![]() ![]() It's important to follow instructions to the letter, from the spacing of plastic reinforcing webs to how you stack the blocks.Īny minor mistake can cost you a lot of time and money. If you can’t hire a contractor, make sure you are in very close communication with the block manufacturer, so you can be confident you're assembling them correctly! We highly recommend hiring an ICF expert since different types of ICF building blocks require various methods of assembly. Once your concrete footer is ready, it’s time to start building the walls.Īt first, it may seem like ICF construction is a matter of sticking a few blocks together, but assembling these walls is not child’s play! You may need more depending on the lap requirements, as well as seismic and wind load ratings. ![]() The most important things are to make sure that the footer is level to within a ¼ inch and to reinforce the footer according to the engineer's instructions.Īlso, make sure to place vertical rebar in the footer that extends beyond the top of the footing by at least 20-25 inches. Pouring a concrete footer is a process in and of itself-but it’s not our purpose to explore in this article. ICF walls require a concrete footer, just like block walls do. Like any type of construction, you must do some preparatory work before you begin assembling ICF walls. Let’s get into how ICF construction actually works! Preparatory Work For ICF Walls But what if you want to build a house using ICFs? Or perhaps you are a contractor wanting to add another tool to your skill set. We’ve taken a brief look at what ICF construction is, and we know the basic materials that are used in ICF construction. patent application was granted on October 24, 1968. The patent was officially submitted in Canada on March 22, 1966, and the U.S. Within a year he had converted his foam cooler epiphany into the first ICF.Ĭalled “Foam Form” each block measured 16 inches high by 48 inches long with a tongue-and-groove interlock, metal ties, and a waffle-grid core. ![]() When I saw kids on the beach playing with the sand, I realized that if concrete blocks could be formed using that foam plastic, many construction costs and hours of labor could be eliminated.” We had one of those foam plastic coolers to keep the drink cold. “In the summer of 1965, I was vacationing up north at Algonquian Park. Foam forms weren't used until a Canadian contractor, Werner Gregori, came up with the idea. However, Durisol forms were made from cement-bonded wood fiber products. It was quick, cost-effective, and durable, and quickly became popular. The first known ICFs were Durisol insulated concrete forms, which were developed in Belgium in 1937. Filling foam blocks with cement to build houses is a pretty innovative idea. ![]()
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