I built an ICF house 5 years ago and love it. I used REWARD system
which has R-38 in the walls. Had a Mennonite group build it for me.
They €˜framed it and closed it in and then turned it over to me. I
have done almost everything else myself - plumbing, wiring
flooring.... Oh, forgot - moved the machinery in !

The house is out in the country (central Ohio) and I have a natural
gasline running across the property so I heat with gas. The house
itself is about 4000 sq ft plus a full basement with drive out doors -
2 4x8 walk doors. I can drive my PU into the basement and close the
doors. This is where I have my maching shop - Bridgie, lathe,
woodworking equipment, etc. I used to have my shop in the garage at
the old house and in winter I could not work out there due to the
cold. Plus you have the condensation problem. The only problem I have
when I cut heavy and generate smoke is the smell it generates. So I
put a hose next to the cutter and run it to an exhaust extractor to
suck the smoke and smell outside.

I have 9 foot ceilings all 3 floors and used very large oversize Eagle
Windows (highly recommended - 5/8 inch between the glass and cost 20%
less than Anderson and their 1/2 inch gap). I also installed R-38
insulation in the ceiling of the second floor.

The attached garage is 36x48 with an 18x8 and an 18x10 overhead door.
The ceiling is 11 feet and I insulated the ceiling with R30. The
garage is ICF also and I dont heat it.

The first year I was in the house we had a very cold snap during the
winter and I heard people I work with complaining about their
nightmarish heating bills at their homes for that month - $800 to
$1000 ! I was in fear for my life, as I had not gotten my bill yet.
When it came I didnt want to open the envelope. It was $352 for the
month. I was pleased, considering I had the T-Stat set at about 70.
Since then I have never had a bill that high. Oh, yeah, that included
my gas hot water, which is a recirculating system that costs me on the
average $35 per month and Im the only one here, no women taking long
baths.

The garage, as I mentioned, is not heated and does get chilly in the
winter but by March the temperature in the garage has only gone down
to about 40 degrees. I have to admit that I dont use the garage for
cars yet and the overhead doors are rarely open. If I need to work on
a car in it, I have a propane torpedo heater I use for spot heat. I
have some 2 inch styrofoam that I will insulate the doors with to help
the winter chilling problem.

I had the builder install four 2 inch sleeves from the basement to the
garage so I could run electricals, water, air, plumbing for a
urinal....

I also had the excavator dig a 3 foot square hole, 9 feet deep in one
of the bays and dropped a 3 foot diameter plastic field tile into it
and backfilled with gravel around it. Then I poured the floor and as
they were finishing the crete, I put a 2x4 in it at grade level to
provide for a trough after it set up. I pulled it out and was able to
lay a pipe in it to the air compressor. I dropped my gas station lift
into the hole and plumbed it and poured grout into the trough. The
tile stuck up over the floor and I cut it flush with a carpenters saw
before I installed the lift. I hung the lift in the hole with a cherry
picker engine hoist to the right height and filled the hole with dry
sand.

Anyway, the ICF structure is THE WAY TO GO ! If I build another house
(or shop) I will definitely use it again.






On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 14:02:22 -0500, "Backlash"
wrote:

Jeridiah, could you explain more about the insulated concrete forms? pics,
website, maybe? Being in the south, that's not an item we would normally use
around here. I've seen the ones used to pour basements and such, then left
in place. I would assume they are integral to the flow of the building so
they don't protrude from the slab, etc? What would protect them from string
trimmers, lawn mowers, and such?

RJ

Depending on your heat loads, etc I would look at insulated concrete
forms. Effective R rating of around 45.