With the recent history of sub standard concrete being used on public building projects, I would recommend anyone building with concrete hire and independent company to analyze the batches before they are poured to insure compliance with the engineering requirements.
I love Japanes/Phillipines style concrete houses with Flat concrete roof that doubles as an open deck, basically doubling usable outdoor space with a view. I am going to build one in this style in Florida, it will also have Japaese style "Bath Room" (no toilet in the room as the Shower/bath tub) The entire bathroom will be a wet room that can double as a steam room. The toilet has its own separate room just big enough for toilet and elbow room, with a hand wash on top of the toilet tank that is used to fill the tank.
The flat concrete deck is a great idea, adds disaster resistance to the home too Steam room sounds fantastic, are you coupling that with any dehumidification so that your home doesn’t become humid afterwards I like the idea of using greywater for the toilet too
Canadian builder. I construct double wall super insulated 14'' walls with cellulose using roxul comfort board below grade for exterior insulation. None of the problems with wood frame you mentioned. Low CO2 emissions. High CO2 capture and storage
That’s a great way to build. A very efficient assembly, High R value, renewable resources The only thing it lacks is disaster resistance. In my area we have tornadoes, other parts of the US have wildfires and hurricanes. I think the benefit of using ICF over a double wall / staggered studs, sips is the safety and longevity of the home
@@Artemeco I wonder what would happen to an ICF structure in a forest fire. I lived an experience where wood frame homes were gone in five minutes with such intense heat. With an IFC I'm sure the framed roof would burn and all the foam would melt. That would be interesting to see the end result If I was building in tornado country the home would be overdone with simpson hold downs and a trap door shelter would be in the plans
It’s hard to say , cost to build varies based on many factors. I would estimate 300 per square foot of house. Not including land or plans. This will give you a rough idea. But cost to build can vary wildly by location, site condition, finishes, etc. Bank will want %20 down. Your land can count as your down payment
1 reason not to build with concrete is that it can contain radon. If the rocks used is free from contamination, this is a really strong and warm house :)
If present, the amounts would be negligible compared to what would be present in the soil. And The closed cell foam on the interior should act as an airtight barrier, preventing it from getting into the home. In short, I wouldn’t worry about radon from aggregate in the concrete
The concrete itself is the part that’s not environmentally friendly, The argument can be made that rebuilding wood homes over and over and putting those materials in a landfill is also bad for the environment In the future, I believe we will see more eco friendly concrete (less co2 emissions, using recycled materials from industrial processes)
@@Artemeco Unfortunately green concrete is a long way off. Use steel instead preferably passivhaus using BIM, Lean and industrial processes and you can complete a house in 12 week.
@@Artemeco I build in Italy with large seismic forces and steel works very well plus it is sustainable in fact all our buildings are 80% recyclable. With a life cycle of 150 + years. Perfect for off grid solutions.
Reasons not to build an ICF home in north, central Texas: With 800 feet of clay underneath in some areas instead of just your foundation cracking your whole house will crack from pad to peak.
We use a geotechnical engineer on every project, required or not, Settlement is definitely something to prepare for. It’s possible the footings would need additional reinforcement if the soil is unstable
@@Artemeco The clay that we call "black gumbo" is everywhere and it heaves like the surface of the ocean due to the huge swings in moister content. Even if it's cushioned with 3 feet of sand the exception in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex is a home with no foundation damage. All builders here know this and yet still install new foundations that will crack within the first 2 or three years. Your engineers may be great but I personally oversaw a project to remediate a 5,000 sqft home with piers that were placed almost every 10 feet by "engineers" before I got there. The home still had to be torn down after it all failed. This land doesn't want your house here and will spit it out within 10 years, with or without your engineers.
@@big6316if you’re smart enough, every challenge is an opportunity It’s certainly possible to build an ICF home in Texas even with unstable soil, there are plenty of solutions I believe many contractors just don’t like change. They want to do things the way it’s always been done because it’s what they know, failing to embrace all that modern building science has to offer
With the recent history of sub standard concrete being used on public building projects, I would recommend anyone building with concrete hire and independent company to analyze the batches before they are poured to insure compliance with the engineering requirements.
Nice vid, sounds like much better homes!
I love Japanes/Phillipines style concrete houses with Flat concrete roof that doubles as an open deck, basically doubling usable outdoor space with a view. I am going to build one in this style in Florida, it will also have Japaese style "Bath Room" (no toilet in the room as the Shower/bath tub) The entire bathroom will be a wet room that can double as a steam room. The toilet has its own separate room just big enough for toilet and elbow room, with a hand wash on top of the toilet tank that is used to fill the tank.
The flat concrete deck is a great idea, adds disaster resistance to the home too
Steam room sounds fantastic, are you coupling that with any dehumidification so that your home doesn’t become humid afterwards
I like the idea of using greywater for the toilet too
Canadian builder. I construct double wall super insulated 14'' walls with cellulose using roxul comfort board below grade for exterior insulation. None of the problems with wood frame you mentioned. Low CO2 emissions. High CO2 capture and storage
That’s a great way to build. A very efficient assembly,
High R value, renewable resources
The only thing it lacks is disaster resistance. In my area we have tornadoes, other parts of the US have wildfires and hurricanes.
I think the benefit of using ICF over a double wall / staggered studs, sips is the safety and longevity of the home
@@Artemeco I wonder what would happen to an ICF structure in a forest fire.
I lived an experience where wood frame homes were gone in five minutes with such intense heat.
With an IFC I'm sure the framed roof would burn and all the foam would melt. That would be interesting to see the end result
If I was building in tornado country the home would be overdone with simpson hold downs and a trap door shelter would be in the plans
@@morninboythere’s some examples of ICF homes vs wildfire in California that were largely unharmed while the wood homes next door burned down
How much can a two story house run in Florida
It’s hard to say , cost to build varies based on many factors. I would estimate 300 per square foot of house. Not including land or plans.
This will give you a rough idea. But cost to build can vary wildly by location, site condition, finishes, etc.
Bank will want %20 down. Your land can count as your down payment
1 reason not to build with concrete is that it can contain radon. If the rocks used is free from contamination, this is a really strong and warm house :)
If present, the amounts would be negligible compared to what would be present in the soil. And The closed cell foam on the interior should act as an airtight barrier, preventing it from getting into the home.
In short, I wouldn’t worry about radon from aggregate in the concrete
Concrete is not sustainable unfortunately.
Define sustainable in this case? You build it once and it's done forever.
The concrete itself is the part that’s not environmentally friendly,
The argument can be made that rebuilding wood homes over and over and putting those materials in a landfill is also bad for the environment
In the future, I believe we will see more eco friendly concrete (less co2 emissions, using recycled materials from industrial processes)
@@Artemeco Unfortunately green concrete is a long way off. Use steel instead preferably passivhaus using BIM, Lean and industrial processes and you can complete a house in 12 week.
@@Lotan-in8ogtrue, but lacks disaster resistance like ICF
@@Artemeco I build in Italy with large seismic forces and steel works very well plus it is sustainable in fact all our buildings are 80% recyclable. With a life cycle of 150 + years. Perfect for off grid solutions.
Reasons not to build an ICF home in north, central Texas: With 800 feet of clay underneath in some areas instead of just your foundation cracking your whole house will crack from pad to peak.
We use a geotechnical engineer on every project, required or not,
Settlement is definitely something to prepare for. It’s possible the footings would need additional reinforcement if the soil is unstable
@@Artemeco The clay that we call "black gumbo" is everywhere and it heaves like the surface of the ocean due to the huge swings in moister content. Even if it's cushioned with 3 feet of sand the exception in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex is a home with no foundation damage. All builders here know this and yet still install new foundations that will crack within the first 2 or three years. Your engineers may be great but I personally oversaw a project to remediate a 5,000 sqft home with piers that were placed almost every 10 feet by "engineers" before I got there. The home still had to be torn down after it all failed. This land doesn't want your house here and will spit it out within 10 years, with or without your engineers.
@@big6316if you’re smart enough, every challenge is an opportunity
It’s certainly possible to build an ICF home in Texas even with unstable soil, there are plenty of solutions
I believe many contractors just don’t like change. They want to do things the way it’s always been done because it’s what they know, failing to embrace all that modern building science has to offer