Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Choosing Insulated Concrete Foam (ICF) vendor 7Feb 15, 2019 11:54 am Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: Choosing Insulated Concrete Foam (ICF) vendor 12Feb 21, 2019 10:00 am Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: Choosing Insulated Concrete Foam (ICF) vendor 14Feb 21, 2019 9:08 pm ![]() ![]() ![]() Mr ChelseaFC. Sorry to take so long to reply, I am not a social media type of person, just an old buggy. Our roof is 200mm thick solarspan that also forms our ceiling, and provides the ceiling insulation all in one go. I wanted the 300mm but they could not provide fixing screws at the time long enough. As solar span will spam 6 metres and we have a 3deg pitch no timber structural requirements. The building inspector wanted to inspect the structure before placing the roof, I think to inspect the trusses, which was very funny as when they got here there were only the outside walls and totally open to the sky and we are cyclone rated. We used the 200mm block on both outside and inside walls, space did not matter to us we live on a farm and our design mentioned that we really only have two internal walls. Strength was our requirement as it is VERY windy here. The cost of the blocks was 40 dollars per square metre plus get. I think the cost of the block is high considering what it is. But it is very comparable wit any other type of structure when you consider that there is no need for any other insulation, it is very easy to get an air tight envelope. Plus plus plus Yes it is polystyrene, but it is 100 percent reyclable as is concrete and this type of structure will stay the distance as far as time goes. You do not have to use it on internal walls, but the zego 100mm for such is great. It is quick two people can build an average 3 Beaderbox in 2 weeks to before roof goes on, plus of course your finishing. As far as your embedded concrete heat sink is concerned as it is encased in insulation it maintains a reasonable constant temp, as I said we are totally off grid, no air con, just 12v fans and no heating, just my woman. But the 3mtr plus ceilings certianlly help to keep it cool What would I change? Well I got carried away with curved walls etc, so keep it simple for speed and no head aches. I put in earth cooling tubes to the pantry, they work well, but I should have put them in for the main body of the house. We are in SA so there was little BS ready building restrictions of what you can and can't do licence wise, but I did employ a building inspector to sign off on various stages purely to keep everyone happy. But once again the so called experts called for things that were just not required with polystyrene, as an example the engineer we employed, well known but not used to styrene techniques called for expansion joints around the structure, as you would for brick or concrete, but as the the concrete is tottaly insulated, there is no expansion. The tile supply, we did our own tiling easy, insisted that we have expansion joints but that is not a problem until you get over 12mtr runs, that's a big room and it is not a styrene problem but a tile problem and I feel that as the temp and humidity are reasonably stable it would not be a prob anyway, my call and choice. If I knew how to provide my contact details without making them public, Elizabeth would be more than happy to help. Sorry for the long post From your experience living in the house do you ever feel as it's dry, not enough air circulation? Reason I ask is that "some" people claim that ICF homes are like living in an eski. Would be good to hear from someone who as built and lived in such a home for a number of years. To add did you consider an HVR / EVR system ? Hi, Um i dont know what you or they mean with the comment " its like living in an esky" but yes we tell people jokingly that we live in an esky. Is it like the old joke about eskies are really smart, as they keep things hot, and they keep things cold but how do they know when to do what? In europe, they build their houses air tight but install fan venting sytems to ensure correct air turn over and ventalation. Which is designed to keep the cold air out, clever stuff, but quite simple really, look it up. That would have been the best, but for us very hungery on electricity costs, when you are off grid. So we went for a manual system. Using earth cooling tubes, auto venting in bathroom and ensuite plus we open all the windows, most in the winter, at night. It is all about having an air tight seal and then creating a draft where and when you want. Wehave no condensation problems and no mould problems. As far as fire issues, no problem, do your research on the material you want and ask questions. Our choosen product is bal rated to more than our area requires, check out the product firdt hand. Don't belive every thing you read, including me lol. Do your own research and ensure your choosen product meets all the building standards. After all what more can you do, even bri cks have to meet standards. Ps it is like living in a really comfortable house, that is quite from outside noises, it is pleasantly cool in the summer and pleasantly warm to wakeup into in the winter, we have no aircon (just ceiling fans) and no heating, people walk into our house in the summer and say "wow your air con works well, isn't it quite" that just makes me know we have done the right thing. Kezza Hi Geoff. What is the pergola made of? Any chance you can post a picture? There is a few ways you could go but would help if there were a few more details. 1 3310 ![]() HI all, just wondering if anyone knows where to buy downlights for insulated panels. I would… 0 3605 This is a very interesting publication by the VBA and surely there will be enormous pressure to expand this to Class 1 buildings now that these test results have been… 4 1724 |