Just have a question do you need Tyvek on above groung with ICF walls?
Thinking of doing brick but my understanding you do not need it since water will not rot ICF?
If you need it is there a reason why?
Thanks!

I have never done it personally, seen it done, or heard of anyone doing it. I do not see a need for it as long as the ICF installers do their job correctly and not have voids in concrete and large seems in the block. If everything is done in a quality fashion, you should be fine. hope this opinion helps.

Ryan

I'm wrapping mine to make it easier to properly flash the window openings, and to protect the foam from UV, since my DIY build is taking a LONG time. In general, I don't think it's necessary.

It is unnecessary on ICF Construction.

I'm with jdebree. For the small cost of house wrap, it seem silly not to install it as a drain plane. Yes you can cut the flashings into the foam but you will never get 100% drainage that way. If the water is tracking down the concrete core, it will likely get past the flashings.

How will your brick layer find the ICF webs to attach the brick ties if you cover the foam with house wrap?  Just keep poking holes until he finds one?  Kinda defeats the purpose for the house wrap in the first place.

Posted By arkie6 on 01 Jun 2013 01:15 PM
How will your brick layer find the ICF webs to attach the brick ties if you cover the foam with house wrap?  Just keep poking holes until he finds one?  Kinda defeats the purpose for the house wrap in the first place.

Install the house wrap with the stud marks lined up with the webs.
Alternatively use four foot widths of wrap and mark the first layer before installing and taping the second layer.

Failing the above, and experienced ICF man can quickly mark out the webs starting from the corners. The only place you might have to guess is at center of the wall where you cut the block.

I used Fox Blocks, and you can feel the raised rib where the webs are.

Under current IRC and IBC regs, concrete and masonry walls are exempt from any secondary weather barrier, like building paper or Tyvek.
d

Sorry, should have given code references:

IRC 2009 Section 703.1
IBC 2009 Section 1403.2, Exemption #1

d

just finished a five storey Marriott Hotel in Ottawa and the architect would not accept any home wrap the ICF needed to be waterproofed with a peel and stick membrane or with Blue Shield and also acrylic finishes on ICF commercial buildings are no longer accepted by many architects because of water infiltration problems.

Posted By rochroy on 03 Aug 2013 07:09 PM
just finished a five storey Marriott Hotel in Ottawa and the architect would not accept any home wrap the ICF needed to be waterproofed with a peel and stick membrane or with Blue Shield and also acrylic finishes on ICF commercial buildings are no longer accepted by many architects because of water infiltration problems.

Interesting. So they wrap the entire ICF building with stick and peel?

What about waterproof stucco like StuccoMax, is that still no longer accepted?

In Ontario, the Architects who draw and stamp the drawings are responsible for the design, their E&O will not cover acrylic finishes applied directly to ICF. In order to use them, a drainage layer is required plus another layer of EPS. This came into effect 1/2 a dozen years ago. Prior to that ICF was favourable on high rise buildings as the costs were lower using ICF with direct applied acrylic finishes.

Wrapping an entire building with peel & stick or some other form of waterproofing is normal here, even steel stud buildings with dens glass get it as well.

What exactly goes wrong with an ICF with no wrap or when covered directly with an acrylic finish?

Perhaps ICF blocks should be designed so that all joints slope outward.

Finish products not being installed properly, poor caulking, etc. The drainage layer allows for poor installation of finish products to have failures and protections