I am in the design process of a full basement + 2 story ICF home (ICF only on exterior walls up to the roof level) and I would like some advice/feedback on the structural elements if possible.

In the attached files I have the plan of the basement and main floor and from the structural perspective the following elements are created:

Main floor:
   - Exterior walls: ICF with 6" concrete core (steel reinforced)
   - Width of the building is 42" and depth 40" - I have 2 concrete posts (12" by 12") on which 4 beams will be attached:
       a. 2 parallel beams from the entry of the house (that is north) to the concrete posts - they will be around 21 ft long
       b. another 2 from the concrete posts to the back of the house (that is south) - they will be about 15 ft long. - between the beams and between the walls and beams there will be TJI joists TJI 230 or TJI 360 which will be 11ft 7/8" deep.

Basement:
   - exterior walls: ICF with 6" concrete core (steel reinforced)
   - the basement follows the structural elements of the main floor (in terms of concrete posts and beams) with the exception that there will be an attached garage (half of the area of the garage will be under the main floor structure and the other half will have a deck on top of it (left-bottom corner of the basement plan ).
  - one of the ICF walls of the main floor will sit on top of the garage (cutting it in half) so I was thinking that I would add a reinforced concrete beam to support it: 22 ft long, 12" (or 16") deep and 12" ft wide.

2nd floor (not included in the attached files) will have to support only the roof

Some questions:
  Q1. What type of beams should I use (Glulam, LVL, steel I-Beam) and which depth will they have?
  Q2. Would the reinforced concrete beam on top of the garage be able to support the main floor and the second floor weight? -
  Q3: What structural elements will be needed for roof support? Will a couple of load bearing walls be enough?
  Q4: Anything else that I may have missed?

Note: I will take the plan to a structural engineer for approval, but at this point I want to make sure that my structural design is correct before taking it further so I will avoid if possible a major redesign.

Sorry for the poor quality of the attachments - this forum does not allow for bigger file sizes so I have to reduce to what is allowed.

Posted By M. S. on 27 Nov 2014 02:20 PM
I am in the design process of a full basement + 2 story ICF home (ICF only on exterior walls up to the roof level) and I would like some advice/feedback on the structural elements if possible.


Some questions:
  Q1. What type of beams should I use (Glulam, LVL, steel I-Beam) and which depth will they have?
  Q2. Would the reinforced concrete beam on top of the garage be able to support the main floor and the second floor weight? -
  Q3: What structural elements will be needed for roof support? Will a couple of load bearing walls be enough?
  Q4: Anything else that I may have missed?

Note: I will take the plan to a structural engineer for approval, but at this point I want to make sure that my structural design is correct before taking it further so I will avoid if possible a major redesign.

This is where an architect would come into play. An architect is required to have background knowledge in basic engineering principles so when an architect designs a building he/she knows what will come into play as far as design vs engineering feasibility. The engineer then takes the architects plan and engineers it. Sometimes design changes have to be made by the architect to accommodate the engineers requests.

Not to disparage you but here is where the problem occurs. You are designing a home and you are not an architect. The complexity of a two story home with ICF adds to the equation. Becoming an architect requires a university degree. It is a field of science/study and justly so. During the course of their studies they are required to take an engineering course.

Again, I don't mean to offend you but you basically began to operate on someone and then asked for help and stated that you are not a medical doctor.

My thought process is the following - it may be wrong, but that's how I think at this moment in time:
- I know I want a full basement + 2-story ICF home. There will be many people saying that other options may be better or different, but at this point this is what I want.
- I know to some extent the configuration/layout of the rooms for all floors (i.e. attached garage, deck on top of the half garage, where master bedroom and other bedrooms are placed given the configuration of the building lot, etc.).
- I need to verify that my thought process about the structural elements of the home is not way off that will not allow the home to be built to what I have in mind in terms of layout, before going to an architect or a structural engineer.

Yes, I am not an architect and I never pretended to be, I am just a regular person with some building and design knowledge.

There are several options to approach a building of a home from:
a. going to an architect and say "I need a home built" with no idea about how it should look or what I want
b. going to an architect with a very good idea of the end result, but open to suggestions with good arguments that those suggestions should be incorporated in the design.
c. anything in between.

I choose to do point b.

Most architects I know out source their loads work to a structural engineer. I would think sometime spent with one on a consultant basis will give you information your seek and guidance on areas of question. Also unless you have a AHJ that would approve your plans, not sure if they are a city or county agency you will need a licensed structural engineer to sign off on your plans.

I think you are going to need help for approval of your plans to get a building permit. You might consider talking to a few that are authorized to sign off plans and see what they have to say. Most home owners don't do that and they would be interested in what you are trying to do...

Posted By M. S. on 27 Nov 2014 05:29 PM
My thought process is the following - it may be wrong, but that's how I think at this moment in time:
- I know I want a full basement + 2-story ICF home. There will be many people saying that other options may be better or different, but at this point this is what I want.
- I know to some extent the configuration/layout of the rooms for all floors (i.e. attached garage, deck on top of the half garage, where master bedroom and other bedrooms are placed given the configuration of the building lot, etc.).
- I need to verify that my thought process about the structural elements of the home is not way off that will not allow the home to be built to what I have in mind in terms of layout, before going to an architect or a structural engineer.

Take the above points and go and see an architect and they will get you started in the right direction. Let them do some rough sketches and you can work with them to get your ideas and thoughts onto paper.

The only way you will know if your house design that you have envisioned can be pulled off properly is to meet with an experienced architect. Bypassing this step will result in a design that can be difficult or impossible to pull off or very costly to construct.

If you are looking at LVL, or glulam, there are several free downloads you can use to size the beams. one is here: http://www.woodbywy.com/software/

It will also help size the joists etc.