Does anyone here have a house built using Insulated Concrete Forms?

[legacyoneup]

I somehow don't like the idea of a wood house. Does anyone have an ICF house?
How much did it cost to build?
Was it custom built or were all the houses in the community built that way?
Any maintenance issues?

[ender]

Huh, seems neat.

Though if you ever want to change doors or move a wall of any sort I suspect you are completely out of luck.

[legacyoneup]

Yes. Remodeling would not be an option. Its built to last.

The walls would be icf (rcc if french windows are installed). Electrical wiring would be along the walls and close to the ceiling.

I'm hoping it would keep any creepy crawlies at bay as the walls would not have gaps or be hollowed out.

Brown recluse.. black widows... reminds me of arachnophobia...

[shortly]

I don't but a friend does. It is an amazing place, you'll like living in one.  Quiet, cool and easy to maintain. 

Acting as his own builder/GC kept the cost in check but it was still something more than a conventional stick-built house of the same size would have been

greenbuildingtalk.com has a lively forum with folks who build and live in ICF homes (as well as other non-conventional and conventional buildings. It's worth a look.

[esperto]

I don't but my grandfather does.  He built it when he retired.  I don't know what his energy savings are from the design but I suspect it's substantial.  The entire house is one giant foam box!  It's twenty years old and still holding up great.

[Cromacster]

If you follow ana white at all, she is DIY'n an ICF house in Alaska.  She put together a nice presentation.

http://ana-white.com/2013/03/momplex/building-momplex-icf-presentation

[willn]

I've built a couple of additions with these in Boulder. Love the solid feel and perfect quiet of the finished spaces.   They have some challenges compared to wood framing when it comes to applying finish treatments, your siding will need to be screwed to the steel straps which are embedded in the blocks, same with drywall and trim.  Not a big deal.

I notice some sites say these are "do it yourself" friendly, I think that's fair but don't think it is "easy".  You'll be dealing with cutting, bending, and tieing a lot of rebar reinforcement for most block types.  And concrete day is fast and furious--you typically need a pumper truck and a vibrator to make sure your pours are air pocket free.  Things get ugly fast if you have blowout, so be sure your bracing is well staked and secured.

We actually built one room for a radio studio that had walls tipped at an angle for sound controll.  I can't remember if it was tipped out or in!  But it an was interesting build many moons ago.

[legacyoneup]

DIY in construction... I dont think i could pull that off.

I was thinking of getting a place where the builder has completed the entire development in ICF. This should be more cost effective as certain costs would get distributed.

I wish ICF would get more popular. sigh...

My DIY interests are in aquaponics / backyard gardening for now. Plan to add solar and wind power devices to that list. :-)..

[Leisured]

Polystyrene and polyurethane were being considered as building materials a long time ago, and but I thought they were seen as a fire hazard because of poisonous fumes when burning. It now looks as though these foam plastics have been made fire resistant.

Polystyrene cladding does have some limited strength, which suggests that walls need not be of continuous concrete, but could have gaps of say a hands breadth now and then, to allow for water pipes in the bathroom and power cables elsewhere.

[willn]

The ICF blocks typically create a concrete shape that results in a continuous grid of posts and beams within the form.  This does result in gaps between the concrete. The forms I've seen have webs of expanded steel that reinforce the block itself and serve to anchor the strips of metal that are used to attach siding and sheetrock.

Interior wiring can be basically embedded within the foam by creating a small trench in the foam blocks, I think there are actually specialized tools to do this or people just use a small chainsaw with depth stop on it to accomplish the trench.

Building penetrations for plumbing service, electric service, etc can be accomplished by boring a hole through the blocks prior to pouring the concrete and inserting a conduit sleeve pipe slightly larger than that of the service pipe, and the gap can be filled with foam adhesive to anchor and insulate the conduit. Larger openings for say, ductwork are create in the same way as window or door openings.

As with other modern high efficiency building methods, air exchange is very important so that indoor air moisture and contaminants are exhausted and fresh air is brought in and should be considered in the design.

[Kazimieras]

I don't have a house like it, but have seen one built down the street using this technique. The end result is wonderful and there is no visible difference from the outside. The perks are it goes ups stupid fast and allows for some very complicated shapes to be made. There is a great UK television show (called Grand Designs) that has featured several homes done with this technique. I would strongly consider it as an option, depending on costs and circumstances.

If you are going this approach, take the blocks with the steel rebar built into the polystyrene rather than having it manually inserted. It is also very important if DIY that you do the math on the walls and don't over-pour. You need to have a tight seal between the blocks so the concrete doesn't try to escape. I have seen cases where part of a wall collapsed because the people didn't shore it up properly.