The Basics of insulating concrete form construction machinery

Insulating Concrete Forms, which has also called ICF construction is a building made of concrete, the superior strength, energy efficiency, durability and comfort compared to conventional construction methods. Although it is used mainly in the housing market in the last ten years, commercial applications are rapidly increasing.

There are several other concrete housing construction, including masonry, reusable forms and ready-made products. ThisArticle focuses on ICF technology and not on specific producers in the ICF industry.

ICF construction technology is not just smoke and mirrors. It is a very proven product in a new package. Simply put, it is a reinforced concrete wall, the same as those who designed many years as cellars, foundations and retaining walls. The advantage is that the visual system is very light, has high insulation properties and does not require removal. The finished wallTypically, built-in attachment points for interior and exterior is finished.

Are with an ICF wall, the forms stacked, the walls are braced and aligned and the concrete is placed in the stay-in-place form. The wall is simply a monolithic concrete core) (like any other concrete wall, continuous with two layers of insulation. The faces (AKA flange) is the volume function as furring strips for attaching interior and exterior finished.

The firstIdea for insulated block construction for over 50 years. In the 70 years, polystyrene has been introduced. NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) takes an annual survey of residential builders in the U.S.. According to their research, the market has literally exploded over the last 5 years. Is the ICFA (Insulating Concrete Forms Association reported in http://www.forms.org) that begins 16 percent of all new custom home in 2004 using ICF technology and industryGrowth of over 30% per year.

Conceptually, ICF technology is relatively simple. They all use the same basic components, such as a face shell of expanded polystyrene foam, a core of reinforced concrete and a plastic form, tie the face supported during concrete placement. The foam panels are generally fully reversible, 2.5 mm thick with 16 "high and 48" lengths. The plastic compounds are usually 6 "on center that provides incredible stability during concrete Placement. The bonds are marked half embedded in the foam rubber and its position on the foam with installers so easy. The foam has an R-22 continuous insulation plane from the base of the upper plate.

The concrete in an ICF wall is nothing special. Design specifications are conventionally Foundation requirements are typical. The one minor difference is the aggregate size. It is "pea gravel is usually 3 / 8 to enable a simple and efficient pumping of the> Concrete, in particular for applications.

Concrete placed inside an ICF actually reaches much higher than normal and some strength. This is healing due to the ideal conditions, stable temperature and slow moisture loss in the expanded polystyrene panels.

Currently there are over 70 manufacturers of ICF on the market around the United States. I am always asked the question "What is the best?" The answer that I will always be "What is better, aFord or Chevy? "Depending on who asks, I have the following responses:

Homeowner: It should not matter to you. From the perspective of a user to conduct all brands ICF dramatically better than frame construction in all circumstances. The differences between the marks are not noticeable to you. You should conduct standard due diligence and find the best contractor and the contractor, the product that he and his crew most comfortable with.

Contractor: Here theDifferences are the greatest influence and the nature and extent of work required for installation and also the waste factor. Some brands require more on-site work, others have a lower material and / or shipping. Others are already pre-assembled on-site work to minimize. Some forms of waste are percentages of nearly 10%, others closer to 1%. It really depends on personal preference and experience of construction workers.

Architect: Cavity-configuration works on the structuralPerformance slightly, but all ICF brands have far-bearing capacity and shear strength) on frame walls (up to 600% higher in some cases. As a designer, is the biggest concern of the Web-tie face size and web-tie spacing. (For example, vertical lap siding, additional calcium deposits, if the tie face aligned vertically and) has a wide gap. It is noteworthy that the placement of windows, doors and T-walls can be affected by tie spacing Web. In general, flat wall ICF productsWeb closer tie spacing require significantly less attention to these details.

I suggest contacting the Association Insulating Concrete Forms on the Internet, get a list of primary members. These are some of the largest and most established companies. Like most any building product you provide, whether it is plumbing, wood, or window, it is the people who the local support and service, always with the greatest difference. Other valuable sources of reliable andnot biased information: www.icfweb.com, www.icfhomes.com. It is worth noting that there are many other excellent resources available on the Internet and that I do not own or control any of the sites listed in this article.

There are three configurations of the inner core of ICF. Flat wall is a simple vertical section Configuring uniform thickness and is the simplest and install it. Waffle grid has vertical and horizontal cores - the alignment of nuclei must be maintained byPlumbers, but uses about 25% less concrete than flat wall. The thin web section is approximately 2 "to 3" thick. Screen grid has the same alignment requirements of the waffle grid and uses a box installed spline between the blocks to finish installation. All three species are in the Prescriptive Method for ICF Wall Design and the International Residential Code include (IRC 2006) and concrete walls are generally designed and developed by all of the ACI-318. However, the latestEngineering code standard, ACI 560, do not provide engineering data for wafer or screen-grid ICF products.

Sales management