Straight talk on ICF construction, foundations, energy efficiency and building in Simcoe County — written by the crew that does the work.
Siding, stucco, stone or brick. What holds each one to the foam, why the strip at grade needs covering, and what has to be settled before the pour.
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No studs, no batts, no poly. What goes on the foam, why gypsum comes first, how to hang real weight, and what to settle before the pour.
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Core or overall? What sets the concrete width, why the foam stays the same, and what a 13-inch wall does to a plan, a window and a finish.
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The form sets no height limit. What does: the engineer, the pour in lifts, the bracing, and how each floor hangs off the wall.
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The premium is paid once. What comes back in heating, upkeep, insurance and resale, and when it does not add up.
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The walls are the quick part. The calendar is set by drawings, permits, footings, inspections and the trades that follow.
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On rock and slope a crawl space often beats blasting a basement. Heated or not decides the vents, the ground cover and the footing.
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Foam in the right places keeps frost from under a footing. What the ICF wall already supplies, and what still has to be designed.
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Concrete walls stop the debris that goes through framing. Whether the house holds comes down to how the roof is tied to them.
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No house is fireproof. What a fire rating measures, why the foam has to be covered, and what an ICF wall is tested to do.
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A house wears out from water, not age. What that means for a concrete core behind foam, and for everything bolted onto it.
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Five real catches worth planning for, and the complaints about ICF that describe a wall nobody builds anymore.
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One foundation is cast in a factory and set by crane. The other is formed where it stands. What each asks of your lot, and where each one wins.
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A framed wall is layers that each have to stay dry. An ICF wall is cast once. What that means near the water, and where wood still wins.
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The uphill wall holds back the hill, the footings step down the sides, and the open wall faces the weather. How to draw each one in ICF.
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Setbacks, Shield rock, walkout limits and access shape a waterfront cottage plan before the rooms do. Where the concrete wall fits in.
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96 by 18 inches, five core widths, the same 2 5/8 inches of foam a side, and a web every 8 inches. Where each number turns up on site.
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A footing within 1/4 inch of level, a first course laid from the corners, and a wall levelled at course two. The installation, in order.
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A wood-frame plan will build in ICF — just not exactly as drawn. Thickness, 8-inch lengths, 18-inch courses and lintels.
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A reinforced concrete wall poured inside a form that never comes off — and why that decides the order everything goes up in.
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The form holds the concrete. The brace holds the form — and it is the only chance you get to make the wall straight.
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Damp-proofing is not waterproofing — and the drainage does more of the work than the coating does.
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Where the premium really sits, what it buys back, and when ICF is not the cheaper answer.
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A winter pour is ordinary work here, not a gamble — if the mix, the ground and the protection are right.
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A few hours, a truck on the clock, and a form you cannot open again. What has to be right first.
Read the post →An ICF foundation is poured concrete. The difference is the form — and whether it stays in the wall.
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The new room in an addition is almost always the coldest one. It doesn't have to be — here's how the footings, walls and tie-in actually work.
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ICF resists moisture better than bare concrete — but below grade it still needs damp-proofing, waterproofing and drainage. Here's what your foundation actually requires.
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Short answer: yes — and it's one of ICF's most underrated advantages. Here's how the finishing stage actually works on an insulated concrete wall.
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The R-value on the label is only half the story. What makes ICF homes cheaper to heat and cool is what's not in the wall: gaps, studs and air leaks.
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R-22 to R-26 on paper — but the honest comparison between ICF and a framed wall isn't found on the label. Here's how to read the numbers like a builder.
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When the excavator hits granite two feet down, the standard playbook stops working. Here's how footings get scribed, pinned and poured on the Canadian Shield.
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Rock, water, winter and setbacks — cottage lots stack every difficulty at once. Here's what four-season ICF construction looks like north of Barrie.
Read the post →Tell us about your project — we'll come back with straight answers and a free, no-obligation quote.
Prefer to talk? 705-333-3329 · info@dmtbuilding.ca