Hi, I can buy blocks from a guy that ordered too much... the only thing bothering me is that there are exposed to the weather since 3 weeks. From what I read, eps is affected by sunlight, will I loose some performance because of this? The deal is 50 logix 4'x16"X8" blocks for 200$... I won't need more blocks than that because I'm only doing icf stemwall...

thanks

Alexis

Yes, IMHO this is a deal! 1 Three weeks exposure to sunlight will not cause any measurable deterioration of the EPS. 2 If you were buying these block retail, I would expect to pay at least $800.

That's nothin' on a whole house job, the ICFs will set around that long, and then a lot longer until exterior cladding happens. Of course if you are a contractor building your own house, expect it to take 10 times as long.

thanks for the reply,

I will have to store them until next summer, I just put a tarp under it and another over it or is there a better way?

 

Alexis

Now that is different, I have had bad luck storing ICFs outside for that long, tarps disintegrate, rip blow off. The bottom gets dirty and mice like to live under them.

I think that you could store the blocks over the winter without serious problems.
Brad's points are well taken. However, if you keep them off the ground and well covered, they should be fine.

I have also experienced warping when kept on 2x4 dunnage. Has anyone else? I think you should store them upright.

Brad's right, if they are on their side and not fully supported, they will likely warp over not too much time. You can store them on a pallet or plywood on top of 2x4 dunnage and you should be fine.

re exposure - my house is sitting exposed for two year with minimal degradation. Course last years sharp hail storm didn't help much. I've store IntergraSpec outside with no cover for two years. I've stored other product for six months and had shrinkage. They did start with the letter "L". It depends on the product. Big thing is the way the webs inter lock.

re exposure - my house is sitting exposed for two year with minimal degradation. Course last years sharp hail storm didn't help much. I've store IntergraSpec outside with no cover for two years. I've stored other product for six months and had shrinkage. They did start with the letter "L". It depends on the product. Big thing is the way the webs inter lock.

Re: Shrinkage.All ICFs shrink. It occurs for two main reasons. First EPS needs to cure. Most manufacturers take the forms out of the mold, stack 'em, wrap 'em and ship 'em with no concern for curing (shrinkage). Hence the inconsistency in finished size. A class operation has calculated its expected shrinkage and made the form slightly larger than the desired finished size. When the EPS cures, it shrinks down to the proper finished size.

Another factor affecting shrinkage is the size of the finished EPS bead. Most manufacturers expand their beads 40 times. The larger you expand the bead, the more it will shrink during curing. Polycrete expands its beads only 30 times and has a steel wire mesh embedded in the EPS panel which further prevents shrinking during the curing process. The finished size of the form rarely ever varies from the manufacturer's spec and will not change over time.

All the ICF brands I have used, when laid out in a long wall, do not match the dimension they should. Height for some reason has been closer. I got some fresh ones recently and you can almost watch them shrink, they shrink at the edges and webs first. They should age it 60 days before shipping it out.

Aging is fine, but the panels need to be oversized in the first place so they will shrink to the proper size. Over-expanding the bead, however is another problem altogether, as it makes the panel/block weaker. The vertical web/stud helps to reduce the vertical shrinkage. Since there's no horizontal support to the panel, the shrinkage in the length is more significant.