Hopefully we can get some insight here. We are considering building a garage next year with a apartment in it. The intentions are to live in it long enough for us to pay land and garage off, then continue on with construction of the main house. What we have in mind with both the main house and garage are ICF. For beginners, what we have in mind is to build the garage with ICF walls and the second floor to be constructed with Lite-Deck. We are located in the north central part of Tennessee and are looking into radiant heat in the garage floor and slab on the second floor. The information we are interested in from everyone here is; 1.) Does this sound like a DIY project (we have experience with full house remodels and complete garage construction). 2.) What are everyones thoughts on Lite-Decking 3.) Overall, we are looking for good resources to plan this all out considering overall cost and durability of structure (we do not plan to move, ever, after this build). Thanks Bob

Lite-Deck and Insul-Deck may require multiple rows of temporary shoring to span a two-car garage.  For DIY, the shoring can be made from dimensional lumber.

Dream2build,

1) No. In my opinion you could pull off the garage easily enough but for safety reasons you should have experience behind you before pouring the deck. You might get an ICF installer to consult with you or ask an installer if you can train on one of his jobs. I do that regularly here in Texas.
2) I like Lite-Deck but like Insul-deck even more -- requires slightly less shoring. Regards.

Posted By Dreamn2build on 20 Feb 2011 08:38 PM 1.) Does this sound like a DIY project (we have experience with full house remodels and complete garage construction).

Are you talking construction only, or design also? If you're thinking of doing the design yourself, we need to discuss the deep pitfalls you can easily fall into.

Dreamn2build,

I agree with Texas with regards to the deck. They are very nice, but they do require a pretty good amount of shoring and they are definately significantly more expensive than a traditional wood floor and more expensive than other concrete flooring systems (on average). If you really want it, you should have it, but be very careful with it and consult with someone with experience before installing them. If you are in north central TN...hopefully north of Nashville, then there should be significant firms with experience in Bowling Green, KY.

Dream2build,
How long do you plan to live in this apartment? It seems you are tying up a lot of construction funds in the garage apt. that could be put toward your permanent home. A suspended slab seems an expensive alternative if your only desire is for radiant floor heat. I would consider other options seriously before investing in what will most likely be your most expensive construction methods.

Renangle,
Do you have specific firms in Bowling Green KY in mind? If so, would you mind sharing them with me via PM? I am always looking for possible future help.

i AM LOOKING AT THE SAME, TWO STORY SPLIT LEVEL. RADIENT IN CONCRETE FIRST FLOOR WOOD SECOND FLOOR. NO NEED TO HEAT TWO, COLD WATER AC, SIPS CEILING, AIR EXCHANGE UNIT. WE ARE AN EXPERANCED ICF COMPANY IN MIDDLE TN. LOOKING TO MAKE A SHOW HOME.

Bob, My wife and are living in an efficiency apartment inside our shop bldg and planning an ICF home this year. Friends of ours did what you're proposing, i.e., built an ICF garage, built it into an apartment, moved in, demolished the old farmstead and are just about to move into the new ICF home. Only problem is the wife isn't sure she wants to make the apartment into a garage again. So we can feel your desire!

Do you really need the 2nd floor apartment after the house is built?
If not, could you not just park your cars outside or build a temp carport for them? And avoid the additional expenses others mention!

1. DIY. As Tex stated you probably could handle the garage with some expertise from your ICF supplier or consultant. But I strongly support getting some hands on experience over the next year. The pros have encountered and overcome the bumps that would be a headscratcher for the first timer. Visit ICF builds, volunteer to help, attend a training class if your ICF dealer has 'em and view installation videos many ICF manufacturers have on their websites.

For example, we helped our friend stack and pour his garage (1200sf) and house (2700sf) this past year. Prior to that we had taken an ICF installation class, helped build a 1000sf house in Greensburg, KS, after a tornado had leveled the town, helped a friend stack 10' walls for a 3300sf house, built an ICF water well pumphouse on our farm. And just 2 days ago, I spent 6 hours helping stack walls for an Extreme Makeover house being built in Wichita, KS. Took about 25 or so experienced ICF installers 7.5 hours to stack 10' and 16' walls around an appx. 2800sf footprint. Also included some misc ICF walls stubbed out around basement.

I finally feel confident we can stack block, install window/door bucks, brace, pour and consolidate our house walls.

2. Lite Deck. The 3300sf house had a Lite Deck first floor (no radiant) over the basement and required engineered red iron beams and columns to support the final load and significant shoring to support the pour.

You're doing the right thing to ask questions and I think you're asking at the right place. Dave

Bob we are located in your area and would be glad to help you with installation or consulting

Thanks for all the responses. My plans are to attend some installation seminars in the near future and would really enjoy solidifying them working with a couple companies on assembling and pouring ICF's prior to tackling our project. The apartment is not a deal breaker, but we have had it in our plans for quite sometime. It would come in real handy with visiting friends and family once the house is completed. We are only really getting into the planning details now. We know what house and garage we want and now are looking to fill in details of what to or not to use. I am hoping to get most my answers here because we (my wife and I) feel that this is a great resource. As far as location of the build, we are considering a land purchase in Joelton, TN this summer and possibly build next summer. Also for the garage design, I plan to consult a engineer to alter the plans because of some dimensional changes. Thanks again Bob

Bob,

Something to consider for your garage ceiling/apartment floor....to provide radiant heat and perhaps a bit more DIY friendly, take a look at floor trusses with a Warmboard subfloor. 

http://www.warmboard.com/

There are other subfloor systems compatible with radiant floor heating.  Dave