Spray Foam Insulation & Sheetrock

Here's Deanna sitting in some of the spray foam insulation pieces. They were so lightweight and cushiony. Deanna loved playing around in them.

I'm behind in updating this blog again. It feels like we're moving at a snail's pace. This is when I need to "walk and not faint". In March we had our spray foam insulation done by Absolute Insulation out of Ada. It was rather expensive, but I believe it's going to be well worth it. We had all the underside of our roof sprayed about 5 inches thick. Absolute insulation uses open cell foam so if there's any leak in our roof in the future we would know about it, because the open cell allows water to come through the foam. Closed cell foam , which is more commonly used, does not allow water to penetrate so if you had a leak in your roof you wouldn't know about it, which could cause alot more damage to your roof. We can already tell a difference in the temperature in our house especially when you walk upstairs there's hardly any change in temperature, (as long as the windows are closed of course).

This is looking up toward the roof into the attic area. See the "clouds" of insulation.

Daria crawling on the walkway above our front entrance. Be careful Daria. Notice white insulation above her.

In April, our sheetrock and tape, bed , and texture was done. I certainly enjoy meeting all our different subcontractors and their individual personalities. Getting to know these people is part of the journey in building this house. Each one brings their own unique skill to our construction site and leaves a part of themselves in our house. I feel very blessed by that.

Ronnie Stidham and his brother took about a week to hang sheetrock, then John Campbell and his crew from Coalgate did the tape , bed , and texture, which took almost 2 weeks because of the wet weather we kept having. They all did an excellent job.

Photo of front entryway and stairs after sheetrock. It's weird not to able to see through walls anymore.

Looking from kitchen area. See the start of tape and bedding.

We thought we could get away with not having to rent a dumpster, but the leftover sheetrock pieces proved to be to much for us to handle. But we had lots of little and big helpers to help us clean up. The kids loved breaking the sheetrock and throwing it into the dumpster.

R.J. and Daria breaking sheetrock.

Rough In Plumbing & Electrical

The first half of March we've had rough in plumbing and electrical completed. They'll do their final connections after sheetrock. We've gone over budget in both of these categories, partly due to our subcontractors unfamiliarity of working with ICF construction. If we were building our second ICF home there are several things we would have done differently to stay on budget. But, hindsight is always better isn't it? Only through trial and error (and looking to God for wisdom and direction) do we learn.




Here's a sample of electrical wiring in styrofoam walls. Castellow Electric used a circular saw to cut their wiring channels.

After each subcontractor did their work, the family went to work cleaning up after them. So far, we've gotten away with not having a dumpster on site. That's another bonus to ICF, less waste.

Here's what's called an add a vent or butterfly vent in the kids' bathroom on the second floor. It vents into attic. We have only one vent through the roof that vents to the outside.

Here's a sample of plumbing (red and blue tubing and white pipes) and electrical wiring going through our floor joists between the first and second floor.

This is the latest photo of the front of our house as of March 19, 2007.

The west side of our house.

The back or south side of our house. The steel framing is for our carport and bonus room. The wood structure is the breezeway connecting the house to the carport.

Benefits of an ICF Home & Safety from Tornadoes

This is an ICF home in Wisconsin that was still under construction when a tornado hit. Notice how the other surrounding houses were flattened. Click on link below for more information.

I took this information quoted directly from the website below. Be sure and click on these websites for any additional info and to see additional pictures of ICF homes withstanding nature's worst.


http://www.icfdirect.net/homeowner.html

http://www.concreteresources.net/categories/76676F8A-E4B4-75B3-725C95B7846FD9AE/disaster_resistance.html#Tornado

ICF Benefits for the Home Owner
Buying a home can be the single largest investment of your life. If that home is constructed with concrete walls, your investment is naturally protected from the structural damage that can be caused by the effects of nature. As the owner of a concrete home, you'll benefit from lower annual maintenance and energy costs while living in a home that provides a secure haven for your family.

The high-mass walls of an ICF home not only give it a remarkably solid feel, but they also make it safer for the family. And make it a remarkably solid and secure investment. Concrete homes have a proven track record of withstanding the ravages of hurricanes, tornadoes and fires, when all the stick-build houses around them are in ruins.

In fire wall tests, ICF’s stood exposure to intense flame without structural failure longer than did common frame walls. The polystyrene foam used in most ICF forms is treated so it will not support combustion. Also, tests show that its tendency to transmit an outside flame source is less than that of most wood products. [Many insurance carriers are now offering a discount on a home owner’s policy for an ICF home.

ICF Concrete building system is energy efficient and cost effective. It is designed to provide benefits for contractors and property owners alike. It can be used above grade as well as below, and is perfect for residential, commercial or industrial construction.

Appearance
Let's squash the assumption that "ICF Homes" are either gray or painted concrete, homes built with ICF's come in all varieties of exterior finishes. The design of ICF's include recessed plastic ties that run the full vertical length of the form and are 2 1/2 inches wide. This allows you to choose whatever type of exterior finish you prefer whether its siding, brick or stucco. Driving up to your new ICF home, you probably will not be able to tell how the home was constructed.
The interior has the same plastic ties and is covered with standard materials such as drywall. This allows you to hang pictures just as you would with a home built with 2x6 framing. After your home is complete, the only real noticeable difference in appearance will be a 12" thick, super insulated warm wall that is apparent around window and door openings. Plant lovers and designers also seem to enjoy the added window sill space.

Comfort
Quieter: The ICF building system provides you with superior soundproofing that greatly reduces the outside noises penetrating the walls such as traffic and lawnmowers. About one-sixth as much sound gets through an ICF wall compared with an ordinary wood frame wall. With double-glazed windows in ICF walls and beefed-up roof insulation, you will rarely hear street noises or airport traffic.
Warmer: People living or working in an ICF building usually notice that it just feels more comfortable. Some of the reasons for this are less air infiltration and no convection currents within wall cavities. Why are these 2 things important? Other than virtually elimating "cold spots" and drafts, they help keep the floor to ceiling temperature difference typically less than 2 degrees. Where a conventional building may vary as much as 5 to 10 degrees from floor to ceiling. And lastly, because of the much larger mass of ICF walls prevent large temperature swings within the building, you will also have a much more even temperature while enjoying lower energy costs.

Environmentally Friendly
In this age of vanishing resources, we must choose our building materials more wisely, balancing the expenditure of natural resources with the benefits of a material over its useful life. Concrete draws upon some of the earth's most common and abundant minerals for its raw materials. The amount of land used to extract the materials needed to make concrete is only a fraction of that used to cut down our forests for lumber. On average home, approximately 13 trees are saved by building with Insulated concrete forms, which may not seem like a lot until you consider how many new homes are built each year.
Portland cement, which makes up about 10 percent of concrete, is manufactured from limestone, clay and sand. Scrap tires and other combustible waste that would otherwise take valuable land in land fills are often used as a fuel source in the cement manufacturing process. Sources of aggregates are diverse and plentiful: sand, gravel, crushed stone, and an ever-increasing array of consumer and industrial waste products - fly ash from coal burning electric power plants and blast furnace slag from steel mills. Crushed concrete from demolition is often used as aggregate for concrete. Concrete's nearly inert matrix of materials makes it an ideal recycling medium, with absolutely no degradation of strength or performance.

Versatility
ICF houses can be completed with almost any interior and exterior finishes and can take any shape as easily as wood frame. In fact, some interesting effects, such as curved walls and frequent corners, can be less expensive to build into an ICF home. The strength of the ICF's may also allow fewer interior walls for a larger open concept space that would be possilbe with a conventional home.

Safety
When disaster threatens in the form of hurricanes, tornadoes or wild fires, your family will be safer in a home constructed with ICF walls. This strong, durable material stands up to the fury of nature...including the more subtle threats of rot, rust and termites. The standard design can withstand winds greater than 160 mph and stands up much better to "flying debris" during adverse weather conditions. In addition, the insulated concrete walls do not support combustion.

A concrete home stands alone in the after affects of a tornado.
To duplicate tornado-like conditions in the laboratory; researchers shot wall sections with 15-pound 2 x 4 lumber "missiles" at up to 100 mph, simulating debris carried in a 250 mph wind. These conditions cover all but the most severe tornadoes.
Researchers tested 4 x 4-foot sections of concrete block, several types of insulating concrete forms, steel studs, and wood studs to rate performance in high winds. The sections were finished as they would be in a completed home: drywall, fiberglass bat insulation, plywood sheathing, and exterior finishes of vinyl siding, clay brick, or stucco. All the concrete wall systems survived the tests with no structural damage. Lightweight steel and wood stud walls, however, offered little or no resistance to the "missile." The 2 x 4 ripped through them.

Savings
The insulation value of an ICF building has measured as high as R-32 by the thermo graphic test. Equivalent R values can exceed 50 due to Thermal Mass Performance. This high R value can reduce your heating & cooling system size by as much as 50%. Constructions costs can be less than that of wood or concrete block. In addition, building your house with ICF's can reduce your costs in other ways:

Lower monthly energy bills
Energy Efficiency Mortgages
Lower insurance costs
Shorten construction time
No additional costs for furring or insulating basements
Greater resale value
Reduced size of heating & cooling units

Updates February Part 2

Photo of our water meter and water tap

Deanna and Daria playing in front our our bay window that now has a roof .

Our arched windows are now installed

In February we had our soffit system installed by Taylor Home Improvements, which is our roofer's dad and cousins. They did an excellent job. With soffit installed, the roof is all closed in now and we can be ready for insulation in the attic. I met with James from Absolute Insulation out of Ada to get a price for open-cell spray foam insulation to be sprayed on the underside of the roof. This is another step to make our house totally energy efficient. It was significantly more expensive than fiberglass, but our cost savings will come in our monthly utility costs. He will come back and spray when we're done with our rough in electrical and plumbing. I paid (700.00) for our water tap with the city of Lone Grove on Feb.15. The water department came about a week later to do the tap. Now, we're ready for our water line to the house. One other event that happened is we finally got a roof over our front bay window. My brother, Jim, did a great job with it!

March 15, 2007 Updates January/February

As of the end of February this is what our house looked like. Going back to January I'll update what's happened.




January was very cold and wet. Getting the roof shingled, rough in stairs, carport steel beams welded, and windows being installed, were the most significant work we had done that month. The windows, brand name Simonton Windows out of McAlester, arrived the first week of January. We have windows with grids on the front of the house and contractor grade windows, without grids, on the rest of the house. It was cheaper that way. Finally getting in the dry took the whole month only working a day or two here and there.
The roof is a composition roof with Atlas 35 year pinnacle shingles installed by Greg Bates Roofing. We had researched getting a metal roof or concrete tile roof, but we found out they were way too expensive for our budget. Most of the windows were installed by Jim, my brother. Also, during the month of January my brother built our front and back stairs. Because of the walkway on the second floor in the entryway being partly above the steps, Jim had to do some creative carpentry to make sure a tall person would have clearance under that walkway as they took the first few steps. Creative thinking comes naturally to Jim. I almost forgot to add that Jim , also, installed our side French doors and our back door, to help keep the cold out! Our front door we're special ordering and we won't have it until we've finished the inside of the house.
I'll insert some pictures here of our January accomplishments, then update on February.




Fred Potter, the welder, and his crew welded our carport structure together. They used steel beams the previous owner of our land had left behind. Needless to say, it's very sturdy!

Simonton windows delivered into our kitchen area.

This is Danae sitting on our newly completed (rough in) stairs.

No more using a ladder to get to the second floor. Yea!

Here's Jim working on our back stairs, which will lead to our

bonus room above the carport.

This is picture of Jim's finger stitched up after he accidentally cut

himself with his Skil saw. He couldn't believe it. He hadn't hurt himself

like that in almost 30 years!

French doors on east side of house Jim installed.

December 22, 2006

Merry Christmas to all who are reading this blog! We miss our out of state family and friends.

We've been so busy since our last posting.

• ICH is totally done with the exterior walls.






• Second floor is now framed.






• Front porch, breezeway, and carport slabs are done.






• Roof trusses are in place, decking is being done today






• Breezeway is partially framed.

We've had some weather delays, but nothing major. So far, the weather is cooperating for us to keep going full steam ahead. Our framing crew has been a blessing from God. They are so honest,fair, and reliable. Those qualities can be hard to find in construction.

Even though, our construction process is going well right now, please pray for us as we continue this journey, which can be a roller coaster ride of emotions. I keep praying the verse:

" And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them." Isaiah 42:16

Please feel free to communicate with us through the comments box at the bottom of this blog.

Dave putting cement into front bay window forms.

The back of our house, all ICH exterior walls done, breezeway, and carport slabs, and partial framing of breezeway.

This pictures shows carport slab being formed for the concrete pour.

Me on top of second floor before walls were finished. It's a little scary up here.

This is bracing used by Insulating Concrete Home to secure second floor walls before the concrete was pumped into the walls.


Dietrich Metal Framing Steel Floor Joists now installed. Mike Hammitt, our installer, said it was like putting together a big erector set!


Kids having a good time on sand pile.

November 9, 2006

I'm still getting use to how to work with these blogging templates. I can't seem to decide which template I like the best. So don't be surprised if you see the layout of this blog to change again.

Not much has happened since my last update. What we've been doing in the past few weeks are things that can't be seen, such as: finalizing windows order, wood trusses order, and waiting for a HVAC bid. We've also been going back and forth about what materials we're are going to use on the exterior walls. We've gotten pricing on Novabrik ( a mortarless brick that's nailed into the wall), which is actually made of cement. We're also looking into siding, not vinyl, but hardiplank or hardishingle siding, which is made of fiber cement. Or, even, perhaps European Limestone, which is another form of cement. The materials we like the best for the outside of the house seem to be made of cement, not that we were looking for that, but it seemed funny that everything we liked had cement in it. Check out the links on the side to websites that have more information about these cement product

As of November 9, this is what our house looks like. First floor exterior walls are done and interior framing is done, next step is to put up our steel floor joists , which go in between the first and second floor, and then a subfloor. After that is done then ICH will be back one more time to put up second floor walls and pour cement into the walls.


Scroll down to see more photos of what's happened on the site since my last posting.






This is the back side of the house. This is when cement is being pumped into the walls. Notice the bracing on the walls. This is for support while they pour.

This is looking from the kitchen to the entry way and living room.

This looking from the entry way toward the kitchen and utility room.

October 19, 2006

This is the latest photo of our progress. First floor walls are almost done and windows and doors are v-bucked

It's been a month since we last updated this blog. We've made alot of progress since then and it's starting to really look like a house is being built.

• Rough in plumbing is done





• Slab has been poured





• First floor walls are almost completed

Completion of our rough in plumbing took a while because we weren't sure how low the sewer pipe could be for the aerobic septic system. Our septic system is being installed by the Chickasaw Nation (free of charge) and we wouldn't be on their schedule for a while. We have no control over how soon they could come out since it's free and it's first come first serve. I finally talked to the right person at Chickasaw Nation who could answer our questions about the depth of the sewer line and with a little help from DEQ. That whole situation delayed us about a week. But, I think God planned that break for a reason so we could stop for a little while and catch our breath.

This past week we've had another lull in the action at the house site, but we've been using this time to start researching and ordering things that we will need in the next month. We've ordered our steel floor joists, which are specially designed for ICF. We're getting a price on wood trusses, roofing materials (we're looking at concrete tile or lamarite (plastic) slate), and HVAC systems.

The crew from ICH in OKC are coming back on Saturday, Oct. 21, to finish the first floor walls. Then they'll come back Monday or Tuesday to pour. Before they pour we're going to put holes in the styrofoam walls where we want our electrical panel, and outside wall outlets to go , as well as make holes for TV/Cable into the house. Oh yeah, also, our outdoor water faucets and dryer vent. We could do all this later in construction, but it's easier to just stick pvc pipe in these holes before the pour so we don't have to drill through concrete later.

Next week we have interior framers coming to frame our first floor. Praise the Lord! We're excited about the progress happening!

Pex Radiant Heating tubes are tied to wire mesh before slab pour





Final slab pour

Dave and Billy look at house plans to do a double check on window dimensions before putting up 1st floor walls

September 18,2006

Here's a picture from Sep.13 when Billy and his crew came back to pour concrete into the walls. The guy without a shirt on is pumping concrete into the wall while Billy uses a piece of equipment, kind of like a blender (called concrete vibrator), to get the air out of the concrete. That pumping hose was heavy. It took two men just to hold it.

Now, the finished product

Time for a little break

Slow Beginnings

We made a deposit on our 2 acre parcel in Lone Grove, OK on May 18, 2006. Then it took all summer to get our construction loan finalized. Mid Country bank out of Minnesota is the best for an owner/builder plus they are used to financing ICF construction. We hadn't originally planned on being an owner/builder but we had difficulty finding a contractor who wasn't busy plus was familiar with ICF. Over the course of the summer we concluded God was leading us (Dave and I) to be our own contractor. Actually, I, Debbie , am the contractor, Dave , the engineer, tells me what needs to be done and I do all the calling, researching, and "go-for"ing. It has been a grueling process so far, but the Lord is giving me what I need each day to make it through. As the Lord gives me a Scripture that applies to our building process I post it on our dining room wall so I can be reminded, as well Dave and our 4 children, that God is faithful to His promises and will help us see this through to the end.

Here's some of the Scriptures on our dining room wall. Click on photo to enlarge.


So, here we are Sep. 10th seeing some of the first steps of our house being built.
When we purchased this land it already had a footing on it and a gravel drive cut. We are using most of the footing that the previous owner had poured.
Workers from Insulating Concrete Homes out of OKC came yesterday and today to set up the first course of Build Block insulated form blocks. We were told this is the most difficult part of the process because all the blocks have to be leveled and squared off. Our footing made this especially difficult because it was so uneven. But, Billy and his crew from ICH persevered and had it all level and square by the end of the second day.