Concrete home

[3geese4me]

Lycanthrope's thread about heating with coal/geothermal got me thinking.... Has anyone around NW ND built a home out of concrete with ICF insulation? What kind of building price per sq ft did you see?

From what I see there are numerous benefits to this as in reduced heating and cooling costs, lower insurance premiums, and the ability to withstand tornadoes.

 

[fireone]

Not quite the same thing but years back I saw a clip on building concrete homes in France. They set up a wire-mesh dome and sprayed on the concrete. The inside had the conduits & pipes in place and then was foam insulated. The whole works was done in a couple days.

 

[Davey Crockett]

There were some inflatable one being developed too but I suppose the cost was the prohibitive .




- - - Updated - - -

And curb appeal

 

[Allen]

I know a guy who built one a little over 10 years ago in the Bismarck area. It seemed like a more of a PITA, took longer, and more money, than was expected.

Given the price of concrete nowadays, it's hard for me to imagine it being a good idea. And that's without even taking into account resale value and overall aesthetics.

 

[BP338]

ICF is the way to go. Not sure of the price, but it makes heating and cooling much easier. I will be looking into that when I build a house. Maybe not for the whole house, but at least the foundation walls. Depends on how rich and famous I am when I build...

 

[JayKay]

My mother lives in a stucco house, for the past 40 years, and it's a nice warm, weather-proof house. Never a thought about hail damage, or tornadoes. Never needs painting, ever.

Then again, it will remain white forever.

 

[3geese4me]

My thoughts were to build the foundation and exterior of the house with the ICF forms and then frame the interior walls out of dimensional lumber. I have no clue if that’s the right or wrong way to do it. Just a mere thought that came into my mind.

 

[7mmMag]

We are in the process of designing a new house right now and we were originally going to have a concrete on slab house with a 9'x9' concrete room for storm protection/ gun safe. Our builder came back and told us that it will be about the same/possibly cheaper to do a full basement instead. So I couldn't imagine how expensive full concrete house would be.

 

[Chas'n Tail]

Back in my dumber years, I did this. Built several footing-to-rafters houses out of ICF. It gives you about the same cost savings as geothermal does. If you're serious about looking into it, a good place to start is youtube where they put a heat camera outside of a house and next door a stick built house. The difference is impressive, but it's also BIG $$$$$

 

[Kurtr]

Lycanthrope's thread about heating with coal/geothermal got me thinking.... Has anyone around NW ND built a home out of concrete with ICF insulation? What kind of building price per sq ft did you see?

From what I see there are numerous benefits to this as in reduced heating and cooling costs, lower insurance premiums, and the ability to withstand tornadoes.

Have been involved with several full houses and I have an ICF basement and crawl space at my wifes daycare we built. With the new icf it is so simple to set up they have gotten rid of the problems of old with the lite form and those products. It is an initial up front cost but in the long run i think the saving with add up. I did my basement with my FIL and a buddy that had no experience setting them and if you can do leggos you can do ICF. The nice part is when you finish the basement it is ready to go no insulation to install. Have dealt with most brands of blocks have my favorites and have seen about every thing not to do.

 

[Kasey]

I've been in some ICF homes. These were lite form brand I think. They were built from the basement up to the roof (so including main floor) One thing I especially liked about them is they are very soundproof. Also very good insulating qualities. Like living in a cooler. IF I build again I would check them out. Higher up front cost but otherwise lots of benefits.

 

[riverview]

there is a ups guy from grand forks that did one by himself a couple years ago, he had nothing but good things to say

 

[eyexer]

They’re awesome homes. But more expensive. But way cheaper to heat and cool. Biggest problem is getting a contractor good enough to make everything square and plumb. I’d rather do a ICFS basement and SIPS main floor and roof. I’ve installed a couple dozen ICFS basements personally over the years. Used half a dozen different brands

 

[Lycanthrope]

So what brands are best and which to avoid?

 

[Fracman]

https://www.mccody.com/Williston/Photos/Tilt-Up-McCody

the Mccody build is completely out of cement and they did some amazing things on the inside

 

[eyexer]

I’ve used lite form (don’t even compare to the others and very sketchy for a do it yourselfer ) arcx, logic, nudura and fox blocks. They are all essentially the same. Nudura is slightly less do it yourself friendly. They others are a horse a piece. I like logic and arxx the best. They have a heavy wire insert you use on middle and top courses which really straightens the wall out. What’s nice about all these except lite form is that they are code compliant with 6” thick concrete using their re-rod schedule. So you can save a fair amount in concrete. And North Dakota’s code requirements for rod exceeds the manufacturers requirements for 6” wall anyway.

 

[Kurtr]

I’ve used lite form (don’t even compare to the others and very sketchy for a do it yourselfer ) arcx, logic, nudura and fox blocks. They are all essentially the same. Nudura is slightly less do it yourself friendly. They others are a horse a piece. I like logic and arxx the best. They have a heavy wire insert you use on middle and top courses which really straightens the wall out. What’s nice about all these except lite form is that they are code compliant with 6” thick concrete using their re-rod schedule. So you can save a fair amount in concrete. And North Dakota’s code requirements for rod exceeds the manufacturers requirements for 6” wall anyway.

arx has been out of business for last four years fox bought them out and shut them down. I have heard logic is going the same way. The fox has the hv clips they use. Benchmark foam has came out with stronghold which eliminates the need for the clip as they have a locking design and if you don’t trust it they have a loop for zip ties.

- - - Updated - - -

Also the 8 inch forms now fit flush with sill plates so makes finishing the foundation out side a little easier but you use more concrete

 

[eyexer]

What do you mean by flush with sill plates

 

[Traxion]

They’re awesome homes. But more expensive. But way cheaper to heat and cool. Biggest problem is getting a contractor good enough to make everything square and plumb. I’d rather do a ICFS basement and SIPS main floor and roof. I’ve installed a couple dozen ICFS basements personally over the years. Used half a dozen different brands

I agree with the ICF/SIPS house. The new ICF systems are unquestionably better than even a few years ago. Send them a plan and they send you a lego set to put together. You still have to have the talent to make sure it ends up level/plumb/square though. And bracing when dealing with tall heights is incredibly important and specialized depending on the system you use.

SIPS offer very good strength, sound-proofing, and insulation and are easier to work with at all stages IMO. Less money too. It won't end up being a concrete shithouse but pretty darn close.

 

[KiYi]

I did my basement and garage foundation out of logix. If you do it yourself, i'd say it's about the same price as having a contractor pour walls. I'd use em again. This was in 2013 though, not sure if the price has went up a bunch. If I remember, 1600 square foot house (9ft basement ceiling) and 1300 sq garage was about $10K in forms.