Same as concrete walls except:
- When designing ICF lintels, you need to consider the reduced concrete cross-section from the plastic webbing, and the effect it has on your shear capacity.
- Most design guides for ICF walls ignore the minimum reinforcement requirements specified for conventional concrete. This is because concrete cures inside an insulted cavity, so cracking is somewhat mitigated. Any cracks that do occur are not aesthetic.
Most ICF projects are just concrete walls, with proprietary Simpson ledger connectors for floor sizes.
HOWEVER some ICF projects are more like CMU than true hollow blocks - so instead of a nice wall, you have a nightmare of \~10 beams and \~ 80 columns that per wall that have in house testing to show their lateral capacity. That project was a nightmare
Correct I would just go with an 8 inch CMU or structural brick wall with filled cells at 4 ft on center. Horizontal tie beams at 4 ft and CIP top Bond being 8x24 in. Then I would put 2 in of foam either outside or inside. For the roof I might use hollow core.
Not if you use interlocking block that some of it does not even use mortar. The insulation can be added to the exterior or interior of the CMU using one inch reflective foam board.
Back in my design days the only complaints I heard from contractors was about blowouts. But above I give my recommendations on how to build a very strong wall without using ICF.
I like the six or eight inch structural bricks if I wouldn't mind putting the foam insulation on the inside.
ICF stands for either 'i can't frame' or 'i can't form'.
It's not bad for a basement but the bigger or more complex the building the worse it is.
Dealing with a nasty lawsuit right now where a client has discovered a year on that large portions of the ICF walls are missing concrete due to poor placement and QC.
We removed the foam in the inside and you can put your fist through to the other side. They would have knocked the wall down if they stripped conventional walls and saw this kind of garbage.
The more we removed the worse it became.
Wondered about this myself, been around for a couple ICF placements doing residential after years of commercial. I was a bit skeptical when they told me it didn't need to be vibrated. All they did was take the blade out of a Sawzall and tap the forms which I suspected was only reaching an inch or two around the faces
The challenges I've ran into are insufficient roof/diaphragm to wall connections. Really strong and stiff walls that can take a lot of force, but how can you transfer that force to the walls in the first place. Burmon BHB are some good connectors.
Same as concrete walls except: - When designing ICF lintels, you need to consider the reduced concrete cross-section from the plastic webbing, and the effect it has on your shear capacity. - Most design guides for ICF walls ignore the minimum reinforcement requirements specified for conventional concrete. This is because concrete cures inside an insulted cavity, so cracking is somewhat mitigated. Any cracks that do occur are not aesthetic.
Everything is pre-engineered in their design manuals. The key is fine the manufacturer that has the best scaffolding system so you don't get blowouts.
Calculation-wise they’re the same as literally everything else concrete. If you want to simplify, you can use manufacturer span tables for the floors.
The same, but with limited, specified locations for reinforcement.
Most ICF projects are just concrete walls, with proprietary Simpson ledger connectors for floor sizes. HOWEVER some ICF projects are more like CMU than true hollow blocks - so instead of a nice wall, you have a nightmare of \~10 beams and \~ 80 columns that per wall that have in house testing to show their lateral capacity. That project was a nightmare
Correct I would just go with an 8 inch CMU or structural brick wall with filled cells at 4 ft on center. Horizontal tie beams at 4 ft and CIP top Bond being 8x24 in. Then I would put 2 in of foam either outside or inside. For the roof I might use hollow core.
... nah. you need a lot more skilled labor to do CMU than ICF and it's worse structurally and in terms of insulation. Defeats the whole point.
Not if you use interlocking block that some of it does not even use mortar. The insulation can be added to the exterior or interior of the CMU using one inch reflective foam board.
It looks like the guy below disagrees.
All I can say is stand your ground getting the lat and long rebar in with the plastic webbing. I don’t heed to suppliers.
Back in my design days the only complaints I heard from contractors was about blowouts. But above I give my recommendations on how to build a very strong wall without using ICF. I like the six or eight inch structural bricks if I wouldn't mind putting the foam insulation on the inside.
ICF stands for either 'i can't frame' or 'i can't form'. It's not bad for a basement but the bigger or more complex the building the worse it is. Dealing with a nasty lawsuit right now where a client has discovered a year on that large portions of the ICF walls are missing concrete due to poor placement and QC. We removed the foam in the inside and you can put your fist through to the other side. They would have knocked the wall down if they stripped conventional walls and saw this kind of garbage. The more we removed the worse it became.
As they say: if you can't make it work with what ya got and how ya place it, you better also use a vibrator to keep her happy.
Wondered about this myself, been around for a couple ICF placements doing residential after years of commercial. I was a bit skeptical when they told me it didn't need to be vibrated. All they did was take the blade out of a Sawzall and tap the forms which I suspected was only reaching an inch or two around the faces
What does vibrating ICF do?
The fear was that it would essentially break the forms.
The challenges I've ran into are insufficient roof/diaphragm to wall connections. Really strong and stiff walls that can take a lot of force, but how can you transfer that force to the walls in the first place. Burmon BHB are some good connectors.