How do I apply an acrylic stucco finish to an ICF?
Acrylic stuc­co is a thin coat fin­ish which can be direct­ly applied to the EPS insu­la­tion on the exte­ri­or face of the ICF. Fox Blocks pro­vides a con­tin­u­ous EPS sur­face con­ducive for the appli­ca­tion of acrylic stuc­co. All acrylic stuc­co man­u­fac­tures are famil­iar with ICFs as a sub­strate and each have their rec­om­men­da­tions for appli­ca­tion over ICFs. Note there is a dif­fer­ence in the instal­la­tion pro­ce­dures between acrylic stuc­co and tra­di­tion­al stuc­co.
Is EPS the same as XPS?
No, these insu­la­tion prod­ucts are quite dif­fer­ent. EPS is closed cell expand­ed poly­styrene, while XPS is a closed cell extrud­ed poly­styrene. The prop­er­ties, appli­ca­tions and costs of each are quite dif­fer­ent. The major­i­ty of ICFs are man­u­fac­tured with EPS.
How are Fox Blocks green/environmentally friendly?
Fox Blocks con­tain a min­i­mum of 40% recy­cled con­tent by weight.
  • Fox Blocks do not off-gas and are not man­u­fac­tured using any gas­es that deplete the ozone or are harm­ful to the envi­ron­ment.
  • Fox Blocks require low embod­ied ener­gy to man­u­fac­ture.
  • Fox Blocks do not con­tain any mate­ri­als, that pro­mote mold or mildew growth.
  • Fox Blocks are an effi­cient con­struc­tion method there­by reduc­ing the amount of con­struc­tion waste, dust and air pol­lu­tion in the build­ing process.
  • Build­ing with Fox Blocks will save on heat­ing and cool­ing costs because less air is exchanged between the out­side and inside of your home. This also means a small­er more effi­cient HVAC unit is required for the home.
  • Fox Blocks are sus­tain­able. They will not rot or dete­ri­o­rate for the life of your home.
  • Fox Blocks pro­vide a secure, durable, com­fort­able, long last­ing build­ing
Do I need an engineer to design and stamp Fox Blocks building plans?
Fox Blocks are list­ed in the build­ing codes (IRC- Sec­tions R404, R611 or NBCC Part 9) with spe­cif­ic applic­a­bil­i­ty lim­its for res­i­den­tial con­struc­tion. If the project meets the applic­a­bil­i­ty lim­its with­in the build­ing code, a Pro­fes­sion­al Engi­neer may not be required (depen­dent on local build­ing depart­ment require­ments). A build­ing offi­cial has the right to request engi­neer­ing and in some regions all projects require a professional’s stamp. For any projects that exceed the applic­a­bil­i­ty lim­its, a Pro­fes­sion­al Engi­neer is required for the struc­tur­al design. Check with your local build­ing depart­ment.
Do you need special code approvals to build with Fox Blocks ICFs?
No, ICFs in gen­er­al are cov­ered in the build­ing code and Fox Blocks ICF has a prod­uct eval­u­a­tion report that con­firms the prod­uct and appli­ca­tions meet the require­ments of the respec­tive build­ing codes in the USA and Cana­da. These reports are avail­able on our web­site.
Is the Fox Blocks form recyclable?
Yes, every com­po­nent of the Fox Blocks form itself plus the con­crete and rein­force­ment bars are recy­clable.
Can I install a 16' garage door and / or large openings in a concrete wall?
Yes, if the fol­low­ing cri­te­ria is avail­able for the design of a con­crete lin­tel (beam) over the open­ing – con­crete lin­tel depth min­i­mum 16″ (400 mm) or more with no point loads. Larg­er open­ings would require an engi­neered design.
Do ICFs require a special concrete mix design?
The con­crete is nor­mal strength, min­i­mum 2500 psi (20 MPa) per build­ing codes. The mix design spec­i­fies a small­er aggre­gate and high­er slump than con­crete typ­i­cal­ly used for floors. Most Ready-Mix sup­pli­ers are famil­iar with an ICF con­crete mix design.
Is a high performance ICF home less expensive to build than a wood framed high performance home?
Yes, mar­gin­al­ly high­er on the ini­tial cap­i­tal costs, but, it is a record­ed fact that Fox Blocks high per­for­mance homes out per­form in com­fort and oper­at­ing costs over a wood framed home. These cre­ates month­ly cost sav­ings for the life cycle of the Fox Blocks home.
Is a vapor barrier required on the inside face of an ICF wall?
No. The char­ac­ter­is­tics of an ICF wall with the mass con­crete and the EPS insu­la­tion pro­vide the required vapor per­me­ance to meet build­ing code require­ments as a vapor bar­ri­er.