We're building an ICF house

Dude, it's karma from your hippie friend man. I had one in the yard and the bastards stung me in the back of the head while I was mowing!

Glad you made some progress! Serious humidity this weekend!

So I had to call out sick today from work. I had a terrible migraine and didn't get any sleep last night.

By 7:05 I was feeling much better so I decided to work out at the house.

I took this one picture after some dirt work- you can start to imagine what it'll look like as you pull down the driveway toward the parking area.
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/xxQ4mylqXEGVWOtpJOizCdMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-jCPlp2yEAuU/UCrcWpMx9NI/AAAAAAAAAL4/UslfBktXY34/s640/P8140009.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/115670853405340716908/August142012?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">August 14, 2012</a></td></tr></table>

Then I poured these walls, so we'll finally be able to make some upward progress. This little laundry room "bump out" has been a huge thorn in our side. Glad it's done. As you can see, I made a bit of a mess. I couldn't get good access to certain parts of the wall with the truck, so I had to do it with 5 gallon buckets. I stopped counting at 25 buckets, but I don't think I did more than 30. No big deal- good workout for the day.

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ao6HsRIBZsh1HsTH6JDnvdMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-RiIvecuP1cI/UCrcWmf1j-I/AAAAAAAAALw/RCyNnBYJMK8/s640/P8140010.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/115670853405340716908/August142012?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">August 14, 2012</a></td></tr></table>

Then I got the well line stretched out, and started dealing with that line where it runs close to the house. A little trench work and it'll be done. (Yes, I'm also running a power line).

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/MpOn3u4uL0YXhSljqlNKSdMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-uAX40dqRRVQ/UCrcWh_ntlI/AAAAAAAAAL0/URyNWqjAdRU/s640/P8140011.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/115670853405340716908/August142012?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">August 14, 2012</a></td></tr></table>

And the septic system will start going in tomorrow. I took a before picture:
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/zNO9cQkxOzv4qwP8LjZQBNMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-sbyD20f_fpQ/UCrcYPwT1KI/AAAAAAAAAMI/itsdIhOVijo/s640/P8140012.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/115670853405340716908/August142012?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">August 14, 2012</a></td></tr></table>

So we're having some more gravel hauled in, and the driver backed in today, got out of his truck, looked at me and said, "I can tell right now that I fucked up the last delivery." I laughed, told him that I've gotten over it, and that in the big picture it's not a big deal. Wonder where I learned that philosophy from?

Chatted with the GC today- he sounds anxious to get going as his crews are finishing up other projects. Looks like he's gonna send me some help late next week, and that should really help move things along. I'm hoping that we can pour our first floor early next week. Progress.

Good to see you got over your little rough spot.

I'm enjoying following along on your build, keep it coming.




Mike

Hey Adam, I am going to be in NH next week and the week after, so I would love to swing up by your place and check it out. I should still have your cell # so I will give you a shout when I am in NH and have some time. The old man shattered his elbow and has a project that has to be done by Sept 7th, so he is paying me gobs of money to fly back to NH to finish it up for him .

The picture right about this one with my truck and the big rock- stay away from the big rock. Ground bees dude.
Check your PMs -see you when you get here.

Amazing what you can do with time and money.

I hate to admit it but we decided to hire out the septic system. Turned out to be a great decision.

When he showed up to our disaster zone I asked him if he wanted to do any other work and here's what he did in the last two days:

Built some terraced rock walls just like what we wanted:
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/BqHsflGyWpQHLeN6pOGhrdMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-nl9kEu5ZcYU/UDVckmsVwDI/AAAAAAAAAMo/P8IVIPCKLKU/s640/P8220018.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/115670853405340716908/August222012?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">August 22, 2012</a></td></tr></table>

And backfilled the entire house so we can drive up to it now:
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/LXGA5DnZWISAZ8MOCBdZttMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_kHeu0xJ7Ws/UDVcmnWVG1I/AAAAAAAAAM8/2GuUBfzBCrI/s640/P8220019.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/115670853405340716908/August222012?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">August 22, 2012</a></td></tr></table>

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/dWv6p5P3zfHtUlS7SPD42dMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-L3_zHc2IvMQ/UDVcnfV4PdI/AAAAAAAAANI/p-0Zk_79uZA/s640/P8220021.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/115670853405340716908/August222012?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">August 22, 2012</a></td></tr></table>

And what you can't see is that my wife and I ran all the PEX for the heat in our first floor. A series of unfortunate events delayed that pour till next Monday, but we've found things to work on.

Anybody in the area need any site work done? I've got your guy- he's GOOD. Black Hill Site and Septic. Highly recommended- should have hired him to do the whole thing.

Looks great. Really enjoying the progress. Love your part of the world up there

NICE!!!!!!!!!!! Looks great and progress is being made.

I guess this is why they call it labor day. Instead of doing fun things on the day off we'll be working on our house.

With the temporary decking in place for the middle level slab we put down the tubing for the radiant heat. Between the zip ties in the ICFs (we tie every corner) and the zip ties in all 3 slabs, we're pushing 3000 of those things. I dream about zip ties. I can tie them while blindfolded with two hands tied behind my back.
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ThIpAP-zxbbwP9kXh-VJ79MTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AGbrZmLOFPQ/UEPpl4R0_OI/AAAAAAAAAOU/m1yJlNtWF_I/s640/P8250023.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/115670853405340716908/September22012?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">September 2, 2012</a></td></tr></table>

Hey look! This is gonna be better than an out house!
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/thx7KiuNAXYwpOnBdoWmBtMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-2MCUKXMYOQE/UEPpvBZyO4I/AAAAAAAAAOc/cLu0CwzuQ3c/s640/P8260026.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/115670853405340716908/September22012?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">September 2, 2012</a></td></tr></table>

And then we poured the slab. You tube time lapse video to follow. I like this video better; my wife is working on it right now. We had my wife and her father to help with this slab, which made things easier than the basement slab. One more slightly smaller slab to go!
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/rvdTU7uep71NEprxstPG-tMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--m120Yom4Zg/UEPpvQAajZI/AAAAAAAAAOY/8naVdvBuJfQ/s640/P8260027.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/115670853405340716908/September22012?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">September 2, 2012</a></td></tr></table>

Later that afternoon the slab was cured enough to walk on, so we started building the walls and placing door and window bucks.
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/yxGCzZvA5AurNYVkUpvxRNMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-pusMw49Uhjw/UEPp62-95TI/AAAAAAAAAOo/mrCWGwi7WhA/s640/P8270028.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/115670853405340716908/September22012?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">September 2, 2012</a></td></tr></table>

And the walls grew.
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/mE_OlRL2Zebo5r1QLUvKZ9MTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-2g08EfZVGXU/UEPqKzjiILI/AAAAAAAAAOw/knhH3m_nwYs/s640/P8290030.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/115670853405340716908/September22012?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">September 2, 2012</a></td></tr></table>

And now they're ready to pour. The ICF guy told me that behind his own ICF house, ours is the most complex he's done. He said most people he's worked for think simple- rectangles and small windows. To get around the main part of our house we have 10 corner pieces and 2 "T's." We also have 3 different ceiling heights on the main level to work with, and two parts of it don't go up to the 3rd story. He said he figures 1 man hour for every 3 ICF blocks. This includes building them, placing rebar, setting bracing, pouring, and taking down bracing. We have just under 800 blocks in this structure, so think 270 man hours to build this shell- not including the steel truss flooring system on 2 levels, the basement slab, and the footings (LOTS of steps and two separate footing pours). Here's what it looks like now:
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/JCxfEiaq2Bgm_IOGzb0qMtMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4nko2VHs1Hc/UEPqTS0OFXI/AAAAAAAAAO8/Idn38NtM4Yw/s640/P9010033.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/115670853405340716908/September22012?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">September 2, 2012</a></td></tr></table>

So we've got one more floor system to assemble, run the heat tubing, build some knee walls for the top story and we'll be ready to hand this over to the GC to put a roof on it and finish it up. I can't wait! I've had enough of this and we're nowhere near done! Probably just too much going on right now. And my wife is a Saint for putting up with me.

And who needs two excavators anyways?
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/pgfCy71I4yRriXVhKXX_EtMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tZNeRqMh2ME/UEPqelhVYWI/AAAAAAAAAPM/HAQFUgiO4s0/s640/P9020036.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/115670853405340716908/September22012?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">September 2, 2012</a></td></tr></table>

Will there be room (and side clearance) for me to get a 40' class A RV up the drive way when you're done?

It's a little tight, but I'm sure it would fit. If you look at the little "road" in the last picture that heads left toward the newer excavator- we're thinking of leaving that as a "stub" for a place to push snow, park an extra vehicle, etc. I'll go ahead and make it 40 feet just for you. And you'll have easy access to the septic tank from there.

And another youtube video:
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DRZhaV-hT_I?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Poured the walls today. Nothing went smooth, but in the end everything turned out well.

It rained the entire time- just enough to completely soak through every article of clothing (including boots- holy shit do I hate wet socks and wet boots).

The pump truck operator did a nice job and we seemed to get a good mix from the plant. We had 3 trucks for a total of 24 yards.

Right toward the end of the pour we had a minor blow out. NOT a huge deal, but it was a pain in the ass to fix. Just a minor oversight on my part. Live and learn. Rubbed my fingers raw getting it fixed (ICF guy's fingers look worse than mine!).

And then something weird happened- it set up FAST. We had a bitch of a time truing up the walls and finishing the tops. We didn't even get to put in rebar for the next level- couldn't get it in. We'll have to drill for it. I don't know why it set up the way it did, but it was completely unworkable after 1.5 hours. With all the other pours we had an easy and relaxed 3 hours of finishing time. Oh well. I'm lucky to have the ICF guy around- I would have been screwed on my own!

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The GC takes over soon and we have less responsibilities at that point.

Sounds like the mix got hot in the truck for some reason. He didn't have to wait to pour did he ? We use to have drivers that would spin the crap out of the mixer while waiting on a pour. They didn't last long. Enjoying following along on your build ,looks like it is going to make a great home.

Nice progress bud!

Must have been hot. Us fixing the blowout didn't take more than 20 minutes- probably a lot less. We looked at the load tickets and they all left the plant and arrived on site in reasonable times- who knows if they rig those- all the times are hand written.

Thanks- I'm going to be puttering out there for the next few days. I must have overdone it- my hand has been really bothering me, and started going numb with shooting pains up my arm. Went to the doctor and they said it's carpel tunnel, put me in a brace, and told me to take some time off from work. It's amazing- it was almost instant pain relief the minute they put the brace one. So I'll do what I can do as a one-armed bandit and will be certified bat-shit stir-crazy within 3 days.

Gimme a shout if you wanna meet me out there.

Might have been some left over from the batch before or was held at the plant before loading . It is in there now ,I really hate drilling concrete.

When I was told to take it easy or I won't be able to hold a cup in my hand I laughed... fast forward few weeks, and I was waking up at night due to the pain in my arm.

Just saying, things get better, but be careful, wear a brace or band at all times, at least for a while. Just in case it's not clear, I want you to finish the house, I'm learning a lot here .

Ko

ICF guy doesn't do a slump test before each truck pours??

Yup- slump was fine. It just cured way too fast.

When are you coming to visit the site?