I used to use ICF insulated concrete forms. Most of which gets re-used in the house or sold on, so it is usually very cheap.
Icf blocks basemtn free#
I tend to think that if you won't get any direct sunlight into your basement, therefore no solar gain, that your basement should be insulated inside only so you only heat and cool the air.īut if one side is glazed and south facing I would prefer to insulate outside the basement wall and let the sun heat up my concrete walls to release free heat when it gets cooler. The real choice is between heating/cooling just the air or making use of thermal mass. By insulating between your thermal mass and your room you will probably reduce your 'Thermal Mass Parameter' from 500 or so (better than good) to around 70 (worse than poor). Part of your SAP calculation includes the Admittance Value (AD): "the resistance to heat flow at the surface of the material". ICF Insulated concrete form sales people will tell you that the concrete core in ICF insulated concrete form is great thermal mass. Thermal mass is the ability for the heavy construction material to even out temperature changes by storing or releasing heat. Thermal Mass recently got added into SAP calculations. It describes the costs added using ICF for basement construction. One of them, Maclennan, has updated its web site here. Your architect probably sat through a free presentation from an internal drainage company.
Icf blocks basemtn code#
"Protection of below ground structures against water ingress - Code of practice" Polarwall, Quad-Lock, Nudura and Reward are the brands I tried or used from 2004 till 2013. They are a very old idea that has not, and will not, catch on. If any were really any good you would be able to buy them through builders merchants. In that context, no ICF Insulated Concrete Forms come close.
This web site is about casting your basement to be fully waterproof from the structural concrete alone. What I am certain of is, no ICF insulating concrete form can be certain to give you a basement structure waterproof from the concrete alone.īuilding with ICF because it looks simple adds the costs of external render and internal drainage if you are to properly meet BS8102. Then repairing any visible flaw before work continues and the flaw gets out of reach.Ī lot of people have read my various editions of this page telling you not to use ICF and a lot of them challenge me saying this brand or that won't fail.
Icf blocks basemtn manual#
The LABC Warranty manual makes the same point on page 29: "external adhesive membrane systems on permeable construction is precluded".Ī waterproof structure is achieved far more easily, as well as more cheaply and more successfully, pouring waterproof concrete into timber formwork strong enough to remain straight even as all the air is vibrated out. This makes sticky-back membrane unsuitable for ICF unless polystyrene has been stripped off one side and cracks and voids repaired. In most circumstances, the protection should be continuous (typically from DPC level or 150 mm above ground throughout the below ground structure)."Īt 3.7 it suggests sticky-back membranes, which I think don't stick and they damage too easily, should only be used on an impermeable structure. At 6.2.5 the Standard states "The need for continuity in the waterproofing protection should also be determined when selecting a type of protection. ICF also makes other obligations to meet the Standard difficult and expensive. These are quotes from BS8102:2022: "have increased risk of failure and are potentially difficult to repair so remediation can be extensive and costly" "All repair methods and materials should be approved by a structural engineer", adding to the complexities and costs. LABC Warranty Technical Manual Version 11 states, on page 489 "Basements formed from ICF construction will not be acceptable". And they can leak.īS 8102:2022 warns that ICF for basement construction can be risky and expensive to cure leaks. They might look easy, especially in an exhibition, but they are likely to either burst, lean, stretch and twist or they can fall over. It might be almost pure polystyrene or it might be wood chips cemented into blocks with some polystyrene inside.Įither way, they all tell you to only pour a few blocks high in one go and to be very gentle getting the air out of the concrete. ICF Insulated concrete forms are a formwork for concrete that has polystyrene insulation incorporated.
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