe that's in Bloomington, IN. Looks like something out in California or some other warm climate. I suspect you went with PEX in slab for heat and about the window bucking, must have had a vert talented carpenter for the arched windows or went with a vinyl product. Also I bet plenty of Lentils and Stirrups, very nice.........

 

[Paddy]

sriddle,

Yes, all the floors have in slab radiant with 9 zones to allow guest rooms to be shut off. I designed and built the forms for the arches. The legs were plywood boxes. The upper part was made with foam half circles covered with MDF. I needed to reused the forms for the second floor. Before my engineering life, I was a carpenter. There are 8000 lbs of rebar in the beast.

 

[bdeboer]

sriddle,

What did you use below siding above the grade? There is new ICF foundation house near me that still has the foam exposed, kind of surprised the county gave them an occupancy permit.

Thanks for posting.

 

[sriddle1]

bdeboer, Thanks for the question???.

RECAP: Basically I put the TAMPKO primer on the ICF Blocks below grade, followed by the TAMKO Peel and Stick Membrane, then the Stego 15mil and then sealed the top/open end (6 inches above grade) to the ICF Block using their Stego Tape, expensive but well worth it. Make sure you get the tape right from Stego, got some stuff off EBAY, not the same....

OK that formed the watertight transition from below grade to above grade, now to your question: I found a great product in 2005 carried in Menards (a Midwest Home Depot type store but better) and it can be special ordered thru Home Depot, called Styro Industries Tuff II, a premixed trowel grade material made for ICF applications. It comes in colors but I chose white then applied color over it it myself. STYRO's Home Page is on the internet. Keep in mind I coated the ICF Blocks before the first course of lap siding went on.

Before you apply TUFF II, the installation instructions call for use of STYRO's Sticky Mesh HD. It comes in a 9-1/2" X 150' roll and it looks like drywall mesh tape with sticky back. I started 4 inches above grade with the Sticky Mesh then did a 2nd row with a 3 inch overlap so it would fall about 5 inches above or under the bottom of the planned lap siding. Once the Sticky Mesh was applied then I went to town toweling the TUFF II on, first I tried a smooth finish (too hard) so I went with a more textured finish. The TUFF II comes in pre-mixed colors but like everything else that didn't do it for me so I found a concrete stain (never a problem with my last build which was 7 years old when I left). I used a product called H&C Concrete Stain carried by Sherwin-Williams, more earthy colors appropriate for just a tad-bit exposure above grade.

 

[bdeboer]

bdeboer, Thanks for the question???.

RECAP: Basically I put the TAMPKO primer on the ICF Blocks below grade, followed by the TAMKO Peel and Stick Membrane, then the Stego 15mil and then sealed the top/open end (6 inches above grade) to the ICF Block using their Stego Tape, expensive but well worth it. Make sure you get the tape right from Stego, got some stuff off EBAY, not the same....

OK that formed the watertight transition from below grade to above grade, now to your question: I found a great product in 2005 carried in Menards (a Midwest Home Depot type store but better) and it can be special ordered thru Home Depot, called Styro Industries Tuff II, a premixed trowel grade material made for ICF applications. It comes in colors but I chose white then applied color over it it myself. STYRO's Home Page is on the internet. Keep in mind I coated the ICF Blocks before the first course of lap siding went on.

Before you apply TUFF II, the installation instructions call for use of STYRO's Sticky Mesh HD. It comes in a 9-1/2" X 150' roll and it looks like drywall mesh tape with sticky back. I started 4 inches above grade with the Sticky Mesh then did a 2nd row with a 3 inch overlap so it would fall about 5 inches above or under the bottom of the planned lap siding. Once the Sticky Mesh was applied then I went to town toweling the TUFF II on, first I tried a smooth finish (too hard) so I went with a more textured finish. The TUFF II comes in pre-mixed colors but like everything else that didn't do it for me so I found a concrete stain (never a problem with my last build which was 7 years old when I left). I used a product called H&C Concrete Stain carried by Sherwin-Williams, more earthy colors appropriate for just a tad-bit exposure above grade.

Thanks, appreciate the level of detail.

 

[Western]

Western,
When you mentioned Storm shelter the first thing I thought of was for Tornados, I suspect in Wise County you get them on the open plains. In MN we had an EF2 blow through our small Farmstead picking up 120' high 80 year old cottonwoods with diameters of about 6 feet and throwing them about 500 yards.

Cinder blocks filled with concrete doesn't seem it would be as stout as say a solid formed poured wall with vertical and horizontal rebar integrated. To mitigate wind shear I would think you'd want the lowest profile above grade. I'd still cost out your cinder blocks, rebar and I bet your thinking bagged concrete (amount of concrete) vs a quote for the entire job from a concrete sub.

Actually I am in heavily wooded, rolling terrain, so the oak trees would be the major threat during a tornado the way I see it. Underground in my mind, would be ideal, but I keep thinking, "what if one of us ends up in a wheel chair, or an in-law in one comes to stay?"

I agree with you on the full pour walls, that is also under consideration. Most of the concrete "pr-fab" shelters sold here, are maximum of 4" with re-bar on 9" centers. Not much more than a 1000 gallon sewer tank with a door and vents. Of course, these are designed for 90% below grade. There is one company here that does 8" box for above ground and many companies making bolt down shelters for garage or safe room vaults out of 3/16" steel plate. I could do the steel box easier than the concrete, but the price of steel makes concrete attractive.

I was going to order the cement delivered for the floor and footing, then either lay the walls, set the roof and order 6 slump cement and pour the cap and walls,OR order the rock,sand and mix the walls and ceiling myself. That is why ICF looked somewhat attractive.

 

[sriddle1]

STORM SHELTERS Western/Dennis, Really Understand the "an in-law in one comes to stay" but would hope you don't have experience the wheelchair as a primary mode of transport. I put the BOLD TITLE on my post in the hope people with them or who have build them weigh-in. After experiencing the EF2 I hope our departure from SW MN to NH all but eliminates that threat. One thing that comes to mind when I see these shelters where the doors swing out, like you with all the trees, how would you get the hatch open if one fell on it. After being in the Navy and crawling thru a many a hatches/scuttles, you'd think they have a double hatch configuration. A larger hatch opening out for general convenience and a smaller round escape scuttle opening-in just in case, but again, what do I know..........

 

[GPintheMitten]

Very nice. I bet you forbid little kids from playing baseball around those windows!

Yah, but it is tall enough for indoor basketball.

Seriously, very nice.