Any thoughts on this building concept.

[Radicalsheep]

I am looking to break ground on our new home in the spring. And I was looking at this style of home as an option.

It is Logix ICF(insulated concrete forms). With rising natural gas prices here in alberta I thought this might be one step to help battle this problem. Where I work there is a enginer here. And his father does these style of homes. He is the one that introduced me to this.

My question has anyone had any experience with this. And maybe could give me some pro's and con's about this.

Any help would be great.

[Elmtree]

I havn't heard anything bad. However, as with many a new technology by the time issues reveal themselves it may be too late. I would see if you could talk to some of the homeowners this "engineer's father" has done work for. Prefably the least recent first. My only other question is, what kind of ground are you building on? Is it a wet or hillside location?
P.S. Don't let my post count fool you. I'm a 5th generation carpenter who has built dozens of homes from the ground up.

[Elmtree]

Do a Google search on "Logix ICF problems". You'll get a few forums that have discussed this.
http://boards.diynetwork.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/6221916776/m/9161032732/r/7911002242
http://boards.hgtvpro.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/9001020091/m/7851083632/r/9151020442

[Radicalsheep]

Thanks for the links.

Some back ground info. It will be a two storey walkout. Nothing to special. Total square footage will be about 2400 square feet.

Oh I agree I will be doing a very extensive background check. Ie checking out some of the homes he has done. I have a ton of questions.

I was told that no traditional walls need to be constructed. So running water to the back of the house. Is it inlaid in the 2 3/4 Foam wall? Just like you would with the power?

Either way thanks for the response.

[Wgoodrich]

ICF form forms are an alternative for diy ers to pour basement walls without having to own or buy concrete forms normally used by contractors doing these type jobs daily. I would price a basement contractor using forms and the ICF products. Remember you are supposed to insulate a normal concrete poured basement anyway. In my area R10 insulation is required from footer to finished grade normally being a combination of mass concrete and 2" styrofoam making the R10 insulation. Insulation wise you are not gaining to my opinion. YOu only are gaining is you have no wall forms for concrete available. Compare both products poured walls with forms used by a contractor vesus ICF.

Either way I inspect them commonly and have had no coplaints on either performance wise.

Did get a kick on a windy day watching one DIYer chasing those forms across a field one day. He didn't enjoy it I am sure but fun to watch.

Good LUck

Wg

[zonie77]

I'm in the process of building a fairly large garage out of Polysteel. 44x56, 13' 6" walls. It gets rather warm here so the insulation was important. I also tend to work late so noise insulation is important also. So far I'm happy with the quality of the building. I might not build another garage out of ICF but I would definitely build a house out of it.

My concrete contractor did a great job leveling and squaring the foundation.This is very important.

If you've never built a house you have to learn everything anyway so you might as well start out with ICF.

Verify if you need an engineered set of plans before you go too far. Here I needed them so I wound up paying an engr after I paid a draftsman (not an architect).

I liked Polysteel because of the metal ties. Otherwise they are all similar.

You might get some blocks before completing your design to verify window placement. I had to adjust a few things ( by inches ) which didn't matter in a garage but might affect a house. That was mostly to minimize cutting.

Overall I'd say the ICF's take longer to build but you definitely get a solid, well insulated building.