COMPLETE DIY ICF FOUNDATION

[@IntegrityFirstContractor]

Thanks for posting and helping take the scare out of building with ICF. It’s such a better way to build than wood.

[@badawesome]

except for cost

[@yvesjolicoeur747]

Awesme job especially as a DIY. I was nervous watching the pour when you said it was your first ICF pour and that they were 12' walls. And kudos to you for adding to your workload by videotaping it all for us to learn. I watch every ICF video I see and this one sure went into my favorite. Thanks for taking the time to share the prep as well as the hard earned lesson's learned. Take time to enjoy....lol... the pump truck had not left and you were already looking at all the other work left ahead. I sure will be following your progress. Thanks

[@bar6builds605]

I sure appreciate that. Yes adding video doubles the work load. I should have poured that in 2 pours but we got away with it.

[@antowalk2743]

You did well buddy considering you did it on your jack Jones .

[@johnoswald6192]

Good job man. Thanks for pointing out the pitfalls and how you dealt with them. That is a huge pour - you should be proud it came out like it did and you saved it during the pour. It looks great!

[@bar6builds605]

Thanks yes it was to big of a pour for me

[@DEIMDIE]

Thank you so much for having shared your experience and knowledge. I'm preparing an ICF house project for next year and your video is very valuable.

[@bar6builds605]

Thank you I hope it all goes well

[@nrehberg]

Great video. Looking forward to more of this series

[@bar6builds605]

Their coming I'm just super busy. Hang in there

[@gerardfenn3988]

1 Guy, Alone, By Yourself in the wilderness pouring ICF walls, for the first time. Those errors could have been so much worse. You handled it. Where was Rocky when you needed him??? Get some laborers Bro. Check and Double Check. Concrete is Unforgiving. Nice Job and Well Done.

[@bar6builds605]

Thanks. ya i learned a lot on this one. I have a hard time paying people to help when i know i can just put my head down and get it done.

[@johnoswald6192]

@@bar6builds605 I hear you! I"m the same way. It's just hard when doing it all ourselves takes months - years.

[@bwillan]

Most rebar supply places will sell pre bent rebar corners at whatever size you require.

[@trlotz]

Thank You. Impressive work. I would have been stressed out pouring that high. I'm sure you are glad the foundation is done.

[@bar6builds605]

Thanks

[@mrbmedic1]

So you used the corner bricks. Why didn't you use any T-bricks?

[@bar6builds605]

Amvic stoped making them during the supply chain issues

[@Patriot3791]

As someone who plans on DIYing my own ICF, this is a great video man thank you. Have you ever thought about replacing the rebar with Helix? It would eliminate a lot of the rebar work.

[@bar6builds605]

Awesome I was really hoping it would help someone. I stayed with rebar because of all the complex bends between the house and the shop. Watch the shop footing videos, that rebar was insane

[@jsterling79]

So with this house is there some down here to certified as a passive house and its crazy when i look on line Are ICF homes worth the cost? Whether it's hot or cold outside, an ICF home can maintain a stable and comfortable temperature at a fraction of the cost. On average, the monthly utility cost for a wood-frame home is $0.10 per square foot, whereas the average ICF home costs only $0.03 per

[@tptwk]

Fantastic series. This is what I dream of building. Does the Fast-Foot system help prevent the water migration (capillary) you referred to? Any reason you don't use the fast-foot leveling feet? Keep up the good work!! Also, why so high on the basement walls? Is it going to be a great room (you may have mentioned earlier)?

[@bar6builds605]

Thanks. I cover the fast foot to wall connections in the next video. I don't think I've seen fast foot leveling feet. The basement is 12' because the land said so. The grade on top to the grade below was 12'. 12' is one of the reasons I used icf. 12' wall labor is extremely expensive so I did it myself.

[@Th3120ck]

​@@bar6builds605I love this series, if everything goes right I might build my own ICF (but prob won't labor it all myself). Do you have a ballpark on how much you saved? Also why not ICF the whole house?

[@billmccance7762]

@@bar6builds605 Mono pour uses the Fab Form foot on ICF. In this case the footing was pre poured so ICF can sit flat upon the footing. When you pour the footing and wall at the same time, the mono pour legs are used to level the ICF before the pour, ( and fastfoot has to be secured along the bottom of ICF blocks ) This takes knowledge and experience

[@DrInQTel]

4-5 ft at a time down to 2ft.... limit on instruction manual I read once was 4ft at a time. My recommendation is stay around 3.0 to 3.2 ft. when pouring into ICF blocks. Would be curious to know how much time it took to do all these steps.

[@bar6builds605]

I assume you're talking about lifts. I started 3-4' but only did 2' lifts after that. Took all day

[@fredbentkowski8128]

Thank you so much for making this video, learned a lot. We are looking into self building a new home on our property and are very much leaning towards doing ICF vs a steel building. Have you built any barndominiums and would you recommend ICF over a barndo steel building?

[@bar6builds605]

Those are completely different animals. I will tell you steel building are very hard to make energy efficient. They are very drafty. You can't beat icf but it's going to be a lot more. Bardo is cheap square footage but icf is far superior. If you do your own icf you will save a ton. Feel free to ask questions if you go that route

[@billmccance7762]

Amvic makes T blocks. You can set them first like corners, then infill between corners and T's.. The marriage lines will increase in numbers but its vital to keep one marriage line top to bottom so the webs stack up vertically

[@bar6builds605]

Tblocks we're not available when I ordered

[@billmccance7762]

course thread screws at 1 5/8" for drywall

[@michaelvonfeldt9629]

Strapping at the back of the T wall all the way up would have helped it not to blowout. Great job, I’m learning from your build.

[@bar6builds605]

Yes I totally ignored the t problem until it blew out

[@matdadon]

Big respect

[@mcchupka9718]

Amazing. I am envious because I have been dreaming about building my own 100% ICF house from footer to roof ridge. Any advice?

[@bar6builds605]

Biggest lesson is watch plumb and level every course. I got relaxed a few rows up and at 12' my corners were out about an inch. It took massive force with turnbuckles to get them plumb. Holler if you have any questions. You can do it!!

[@WramblinWreck2187]

Any particular reason you went with the poured concrete wall for the window/door wall? Seems like framing that with lumber would have been much easier and maybe cheaper?

[@bar6builds605]

The engineer told me that's what I'm doing

[@donat-luctheriault7782]

At your T wall, always put at every row, a 2 X 4 (or more) level that would extend 2' over each side. When you poor concrete you wall should always bend as a belly, not to much, but maybe half an inch toward your bracing, at the end of the poor it is easier to push on your form than trying to pull.

[@edskapin7171]

I did ICE block across Canada and installed over 300 basements. The important thing to watch is first two courses need to be staiight and use batter board. You are supposed to pour in four foot lifts. The first course can also be wet set laid to a line. It helped that I am a brick/ blocklayer by trade. Different material but concept is same.

[@edskapin7171]

Speaker had good skills but changing a few things would have helped him.

[@bar6builds605]

I learned a lot on that one. What have you seen for covering the ICF bottom of siding to grade. I can't come up with anything good looking

[@prm1234567stphn]

​@@edskapin7171 on which part of canada do you construct?

[@edskapin7171]

@@prm1234567stphn Retired from ICF.

[@prm1234567stphn]

@edskapin7171 is there any specific reason? If you don't mind saying. Just curious to know if it was because of any drawbacks in ICF.

[@billmccance7762]

top of wall can be top of tapertop because its flat and smooth easy to finish concrete with a trowel. IF ICF is too tall, rip the tapertop down to the height you want, then its still a flat smooth top to trowel

[@iamyk1593]

Thank you for sharing great tips. May I ask what kind of laser level tool you are using? My husband and I just started building ICF home in AZ.

[@bar6builds605]

I have been buying the 209$ spectra lasers but they seem to break a lot. I'm searching for something better. My advice is don't spend a lot because they are fragile

[@iamyk1593]

Thank you for your reply! We will look into that. 👍

[@morokeiboethia6749]

Do you have to pour all of the walls at once or can you stop for the day somewhere and continue the following day and be ok?

[@bar6builds605]

You can pour them in as many lifts as you want. I'm actually pouring the last 6' of My Master wall tommorow. It is 16' in total

[@morokeiboethia6749]

@@bar6builds605 Do you have to use a concrete bonding agent if you pour wet on top of already dried concrete thats inside the ICF insulation blocks?

[@roiad876]

are there specific fasteners to hold J or L bolts to ICF foundations? I want to make a strip footing and then finish the top with traditional stick framing.

[@bar6builds605]

Are you talking about the top of wall or coming out the side of the icf

[@ronniebaker1989]

Where is this location. Looks awesome.

[@bar6builds605]

Central Utah

[@DrInQTel]

@@bar6builds605 what did the acreage and permitting cost? Also what are you all paying per yard out there? Los Angeles they want ~$120/yard for 3500 PSI 3/8' aggregate+ delivery charge over 20miles.

[@warrenwalker8170]

razor to get it plum level is horizontal

[@gerardfenn3988]

Without checking Google, I'm curious what the temperature swings are in that location? 102 degrees in the day and snow in the winter, in the desert. That's real Cowboy Land.

[@bar6builds605]

Occasionally we can hit 105-106 and winter goes below zero a lot. We see it all

[@TaylorHaubrich]

Can you cold joint the rows?

[@bar6builds605]

Yes but not preferred. I poured 12' in one pour but we sat around a lot and waited for the lifts to firm up

[@bigmoneycarlos8947]

Pick up a few tips thanks for the video

[@bar6builds605]

Anytime

[@pingdizuo492]

All concrete wall?! Too high for the foam?

[@jasonthole2871]

What thickness of ICF were you using?

[@bar6builds605]

8" wall 2.5" of foam each side

[@DelRanchoTx]

Where do I get the scaffolding

[@bar6builds605]

Sometimes the icf supplier will have it for rent if not someone around has it for rent

[@tdmallet]

No blowouts with all of the gaps with foam?

[@bar6builds605]

No blowout on the spray foam it's very strong. I had a couple blow outs at t's in the wall where I cut out the supports.

[@screwydrewy7027]

I was thinking that spray foaming the corner or T sections might have helped in that respect but still great work

[@SkeemieTV]

how many icf boards were used for 12 ft walls

[@bar6builds605]

9

[@fpc0041]

why not 6’ then another 6’ in a few days what am i missing

[@bar6builds605]

That's probably what I should have done. Probably the pump way out where I'm at twice was the factor

[@timjones1583]

Only pour 30" at a time.

[@PhotonHerald]

I was like "I've seen this. Yeah. This too. Okay...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ISTHATDAFNEKEEN????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@meowmeow1733]

I wish he would have said how long each stage took...hours/days/months

[@bar6builds605]

It took a long time because I could only work at night and weekends. I probably had 40 hours total by myself

[@mcchupka9718]

You probably saved $50k by doing the foundation yourself. How much was the bock? Concrete?

[@bar6builds605]

I literally saved 50+. I can't remember the total cost but I had a bid from an ICF contractor and I saved a ton. 12' walls are very expensive so icf saved me a lot

[@cyranthony]

Just throws down a stabila level lol, also I would have spent way more time getting that footing dialled in, would have saved you a ton of time. Lastly 12’ is a big pour, maybe should have split the pout

[@bar6builds605]

Definitely should have done 2 pours. I love stabila but a bubble always has a little debate about when it's perfect. Lase no questions

[@rinkevichjm]

You wouldn’t have had to level those blocks if your footer had been level, which self compacting cement would done without a level. You didn’t save money by using regular cement, you wasted both time and money.

[@lb7wade518]

I hope you’re not in a termite area!!

[@bar6builds605]

I've seen them before but pretty much non existent here. To cold

[@Netlogic.]

Az a European ICF makes no sense to me. If all you're after is the insulation value of the EPS why not just pour a standard concrete wall (fast) then just glue the EPS (or better yet XPS) to the outside of it? (also fast). All I see in these ICF videos are people wasting a ton of time prepping their walls for pouring so they don't blow out, and all they gain over standard concrete blocks or poured concrete monolith is a lame 2 inches of shitty open cell EPS.