Posted By aa_uk on 12 Nov 2010 09:37 AM
I am about to start building my Nudura house in the next couple of weeks. We live on an island north of Scotland and it can get very windy in the winter months. We only need to build the garage in the winter, the rest of the house will wait until the spring.
Does anybody have any tips for building ICFs in windy locations? My current thoughts are:
1. Brace it when I reach the third row of blocks.
2. Foam all the joints.
3. Get the scaffolding set up outside the walls before I start.
4. Tie the rebar to the webs at every web.
5. Pour the top of the gable ends as a separate pour. (The side walls are just under 10 feet from the concrete footings, the gable adds a further 10 feet (roughly).
6. With all the weather forecasting stuff available, I feel that I can get a reasonable feel for up to about 5 days ahead. If I can get the bottom three rows of blocks pretty secure then the upper rows can be put up fairly quickly at the start of a calm period.
I realise that one option is to do multiple pours but I would obviously prefer to avoid the additional joints that this introduces if I can.
Anybody got any tips that they would be willing to share?
Thanks for your help.
Andrew
Hey UK,
Long time no hear from. Basically I agree with the Nudura knowing above:
1) I usually brace after stacking to 3 or 4 blocks and foam my first course to the slab after checking with laser etc. No tracks needed.
2) Never bother to glue joints - it's a waste of time and money. You can't easily pull them apart and neither can the wind ( at least below 40-50 mph).
3) I usually set up scaffolding inside and not outside when possible.
4) Don't bother tying rebar to the webs as it's a waste of time and money. The rebar locks in just right. You will be using 10mm or 15mm? I do NOT, utilize ACI 318 non-contact splice and I choose to tie all horizontals so as to avoid clutter in the wall (to each other not to the webs). Much easier to vibrate/consolidate that way.
5) I would absolutely pour this job in a singel pour -- it will be stronger and will save you a pump truck. We just poured a warehouse here in the DFW area and poured 352 linear feet to 18' 6" in one pour. I once poured Nudura from 0' to 15' in one pour and 15' to 40' in a second pour. If curious i can send pictures.
Regards.