Chuck Morrison
7th December 2006, 08:52
In a comment of a different thread I mentioned building a house with PerformWall, an insulated Concrete Form (ICF) made of cement and recycled styrofoam, ie. polystyrene. Since this is a type of ICF that not many are familiar with I thought I should show what it looks like in use.
2
The above photo shows the aparatus we used to move the ICFs, which weigh 200 lbs each. We mounted an engine hoist on the back of a 1949 Studebaker truck and were able to move and place up to 4 forms at a time. We used just over 100 forms for the outside walls. We found that the hoist, mounted on the truck, a tractor or by inself is invaluable for moving and placing heavy objects.
The forms come in 10 foot lengths and are available in 15 and 30 inch widths. The ones shown are 15 inches wide and 12 inches thick, but they come 8 and 10 inch thick as well. The holes are 6 inches in diameter and when lined up properly form a pattern which ends up being a steel reenforced concrete waffle surrounded by 3 inches of form for the 12 inch variety.
1
This is the application we put the forms into. It's a 40 foot diameter circle with door and window cutouts. I cut a bevel on one side of each form with a chain saw to allow a close joint when placed in the circle. I also cut the forms in half to make 100 lb. 5 foot sections. This allowed me to actually move them into place by hand. They were then glued to each other with a foam glue and stapled (large steel staples) until they were cured. I used a face mask to keep from inhaling too much cement dust.
These cost $45US each, which doesn't make them particularly cheap. However when you compare that with the cost of studs, sheathing, insulation and siding it's not too bad, especially if you just finish them off with stucco.
Overall, I believe these forms are a good choice for buildings with curved sides. They allow a flexability that is difficult to achieve with standard building materials, even other types of ICF, that assume flat straight walls.
2
The above photo shows the aparatus we used to move the ICFs, which weigh 200 lbs each. We mounted an engine hoist on the back of a 1949 Studebaker truck and were able to move and place up to 4 forms at a time. We used just over 100 forms for the outside walls. We found that the hoist, mounted on the truck, a tractor or by inself is invaluable for moving and placing heavy objects.
The forms come in 10 foot lengths and are available in 15 and 30 inch widths. The ones shown are 15 inches wide and 12 inches thick, but they come 8 and 10 inch thick as well. The holes are 6 inches in diameter and when lined up properly form a pattern which ends up being a steel reenforced concrete waffle surrounded by 3 inches of form for the 12 inch variety.
1
This is the application we put the forms into. It's a 40 foot diameter circle with door and window cutouts. I cut a bevel on one side of each form with a chain saw to allow a close joint when placed in the circle. I also cut the forms in half to make 100 lb. 5 foot sections. This allowed me to actually move them into place by hand. They were then glued to each other with a foam glue and stapled (large steel staples) until they were cured. I used a face mask to keep from inhaling too much cement dust.
These cost $45US each, which doesn't make them particularly cheap. However when you compare that with the cost of studs, sheathing, insulation and siding it's not too bad, especially if you just finish them off with stucco.
Overall, I believe these forms are a good choice for buildings with curved sides. They allow a flexability that is difficult to achieve with standard building materials, even other types of ICF, that assume flat straight walls.