dmccarty
Super Star Member
I wanted an ICF house for years and I researched them for years.
When it came time to build we built stick. Why? Cost.
I don't remember how much extra it was going to be for ICF vs stick but it was a factor. And our builder did not have experience with ICFs but was willing to give it a try. And at the time we built there was a concrete shortage and you were lucky to get concrete. When you did get the concrete it was around $100 per yard in my area. We were lucky to get the 28 yards we needed to pour our slab.
But back to what Eddie said, in our house we wanted big windows. Every major room has a 8x5 or 8x6 window. The living room has a 12x6 and an 8x5 window. The master and study each have French doors that are 66"x96".
Why build a super efficient but expensive wall and then put big holes in the wall?
We still have a 2x6 wall with 1 inch of rigid insulation which gave us a good R value but that seems to be a bit much given the holes I put it the wall.
But our house is twice as big as our old city house and we pay less or the same for the power bill and we are far more comfortable so we made the right decision.
ICF's also can have termite problems. Since the ICF can be below grade termites can burrow under between the concrete and form to get to the wood in the roof structure. Some of the ICF makers where putting chemicals in the ICF to keep out the ICFs.
For us, ICF's while a good idea, did not make money sense.
Later,
Dan
When it came time to build we built stick. Why? Cost.
I don't remember how much extra it was going to be for ICF vs stick but it was a factor. And our builder did not have experience with ICFs but was willing to give it a try. And at the time we built there was a concrete shortage and you were lucky to get concrete. When you did get the concrete it was around $100 per yard in my area. We were lucky to get the 28 yards we needed to pour our slab.
But back to what Eddie said, in our house we wanted big windows. Every major room has a 8x5 or 8x6 window. The living room has a 12x6 and an 8x5 window. The master and study each have French doors that are 66"x96".
Why build a super efficient but expensive wall and then put big holes in the wall?
We still have a 2x6 wall with 1 inch of rigid insulation which gave us a good R value but that seems to be a bit much given the holes I put it the wall. But our house is twice as big as our old city house and we pay less or the same for the power bill and we are far more comfortable so we made the right decision.
ICF's also can have termite problems. Since the ICF can be below grade termites can burrow under between the concrete and form to get to the wood in the roof structure. Some of the ICF makers where putting chemicals in the ICF to keep out the ICFs.
For us, ICF's while a good idea, did not make money sense.
Later,
Dan