Schafman Residence
Laying the Groundwork: Steps for Building a Solid Foundation for a Small House
In this arti­cle, we will explore how to build a foun­da­tion for a small house using insu­lat­ed con­crete forms (ICFs) and dis­cuss the advan­tages of choos­ing this mod­ern con­struc­tion method.
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ACADIA COLONY POTATO BARN
Fox Blocks ICF offered an ener­gy-effi­cient solu­tion for a build­ing full of pres­sur­ized mois­ture because mois­ture does not affect the ICF, even over the long term. Pota­to stor­age is at a con­stant 100% rel­a­tive humid­i­ty and 1.5 cfm pres­sure, which caus­es oth­er forms of con­struc­tion to go through com­plex detail­ing to keep mois­ture out of the wall cav­i­ty.
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Exterior Foundation Covering Ideas and Designs
A beau­ti­ful­ly fin­ished foun­da­tion adds more than curb appeal — it pro­tects your home from envi­ron­men­tal dam­age and enhances ener­gy effi­cien­cy. Mod­ern home­own­ers and builders can choose from a vari­ety of exte­ri­or cov­er­ing ideas, from time­less options like brick and stone veneer applied to advanced solu­tions like Insu­lat­ed Con­crete Forms (ICFs).
FOX BLOCKS JOINS THE ICF MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION
The ICF Man­u­fac­tur­ers Asso­ci­a­tion (ICF­MA) is very pleased to wel­come its newest Pri­ma­ry Mem­ber, Fox Blocks by Air­lite Plas­tics.
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“22 STORY” STUDENT DORMITORY
This 104,000 square foot project won an ICF Builder Award.
When is a Taper Top form required?
Taper Top forms are specif­i­cal­ly designed to pro­vide a larg­er bear­ing sur­face along the top of the wall. Typ­i­cal­ly, the increased bear­ing sur­face may be used to sup­port mason­ry, floor or roof loads. Taper top forms are used in the tran­si­tion from ICF to wood frame con­struc­tion and the taper top form would be the top form on the wall.
How does the ICF block get secured to the foundation?
The ICF blocks are held in place with either low expan­sion spray foam or a met­al starter track. The bracing/​alignment sys­tem, typ­i­cal­ly installed after the 4th course of block, also sup­ports the ICFs in place. Once the con­crete is in the wall there is no con­cern with the forms mov­ing. The con­crete is con­nect­ed to the foot­ing with rein­forc­ing dow­els.
Does the Fox Blocks contain recycled materials?
The plas­tic webs in Fox Blocks forms are 100% recy­cled postin­dus­tri­al polypropy­lene. The EPS insu­la­tion is vir­gin mate­r­i­al. Recy­cled con­tent for an ICF block is mea­sured by weight. The recy­cled con­tent by weight of a stan­dard 6″ Fox Blocks form — 48%.
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What is the Cost to Build an ICF Pool?