First time ICF'er "Storm Shelter" project
Last Post 10 May 2022 01:09 PM by nd96. 57 Replies.
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onesojournerUser is Offline
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14 Dec 2012 11:30 AM
nd96 that is the best man cave I have ever seen.
http://icftfsystemshome.blogspot.com/
nd96User is Offline
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22 Dec 2012 10:52 PM
jdylan - Sorry, I hadn't checked the board in a couple weeks.

I decided to go with ICF's for the roof for a couple reasons. First, It took some hefty joists to support that dirt above the roof. The ICF forms make it pretty easy to do longer spans since you pour the joists in place. I don't think just a plain concrete slab would have worked as well. Second, I was using the storm shelter as practice for my new house. I will be using an ICF floor system for the floors and between living and attic. It just makes a better thermal box/igloo, allows for longer spans, and makes a nice strong structure. Plus, a 5000sqft concrete floor attic for storage will come in handy later on. I'm sure there are other ways to get the same results, but some of it is just personal preference.

Cost to build the storm shelter was about 90k. It is 1152 sqft (48' long x 24' wide). That is unfurnished, but did include engineering, all the materials, some labor, safe doors, hatch and pipe/plumbing rough in etc. The excavation and dirt work was a large part of the cost (about 18k). So depending on how deep/shallow you go, that will change.

Onesojourner - thanks for the compliment. I plan on starting the castle that will sit on top of my man cave the first week in January. I'm looking forward to it.

Here is a picture of the ladder exit / hatch. The other end of the shelter will be accessed from the house by a staircase.

LbearUser is Offline
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23 Dec 2012 12:30 AM
Did you use IndulDeck for the roofing? How deep was the slab?


nd96User is Offline
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23 Dec 2012 12:55 AM
Lbear - I used buildblock for the walls and builddeck for the roof. They gave me the best price at the time I was shopping around. The roof has 12" deep joists plus a 5" cap. The big center roof beam is 21.5" deep including the cap.

The new house will be Nudura walls and Insul-deck floors. I'm not going to do the ICF work myself, but I'll keep a close eye on the guy doing it, now that I have a little bit of experience.

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23 Dec 2012 03:05 AM
Posted By nd96 on 23 Dec 2012 12:55 AM
Lbear - I used buildblock for the walls and builddeck for the roof. They gave me the best price at the time I was shopping around. The roof has 12" deep joists plus a 5" cap. The big center roof beam is 21.5" deep including the cap.

The new house will be Nudura walls and Insul-deck floors. I'm not going to do the ICF work myself, but I'll keep a close eye on the guy doing it, now that I have a little bit of experience.


For the new home: 6" or 8" concrete core for the walls?

Will the home be a 1-story or 2 story? If 2-story, will you use InsulDeck for the 2nd floor?



nd96User is Offline
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23 Dec 2012 04:24 AM
2 story plus a few more feet of wall to increase the height in the attic. And a tower on top. All the floors will be concrete/insuldeck. I debated between 6 and 8" walls for a little while and eventually went with 6". I've always got the storm shelter for the really big tornadoes.

It should look something like this:

samixUser is Offline
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23 Dec 2012 08:31 PM
What about the roof. Is it wood frame or is there a concrete roof under the shingles?
LbearUser is Offline
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24 Dec 2012 02:40 AM
Posted By samix on 23 Dec 2012 08:31 PM
What about the roof. Is it wood frame or is there a concrete roof under the shingles?

I believe he said that there will be a concrete floor at the base of the attic and the actual pitched roof will be wood truss. In the event of a strong tornado the wood roof trusses will go but the home will remain intact structurally because it will have the concrete floor protecting the homes envelope.


nd96User is Offline
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24 Dec 2012 10:23 PM
I had looked into doing a concrete roof. However, there were a few things that eventually made me give up on the idea. First, the roof design is moderately cut up with several different peaks and valleys. The engineer I was working with wasn't comfortable with doing the roof design I wanted in concrete. I could have changed the design to something simpler that the engineer would have been comfortable with, but it would have affected the aesthetics of the house.


The second issue is cost. The concrete roof itself would add about 100k over cost over a conventional roof. The weight of the roof would also have added to the foundation costs. I live in the Dallas area and we have horrible expansive clay soil here. It goes up and down several inches with rain/drought. To mitigate this, I'm using drilled piers for the foundation and post tension in the slab. We did soil tests going down 25 ft, and never hit rock, so there will be almost 100 concrete piers all going down 25 ft to support the weight of the concrete already in the house. Another 50 tons of concrete in the roof would have added probably about another 15-20k to the foundation costs.


I'm going with a wood frame roof with a ridge beam and engineered lumber instead of trusses. I wanted my attic as wide open as possible so that I can utilize the space later. All my utilities will run in the ceilings between floors, so I won't have any duct work or AC equipment in the attic. I'm using my pond for a geothermal loop and the heat-pump will be in a utility room on the 1st floor. There will be several columns/king posts to support the roof in certain areas, but the attic will be almost wide open and be tall enough to walk around comfortably. It will basically be a 5000sqft insulated, concrete floor storage space/workshop.


Like Lbear stated, I will have the concrete floors to help keep the house structurally intact in a storm. I might have to replace the Spanish tile roof if it were hit by a tornado, but I think it would take a lot to structurally damage the concrete box.

BrianBaronUser is Offline
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28 Dec 2012 04:08 PM
Outstanding project! I expect to see it at the ICF Builders Awards in a few years once all the 'pretty' stuff is completed. I love seeing people do creative stuff with ICF even if it isn't the system I rep. Cheers!
jdylanUser is Offline
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07 Jan 2013 05:14 AM
nd96: thanks for the update and info. I'm also happy to hear about the price, as I don't have that much disposable income (3 kids in college!), and what you've built for the price gives me an idea of what I need to spend. Although a little smaller than what I plan to build, I feel a lot better about the whole thing.

I'm debating making mine a hidden shelter like yours, versus a simple cement house on top, making the shelter a hidden basement. Thanks again!
nd96User is Offline
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08 Jan 2013 04:17 PM
I just started a new thread for the house - "New ICF House Project". I'll post house updates there. Thanks to all those who have contributed to this thread and given their input.
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09 Dec 2014 06:20 PM
TO: nd96

The photos for your build aren't showing up? I was interested in building a "storm shelter" as well using ICF, could you repost the photos please or allow me to pick your brain on some questions
sherenatorUser is Offline
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05 May 2022 07:23 PM
For future internet searchers, I grabbed OP's pics from the WayBack Machine archive and re-posted them at this link: https://imgur.com/a/1geMf5x
nd96User is Offline
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06 May 2022 03:35 AM
I'm glad to see someone is still getting some use from this old thread. Here are a few additional pics for anyone who might be interested:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WjeAdYfJif5of2tUA

I built an ICF house and pool on the site over the past decade, but am now in the process of finishing out the inside of the shelter. I'll add some pics of my finish out to the above album if people are interested.

-nd96
sherenatorUser is Offline
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06 May 2022 06:06 AM
Very cool. Appreciate the updated photos and would be happy to see any additional.
newbostonconstUser is Offline
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09 May 2022 10:32 AM
Very nice....Thanks for sharing...

Did you price out doing the roof with precast, prestressed decking? We did a 30x40 over under garage with that stuff and it was $12,000 which I thought was cheap.

"Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience." George Carlins
nd96User is Offline
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10 May 2022 01:09 PM
Thanks! I hadn't looked into prestressed decking with the original build. The ICF and construction work is more of a hobby/something to do in my spare time. I knew 11 years ago that I wanted to build a house with ICF, so the storm shelter was a trial/learning project for me. In another 5 or 10 years, I'd like to build a new shop/barn with a below grade level and a solar rooftop. I'll check out the prestressed decking when I start planning that project.
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