I have a rectangular house design, measuring 10.9m x 7.3m externally (10.3m x 6.7m internally), with the ridge of the roof running parallel to the longest side. The building is a two-storey structure, plus an attic. My question is this: Keeping in mind that the frame will be built using Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF), would it be possible to add a balcony similar to the one in the picture below (with the roof extended to cover the balcony) ? The balcony would be approximately 1.8m deep and 10.9m long, running the entire length of the house. What would be the best method to construct the balcon ..read more

Hi,   We now have a Jackon ICf house with the roof going on.   Am trying to get a bit of advice on the window detailing.   We are using brick slips and trying to tie these in with stone cills.      Does anyone have any advice from past experience.   Ideally we want a reasonable window reveal and am aware the cill needs to tie in the the concrete core.   Given we are using a brick slip system, need a minimum cill of  50mm overhang, 40mm slip and adhesive system, 100mm foam, 50mm ? concrete core.   So cill needs to be c240mm minimum.&nb ..read more

Do I need a breathable membrane over my ICF as seems to be suggested for cavity wall when cladding....I will be using Cedral Click ..read more

Well we had our big pour today...   Nervous all week. Had a big blowout on the corner...twice! Same corner, 4 blocks gone.   Others bits stayed up when I thought they wouldn't.    Will have to do the other walls another day.   Learnt alot today. I would definitely recommend strap, brace and brace the corners again and again!     ..read more

Picture a cavity wall build with natural stone on the outside (main wall material and also headers and cills). Obviously in this system the inner and outer work together to form a  structure so you have thick bits of stone with normal mortar in between and the requisite wall ties.    If you've got an ICF and want the same external look, how is it achieve? Obviously the structure is all in the ICF bit of things, so does one still use ties and still build the wall EXACTLY in the same fashion? Are those bits of stone less deep, so say 60mm front to back instead of say 120mm? Are th ..read more

Hi All, getting there slowly, now the bit I can't get my head around!   Using Nudura, our S.E. has specified this..for openings. Above will be the nudura block and walls. How do I do this? Any ideas? I will need to prop it obviously but surely the weight will crush the EPS underneath? Cheers       ..read more

Hello all,    I am a 4th year student of building surveying currently doing research for my dissertation.    I'm looking for case studies of polystyrene based ICF builds and came across this forum. I'm looking to include a few case studies of this construction technique to exemplify the advantages and disadvantages in a real world context. I'm mainly looking for projects that had some significant issues, but all would be helpful really.    Is there anyone who would be interested in helping me out with this? I will only need a few basic details (and maybe a few pho ..read more

Hello everyone, I find myself in a dilemma between choosing ICF or Precast Insulated Panels for the construction of my new house, specifically for external walls and floors. While I lean towards precast insulated panels, some questions remain unanswered. I plan to build a 2-storey house with internal dimensions of 8.5m x 8.5m, intending to make the attic 'habitable' with a spare room and utility space. I'm also considering raising the walls by 0.5m, essentially making it nearly a 2.5-storey structure. Additionally, I am contemplating a roof pitch of either 8/12 or 7/12. Here are my questions ..read more

For those interested, here is how I installed my Timber Ledgers before my pour....   I used 9x2 TR26 boards, ripped down to 206mm to dimensionally match my 253mm Posi by the time they are top chord hung on the Ledgers.   I first installed 4x2 Timbers to the wall where the Nudura props would go with hefty 6.7mm Timber Screws. The Prop channels were screwed on top of the timber using normal Nudura screws. The 4x2's were deliberately 200mm or so shorter than the Nudura channels, creating a pocket in which to slot the Ledger timber. Like this...     Once this was done, I marke ..read more

I'm really quite concerned about the damp proof detailing of my Izodom project.    The only damp proofing details I have are:   Engineer Architect     As above there is a gap between the edge of the ICF and the Spantherm floor panels, which doesn't have a DPM / DPC.   I'm surprised that neither have specified something to stop water rising up the walls through the gap, but maybe I don't actually need to worry ? ?   I need to get a barrier in across the whole wall I think ?  The contractor is suggesting having the DPM go through the wall to the outside ..read more