| Author | Content |
Stelco
Dewitt, MI
(Zone 5b)
November 03, 2006
07:11 PM Post #2879210
| Who needs lumber? (Well, I’ll need some) So far it’s almost all Styrofoam, rebar and concrete. The footings went in conventionally and the foundation was made from ICF forms, rebar and concrete. The walls going up now will be the same. Yes, all of the windows to enhance the lake view will offset the R-40+ insulation value of the ICF construction, but the new outdoor wood burner will reduce the use of propane to less than a couple hundred gallons in mid-Michigan winters. The wood burner heats the hot water too, when the burner is in use. PEX is going in for the hot and cold water supply lines instead of using expensive, mined copper. The ICF construction adds about 5% over conventional stick building, but adds insulation and reduces the number of trees required to build. It also withstands 200 MPH wind, so any tornado would just get the windows, siding and roof, possibly. The outdoor wood burner uses trees, but reduces fossil fuel use. CO2 is still released when burning wood, but no more than what would be produced by the trees rotting on the forest floor. I’ve heated with wood for about six years and always used dead trees or unwanted wood. The plastic PEX plumbing is a real cost saving in both labor and materials.
While I am concerned about the environment and see this as a good way to help, I’m not a “tree hugger”. I just thought that I’d pass this along to anyone thinking about building and heating as a win, win option for both you and the environment.
Mark
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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CountryGardens
Lewisville, MN
(Zone 4a)
November 03, 2006
07:37 PM Post #2879269
| My nephew built a house like this 2 years ago. They really like it, but all of a sudden had addition to the family, so now it is to small.
My brother, his dad, just moved into a new house built with the same system.
My nephew is a dealer of the forms.
My brother & his boys built a large bar/restaurant a few years ago. They used ICF for the basement & then a wall against the next door building. By conventional method, that wall would have cost three times as much.
Congratulations on a new house!
Bernie |
Equilibrium
November 07, 2006
10:42 AM Post #2890706
| I am so relieved to see construction finally starting even if it is this late in the season.
Congratulations to you Mark. It's been a long time for you in temporary housing. |
Stelco
Dewitt, MI
(Zone 5b)
November 07, 2006
05:44 PM Post #2892058
| Thanks Bernie and Lauren! It's going fast. We poured the walls today. 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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pepper23
KC Metro area, MO
(Zone 5b)
November 07, 2006
08:39 PM Post #2892580
| Looking good!! Keep up the good work on it. And keep us posted. |
mysterypoodle
Toddville, IA
(Zone 5a)
December 08, 2006
04:08 PM Post #2982568
| Mark,
Are you setting all the forms yourself? I thought that was the best part about using ICF when we built our house 8 years ago -- we effectively got to set our own foundation, which is pretty hard to do if one is going to use traditional forms. We only did the foundation, as dh is a stick-builder maniac, but there is a house not too far from us where they did the whole thing. What will the window and door trim be to make up for the difference from traditional thickness?
We did have some people familiar with ICF come to help with the pour -- I would NOT have wanted to try walking on top of those forms to smooth things out!
We used some funky zig-zaggy mini-truss things made from wire as interior stabilization in the forms. Did you use traditional rebar? Geez, I HATE cutting rebar! But cutting the metal thingies was no picnic, either...
Can't wait to see how things go -- I hope you'll keep posting as you progress!
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mysterypoodle
Toddville, IA
(Zone 5a)
December 08, 2006
04:09 PM Post #2982572
| Mark,
Are you setting all the forms yourself? I thought that was the best part about using ICF when we built our house 8 years ago -- we effectively got to set our own foundation, which is pretty hard to do if one is going to use traditional forms. We only did the foundation, as dh is a stick-builder maniac, but there is a house not too far from us where they did the whole thing. What will the window and door trim be to make up for the difference from traditional thickness?
We did have some people familiar with ICF come to help with the pour -- I would NOT have wanted to try walking on top of those forms to smooth things out!
We used some funky zig-zaggy mini-truss things made from wire as interior stabilization in the forms. Did you use traditional rebar? Geez, I HATE cutting rebar! But cutting the metal thingies was no picnic, either...
Can't wait to see how things go -- I hope you'll keep posting as you progress!
|
Equilibrium
December 08, 2006
05:01 PM Post #2982725
| Yes, it's been a month. About time for a progress report! |
Stelco
Dewitt, MI
(Zone 5b)
December 08, 2006
07:48 PM Post #2983235
| Hi,
I was just waiting for something to get done! Cold, rain, holidays . . . Not a great time to build in Michigan.
I lost my place to a fire and had to have the debris hauled out – complete loss. That left me with a hole in the sand. My neighbor’s friend has been building these for about six years. I don’t have the heavy equipment or braces . . . I’m holding down a 9-5 and trying to keep up with everything! The place that burned was 40 years old so I had to deal with codes and variances. They use nailers to keep the wet concrete from getting out of window and door openings. I don’t know if these are permanent, but I believe that they are. The press board is just to help with leaks. They used two courses of rebar for each form horizontally. Then they settle the concrete by running one vertically every few feet as they pour and leave those in the walls. An acetylene torch was what they used to cut the rebar and that’s what I would do! Here’s how they brace for a pair of 9’ sliding glass doors.
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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Stelco
Dewitt, MI
(Zone 5b)
December 08, 2006
07:51 PM Post #2983251
| This is close up of the concrete pour.
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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Equilibrium
December 08, 2006
07:54 PM Post #2983256
| Progress! Yay! |
Stelco
Dewitt, MI
(Zone 5b)
December 08, 2006
08:19 PM Post #2983336
| They fill in holes cut from the window frames to make sure that gap is filled before they go up to fill the walls. 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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Equilibrium
December 08, 2006
08:26 PM Post #2983356
| Do you have an estimate of when you might be able to move in? |
Stelco
Dewitt, MI
(Zone 5b)
December 08, 2006
08:31 PM Post #2983366
| The slab is in. The waste lines and conduit are finished. 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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Stelco
Dewitt, MI
(Zone 5b)
December 08, 2006
08:31 PM Post #2983367
| Aprilish???? |
Stelco
Dewitt, MI
(Zone 5b)
December 08, 2006
08:33 PM Post #2983369
| The new wood burner/boiler. 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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Equilibrium
December 08, 2006
08:34 PM Post #2983375
| Oh my word! Didn't they deliver that to the site a little premature? What if someone appropriates it? |
Stelco
Dewitt, MI
(Zone 5b)
December 08, 2006
08:48 PM Post #2983413
| Yep. I'll build the first fire out of toilet paper. :) |
Stelco
Dewitt, MI
(Zone 5b)
December 08, 2006
08:58 PM Post #2983445
| If you meant take it away, that never entered my mind. The thing weighs (almost) a ton.
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Equilibrium
December 08, 2006
09:54 PM Post #2983556
| First we lost thousands of dollars of lumber. It got to the point that the carpenters were ordering only that which they could put up in one day. I started spray painting all lumber neon colors while it was being unloaded. It was rather frustrating there for a while with all the disappearing lumber. This house looked pretty psychedelic after it was framed out without any insulation, housewrap, and siding on it. Almost all of the lumber had swipes of neon pink, neon green, neon blue, etc. It glowed. Then they took some sort of a hose to a real expensive pump that we were using to pump out the basement before all the sump pumps were installed into the pits. It was only a couple hundred dollars but it was the principal of the matter by then. Then they took off with both of our two brand new 3.5 something or other Trane AC units that were delivered a week early. We finally hired someone to sink some sort of concrete posts at the end of the driveway and put up some sort of a heavy duty padlocked chain. I guess since this is a rural area people were just backing up for building materials as opposed to going to Menards. After the house was closed the contractors started storing all building materials in the garage. No more theft after that. Our insurance policy didn't cover any building materials not attached. Needless to say, we took some heavy hits. |
Stelco
Dewitt, MI
(Zone 5b)
December 08, 2006
10:38 PM Post #2983668
| After I took a hit on the structure I made sure that I was covered on materials, etc. My builder and I are insured for theft. Thanks for the tip, but I learned that I am responsible for all of my insurance policies. |
Equilibrium
December 08, 2006
11:15 PM Post #2983790
| They don't offer theft of building materials on builders risk policies out here. Gee, I wonder why??? |
Stelco
Dewitt, MI
(Zone 5b)
December 09, 2006
09:38 AM Post #2984541
| Just how close to Chicago are you? ;) I'm in farm land and the neighbors across the street are good shots! If somebody tried to get away with anything the cops would get a free car with four flat tires. I don't even lock the garage right now. There is thousands of dollars worth of all sorts of neat stuff in there. |
Equilibrium
December 09, 2006
10:12 AM Post #2984647
| I'm about an hour and a half north of Chicago and about an hour south of Milwaukee. I'm in a quasi rural area and it's heavily wooded. Barring that, the property was under construction and that means it's a sitting duck. Seems as if considerably less problems occur after one moves in. Vacant homes, like homes under construction, are problems in this area.
We have a very sophisticated alarm system complete with video cams is about all I can say. This may be a desirable community but... it's not like living in actual farm country where your neighbors will cover your rear and protect your property as if it were their own. |
Stelco
Dewitt, MI
(Zone 5b)
December 09, 2006
06:44 PM Post #2986002
| My neighbors are fantastic people. I think that they knew more about what went on in my place when I lived there than I did. They called 911 three minutes after I did when the fire started.
A neighbor down the road had nobody to watch his place and somebody took hundreds of dollars worth of copper when he was building. My builder is a friend of my neighbors and he leaves his generator, tools . . . in my garage without any worry. It's usually a local who will rip you off. They know what's going on. My builder loaned a wood splitter to a friend and it was stolen, along with a bunch of other stuff. It just so happened that my builder talked with some locals and one mentioned that he recently "picked up" a new splitter that fit the description. The kid lived two blocks away from the garage that got hit. Everybody got their stuff back and the kid has a felony rap. Lansing is Michigan's capitol, but you can drive for twenty minutes in any direction and be in farmland. We have a nice combination of low crime, even in the city and some crime in the surrounding "urban sprawl", combined with some good old fashioned crime control. Michigan has a very liberal CCW law and we recently opened self protection outside of our homes. With so many folks owning and carrying firearms legally the criminals are very careful, incarcerated or dead. |
Equilibrium
December 09, 2006
11:33 PM Post #2986564
| Well, I suppose you know where my state stands as one of the last holdouts. Pathetic. |
vadap
Aurora, CO
(Zone 5b)
December 27, 2006
01:21 PM Post #3028384
| ICFs are a terrific system. Up front, they don't make much sense with added labor hours and filling with the concrete. But, in the long run, worth every penny. More difficult to set up PROPERLY, to recieve the concrete(if not done right, you lose concrete, but more importantly, time which converts to truck time with pump and mixers). If walls constructed soundly(no blowouts), and having a GOOD pump operator that will pump nice and easy, not blasting your forms, just as easy as doing a conventional foundation wall. Then, nice insulated concrete walls= reduced energy bills. Traditional homebuilders(the BIG companies) will never do this as it isn't cost effective for them, and their bottom line is saving pennies for themselves, not you. |
nannybee
Boone, IA
January 06, 2007
06:30 AM Post #3057982
| We've lived in our ICF house for three years now and have been very happy with the construction. We buy a 1,000 gallons of propane on contract each year and have have over 200 gallons left for the last two years. We may even have more left this year with the mild winter we're having. We do have a wood-burning stove in the basement which we do use but don't depend on it for our heat. But where we feel we really save money is on cooling. This first summer we lived here it was July before we finally had to turn the air conditioning on. The copula has a louver on the back which we're able to open electronically and it really does give us nice ventilation when we open it at night and let the cooler air in the house. Another advantage is the quiet. We have energy efficient windows also which help keep the place quiet. The other morning when I let the dog out the neighbor's cows were making a terrible racket and I didn't hear a thing until I opened the door. We're very pleased with the house and glad we spent the extra money and the extra aggravation of trying to find someone to build this type of house for us. There are very few builders who are willing to do this type of construction in our area. Using the ICF for the above grade walls allowed us to bring the surrounding grade closer to the floor line. I have bad knees and I'm not getting any younger and we thought this could be a helpful feature in the coming years. 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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Equilibrium
January 06, 2007
08:08 AM Post #3058073
| Hey nanneybee! I love all the natural light that your home has. I love that cupola too. That's a great home you have. Extremely environmentally friendly. |
CountryGardens
Lewisville, MN
(Zone 4a)
January 06, 2007
08:55 AM Post #3058166
| Good morning, Nancy
My nephew constructs this type of house. He is building the second one for himself. They had a new baby, so old house is to small!
He also built the new house for my brother, his father. They just moved into it in Sept.
Retirement house he claims, we all laugh. 3 years is about longest in one house.
They are definitely a nice tight, strong house. You won't lose it in a bad storm.
Nannybee's house is really nice inside also. We stooped & toured it after RU in May. She has a built in greenhouse that all DG'ers would love to have, I am sure. Lots of nice cabinets & very roomy.
Have a Great Day!
Bernie |
pepper23
KC Metro area, MO
(Zone 5b)
January 06, 2007
07:34 PM Post #3059957
| Love your house nannybee!!! |
amw5g
Central FL, FL
(Zone 9a)
January 09, 2007
12:49 PM Post #3068201
| Howdy! Glad to see someone else building with ICF. The wife and I are in the process of having one built as well. We're less adventurous and skilled than you, so we're having someone else build it. But we did all the research we could before taking the plunge. Had considered SIPs, too, but ultimately really liked what others had to say about ICF.
Here's the page to our construction diary for those of you so inclined:
http://hmp2z.wordpress.com/
We visit the site weekly (as best as possible). I do the photography (if it can be called as such), and the gal does the writing/posting.
Will follow this thread with interest.
-Amw 5G |
darius
So.Appalachian Mtns, VA
(Zone 5b)
January 09, 2007
01:03 PM Post #3068238
| I've been following this with interest also. A house on the road into town is using this technique and I love to see the progress. |
Stelco
Dewitt, MI
(Zone 5b)
January 09, 2007
08:53 PM Post #3069494
| Great to hear all of the positive comments about ICF!
Doors and windows should be going in tomorrow.
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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pepper23
KC Metro area, MO
(Zone 5b)
January 09, 2007
09:12 PM Post #3069573
| At first glance I thought I was looking at a barn. Then I clicked on it and saw it really was a house. LOL |
