We’re Building a House but How Should We Build?

On top of designing the floor-plan for our new home, one of the big considerations is how we want to build.

Of course, a traditional wood frame is always an option but we are also considering building an ICF Home.  What is ICF you may ask? ICF stands for Insulated Concrete Form. 

Traditional foundations are constructed by pouring concrete into temporary forms, which are removed when the concrete has cured. When building with Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF), the foundation forms remain in place and provide insulation on each side of the concrete. Simply put, the interlocking forms are dry-stacked, steel-reinforced, and then filled with concrete.

You can build just an ICF basement or you can take the Insulated Concrete Forms all the way to the roof trusses.

Nudura

One of the big determining factors when building an ICF home is cost. There is no doubt that it costs more than a traditionally built home. Something of importance to note is you need to ensure you are using a builder who is very familiar with the installation, so be sure to ask how many ICF homes they’ve built previously. Special concrete needs to be used and bracing is a very important part of the process, however, building an ICF home comes with lots of benefits. 

Design Tip: An ICF Home contains wide window sills because of the thickness of the walls so this is an important feature to note.

Elyse McCurdy Home Designs

Because the insulation is consistent around the house, your home is less likely to contain cold areas. ICF also provides structural strength because of the reinforced concrete wall and it also dampens exterior noise. Building with ICF also eliminates the need to have vapour barrier so drywall is affixed directly to the foam. 

As you can see, there are lots of factors that come into play and we are looking at all the pro’s and con’s as we make our final decision. 

AMP Construction