But if you fill the entire area with concrete, those tubs would fill in as well... no?

?? Tubs or tubes ?? The form for the beam sort of looks like a tub before you fill it.

ETA:  Oh, I get it, the utility chases in the InsulDeck forms are plugged with little round foam circles.  Big bags of them come with the Insuldeck.  It looks like they might already be in there, but they are hard to see.

tubes... sorry.

The tubes in the quaddeck -- it would seem that if you filled up the 'beam' area at the same time you poured for the actual deck.... they would be blocked at the beam...

No?

If you wanted to use them to run utilities across the beam, you could just cross over with a PVC sleeve. Of course, because it is an engineered beam, you'd have to tell the engineer in advance what you were up to and where.

Deck layout is quite specific to the job, I would not sweat the beam or pillar layout until you start putting plans together with an engineer. Hybrid, that is a pretty interesting steel schedule in that beam, huh? That would be interesting talking an engineer into letting you run a pvc chase through a beam like that for utilities, probably better to look at coming from the outside towards the beam from each side, much less headache with your designer.

Hybrid, that is a pretty interesting steel schedule in that beam, huh?

Rings every 4". It was a challenge. Don't think we could have done 3-1/2"

That would be interesting talking an engineer into letting you run a pvc chase through a beam like that for utilities,

He let us put two sleeves through it after the design and just before the pour. Dead center, height-wise and toward the ends. If you needed more, it would probably be just a matter of adding a few inches to the beam depth and going through that center portion. Before the calculations, of course.

This is a good opportunity to say again that architects and designers working with ICF should provide for utility chases running across both axes of the home. It can be over, like up in the trusses, through, such as a double studwall, or under, like below joists or a box trench under a slab, but you need to have them, particularly if the design is anything but standard or a larger than average home.

I don't think ICFs, either for walls or cast in place floors, should be done by DIYs. Poor quality ICF jobs, done by the inexperienced has hurt the ICF industry more than anything else.
People that would not attempt wood framed or CMU walls do ICFs attempt ICF walls and when the walls are out of dimension, plumb and square the system is blamed rather than the contractor or DIYer.

Poor quality ICF jobs, done by the inexperienced has hurt the ICF industry

Sure, but contractors for hire have been a part of that as much, or more than, DIY'ers.

Almost all of these problems go away if block manufactures only cell to trained installers whether they are do-it-yourselfers or not. Regards

I did include inexperienced contractors. But we are talking about DIY, besides it is less common for for a DIYer to have experience.

Many distributors will take some responsibility to ensure quality jobs. But I don't think restricting sales is the answer.

PolycreteUSA does not sell to DIYers, but even a trained installer can lose his mind or his focus and screw up a simple job. There’s only so much a manufacturer can do. Best bet for the GC or owner is to do your homework. Check out the installer. Ask the manufacturer if the installer has been trained. Demand references. Call the references. Look at the installer’s completed jobs. There’s no guarantee, but due diligence will increase the chance of success.

But I don't think restricting sales is the answer.

Yeah, I'm not sure it is, either. In my experience, the biggest detractors for ICF were the half dozen contractors whom I contacted, telling them I had an ICF plan that needed building. They all indicated they did ICF, but during the first sit-down meeting, EVERY SINGLE ONE tried to "convert" the project to stick frame. Turns out that at least two of them DID have ICF experience, from the factory, training, etc., but did poorly on the project, so now don't recommend it, etc. Also had an ICF installer, who does well with ICF, do the same thing with InsulDeck because they had bad experiences.

So, I'm with Bruce on this; it's not an issue of simply experience or training, but how you approach the build. Take care to do the due diligence, use your head, maybe employ the (positive) experience of others, and the quality of the results goes way up.

I don't agree that ICF is for "professionals" only. I need professionals for skilled work that takes years to master and I'm sorry to say, concrete work doesn't take lots of brains but lot's of care and hard work. And that's where DIY can be better than pros because DIYers inherently will care about the results that they own.

The "pros" that I hired for work on my house (some window work and concrete slabs) were all pimps who cashed the check and sent day laborers to do the job. Some of them did real shoddy work. They didn't care but they did work hard at times.
I built all concrete forms and poured the concrete (with the pump operator and helpers to vibrate) for all the walls for my house (basement + 2 stories, 12ft tall each) DIY without major problems and the result is pro-level plumb / accurate.

Not all DIYers are bad and not all pros are good. But on average a good pro will do a better job.