ICF forms, any one used them?

[Chuck K.]

I am looking to build a 12'x24x8 safe room/office in my shop. While searching the net on methods to make a ~8" thick concrete or reinforced block wall I came across Insulated Concrete Forms. The theory seems simple enough. I am cuious if any one here has any advice, pros or cons about them.

Thanks, Chuck.

 

[Tororider]

I haven't used them, but have looked into them a lot for a future house. If you do a search for icf there are a couple threads on here of people building their houses with icfs. They are pretty informative.

One company is fox blocks. There is actually a green building forum somewhere that someone on tbn suggested. If I can find it I will let you know.

 

[Erik_in_Hoyt]

We used Nudura for ours - when setting them before the pour, make dor to put up good bracing every 6-8 feet to keep the weight of the wet 'crete from shifting it in/out at the top. Also - when you're pouring go with about a 6 slump to help eliminate bubbles. We also used a chunk of 2 X 10 and a 3 pound sledge to walk around the bottom "tapping" out bubbles insteadof using a vibrator.
when you're done, you can cut wiring chases in the foam and/or screw drywall directly to it so you save some time and labor on studding the wall out.

we also used dryvit for the outside finish.

 

[akpilot]

We used them for our entire basement, they worked very well I added a pic to give you an idea. There are lots of manufactures, but that I know of, only two basic styles. probably several variations. 1) plastic lattice between foam panels 2) one piece foam blocks with foam lattice. I think, for your application you would want to go with #1 because it makes a solid concrete wall between the foam. The kind we used (I can't remember the name) were #1, we were quoted an R-30 insulation factor.
Above all take the time to Brace the walls as (Eric_in_Hoyt) said, it's time well spent, and DON"T use a vibrator they can cause a blow out!

 

[coldkubota]

My wife and I built our house (2100 sq ft basement to roof) using ICF's doing all the Labour ourselves. We saved a bundle and the savings made up for the extra cost since ICF construction seems to run 10-15% higher than standard construction methods. I highly recommend it for anyone that isn't afraid of a little manual labour. I spent a few dollars and took an installer training course in advance just to see if I wanted to take on the project and would recommend it to anyone prior to jumping into a project. The end result is a very warm, solid and quite house that you can count on being safe in extreme winds. We used LOGIX blocks LOGIX. and most of the other larger manufacturers such as ARXX have very informative website and manuals for download. As mentioned by others don't scrimp on the bracing and strap any joints with 1x4 if you think it may be a weak point. Keep in mind your wall finish for both interior and exterior since vinyl siding is a pain because it needs to be screwed on instead of nailed.
If you are trying to build this room inside an existing shop keep in mind that the concrete needs to be pumped in. Inside an existing building you might want to go with concrete blocks filling the hollow center with cement as you go up.