David's ICF Home Build

Heating costs comparison - ICF vs Stick Frame

2012-01-03T17:28:00.000-06:00

As it turns out, a close family member has a similar size house as this - one story with basement totaling around 2700 SF. This comparison home was built about ten years ago and is in an effectively identical climate, thus making for a good comparison of heating costs which is the measure of efficiency that we really all care about. Both homes set the thermostat to 68F as well.

So the initial numbers look good! Our first noticeably cold billing cycle was 11/11 to 12/11 and my natural gas bill was about $45. This comparison stick frame home had a bill of about $93. Based on measurements from warm months, we can subtract about $15 from each for gas that goes in to the water heater rather than the furnace. So the ICF vs Stick comparison really comes out to $30 vs $78!

Christmas Time!

2011-12-13T18:20:00.000-06:00

Thought I would follow up here occasionally as I realize a house is never really "done". Eventually there will be a basement getting finished, as well as countless smaller tasks before then.

But for now, it's time to rest and enjoy the Christmas season!

Final photos

2011-08-31T16:01:00.000-05:00

Done and done. Enjoy!

Carpet and other things

2011-08-21T08:09:00.000-05:00

I've been getting a bit behind on updates, but recently we had the carpet installed by Abbey Decorating. Here is the carpet in the guest bedroom. We also got the bi-fold closet door and trim installed after the carpet was laid:

Here is a shot of the stairs from above.

Here is the master bedroom. It is the same thick carpet as the other bedroom. The color works well with both the red and green paint in those rooms, as well as the rich color of the cherry trim.

Trimming is a bit tricky against an ICF wall, since you're shooting nails into just drywall and styrofoam, but if you use enough at some creative angles, it holds plenty well.

Moving past carpet, the master bathroom is all done as well:

Doors and appliances

2011-07-25T17:05:00.000-05:00

We have been making good progress on the doors. They are now all hung.

It takes a while to get it right, but this is something you do not want to do in a sloppy manner, as you'll pay for it later.

Some of the doors have had the hardware and trim installed as well.

In addition, appliances were delivered over the weekend from ApplianceSmart.

Kitchen progress

2011-07-14T17:13:00.000-05:00

Just a brief update - all the upper cabinets are hung and finished:

Countertop Progress

2011-07-02T08:21:00.000-05:00

We've been working on a lot of things but mostly the kitchen and bathroom countertops. Here are some new shots of the kitchen:

Getting $70/SF corian for $4/SF = WIN.

We built little boxes out of extra flooring to hide the utilities under the cabinets:

We also finished up the vanity in the guest bathroom, adding tile splashes:

Great room and kitchen progress

2011-06-20T21:56:00.001-05:00

The Maple flooring in the great room is now complete! This will be a living, dining, and kitchen area.

The garage has had the lighting installed which makes it a much better work area.

Finally, good progress has been made in the kitchen:

Upper cabinets are being built in the bedroom. Make use of all that space!

Window trim and retaining wall completion

2011-06-07T18:45:00.002-05:00

Because ICF house exterior walls are unusually thick (over 11 inches finished on the main floor, 13 inches in the basement), the way that windows are installed poses a unique challenge for doing window trim. With the help of some experts though, we found a nice vinyl product at Menards which made the job quite easy to complete. Here we are, preparing to rip the 10 foot long trim pieces down to size.

The finished product:

After gluing, some wood gives the pressure needed to hold things in place:

A close-up shows how well this white vinyl trim product matches the white vinyl windows and the white painted drywall returns.

Outside, the retaining walls have been completed. The largest walls are a segmental block design.

The smaller walls on the side of the house are natural boulders. Nearly all of these were found on site during house excavation.

Interior tiling and flooring progress

2011-06-07T18:35:00.001-05:00

I've been too busy to post lately, so there is quite a bit of catching up to do! For starters, the ceiling of the master shower has been tiled (save one piece - ran out of adhesive!).

We're using a combination of Loctite PL-375 and Loctite Power Grab All-Purpose Construction Adhesive rather than thinset to attach these to the ceiling. Much easier!

Next, we started laying out the hardwood flooring. It is 3/4 inch thick solid Maple.

We got about two thirds of the room nailed down in a weekend. The first rows take quite a while to get perfectly straight. Once you're past that though, things go much quicker with the tongue nailer.

The wood has a nice variety to it:

Retaining wall

2011-05-29T10:51:00.000-05:00

There has been good progress on the retaining wall so far, should be finished up this coming week!

Concrete

2011-05-08T06:47:00.000-05:00

This past week, the excavators and concrete guys have been hard at work on finishing things up. All the concrete is now in place, such as the garage:

Also, the front porch and sidewalk:

It really fills out the look of the front of the house:

Tiling progress

2011-04-18T17:45:00.000-05:00

Lots of progress made on the tile lately . . . the laundry room is completed:

The back wall of the master shower has the tile set:

Finally, the 2nd bathroom shower is cement boarded and just about ready for tile. The floor here is complete, like the master bathroom:

More painting and tile prep

2011-04-06T18:07:00.000-05:00

Wow, things have been busy since the last update! Where do I begin...

Well, we got the big common area room all painted in a very light blue/green - very subtle. It went quicker than I thought it would!

Next, tile prep has continued in the laundry room and 2nd bathroom. The laundry area is all laid out and ready for the thin-set:

The master bathroom shower is about ready for the tile layout, and the 2nd bathroom shower area is just beginning with the vapor barrier:

With the warm weather lately, things look a bit different outside!

Cabinets, Tiling, Carpet, Door, etc...

2011-03-21T18:06:00.002-05:00

Lots of progress this weekend! We did a bit more prep for tiling in both the guest bathroom...

... and the laundry room ...

Next, we put carpet in the walk-in closet in the master suite:

The big project though was tiling the master bathroom! It took a good part of the day just to lay out and cut the tile. A good tile saw with a water-cooled diamond blade makes the straight cuts easy, though cutting holes for plumbing is still a real challenge even with a tungsten-carbide drill bit.

After prepping the tile, we used a notched trowel to lay out the thin set and then set the tile using these nifty little spacers called TileJax! They make getting good even grout lines very easy, and are reusable. After letting the tile harden for about a day, we then applied the grout and ended up with pretty nice results.

After getting the tile set, we hung the closet door, a nice six panel solid cherry door. Quite heavy!

Today, I did the final wipe-down of the tile floor. You always end up with a bit of grout dust on the tile no matter how well you wipe down during the install:

It shines up real nice after another wipe down with a damp sponge after the grout has had a day or so to dry:

Color!

2011-03-15T22:11:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend, with the help of some wonderful people, I got many rooms in the house painted.

Above is the 2nd bedroom, which will be used as an office initially. Below is one of the kitchen walls.

Next, the master bedroom. The vaulted ceilings (12 feet at the peak) made it a bit tricky but we got it done.

Both bathrooms were painted as well, in a lighter shade, seen below.

Driveway

2011-03-15T21:44:00.000-05:00

With warmer weather today, along with some rain, the driveway was set to become a muddy mess. Fortunately, we got some crush rock down which helps a lot, and will become a good base for the eventual asphalt.

Doors and floors

2011-03-10T22:25:00.000-06:00

For the past few days we've been working on a number of items, including simply bringing finish materials and tools on site.

This includes wood trim and solid wood doors. These are all purchased unfinished, so we have been finishing them with Watco Natural Danish Oil. Penetrating oil is a much nicer and easier product to work with than varnish!

Most of the light fixtures are now installed and operational, which makes it possible to work into the wee hours of the night. The most recent project was starting the tiling process of the master bathroom.

With the doors out of the way, we setup in the bedroom to measure and cut the cement board as needed. After stapling down a simple vapor barrier, the cement boards are then screwed through the subfloor with masonry screws.

We are using Durock Cement Board which is a bit lighter than most cement board products, making it easier to work with and install, while still providing a very strong and stiff base for the ceramic tile.

Sunny day before the snow comes

2011-03-06T18:59:00.000-06:00

Just a nice little panorama shot of the front of the house.

The house faces North-East, so I've gotta be up early to get a shot with the sun behind me!

Lighting

2011-03-06T09:31:00.000-06:00

Most of the lighting fixtures have now been installed upstairs.

The chandelier fixtures are from Menards and the small mini-track lights are from IKEA.

Most fixtures are on dimmer switches, adding flexibility. The track lights use small halogen bulbs which work great with dimmers.

Basement work

2011-02-28T15:33:00.000-06:00

The workers from Pumper Plumbing have been busy on all the HVAC duct-work lately. The sheet aluminum is bent and cut as needed using the very large machine shown here:

The "bare" lighting in the basement is now operation which no doubt makes it easier to work in there. The temporary heater hanging from the trusses near the wall will stay until the basement drywall is completed. Drywall is needed down here by code as a fire barrier to the Styrofoam on the inside of the ICF. Drywall work creates a lot of fine dust and you do NOT want that getting sucked through a brand new furnace (filters aren't perfect).

Siding nearly completed

2011-02-28T15:28:00.000-06:00

Pretty much all the siding is on the house at this point.

All that remains is the base portion of the front part of the house seen below.

The siding is Vision Pro Vinyl Siding in Double 5" Dutch Lap. It is a product of Georgia-Pacific.

Interior painting and ceiling texture

2011-02-28T15:23:00.000-06:00

The ceiling "knock-down" texture and flat white primer paint has been completed in all the upstairs rooms. This gives the house a very bright feel.

Many of those holes in the ceiling should have proper light fixtures installed very soon.

Plumbing status

2011-02-17T18:16:00.000-06:00

The water lines and valves for both bathroom showers have been run. These days, plumbers use Wirsbo brand Pex plumbing lines, which have a number of benefits over Copper or PVC pipes.

Above are shots of the master shower. There will be a shower head on each end, and a rain shower head above from the ceiling. Thank God for cheap hot water! The guest bathroom, below, has a standard shower/tub with a single head.

Here is a quick shot of the basement utility area. You can see some of the Pex lines dangling, as well as a lot of wiring. All my Cat-6 runs come to this area, they are on the right.

Drywall Progress

2011-02-17T18:05:00.000-06:00

Wow, lots has been going on this week, the drywall upstairs is all set and mostly sanded and taped as well. Here are a few photos: