What part of the country are you in (I guess that the fly ash compensation can change regionally) and what % do you use?

Do you use Helix in all your ICF wall's as replacement to rebar? I imagine that with using Helix that you still use rebar over door and window openings?

you still have to use rebar in your lintels, columns around windows and doors t-walls etc,. Helix is only for what we call crack rebar, horizontal and vertical applications, and it should never be mixed at the job site!! its too dangerous and consistency can be compromised, have them mix it at the plant also make sure you tell your pump truck operator ahead of time that you are using it, some pump companies will not pump it, does too much damage to their rubber fittings on the pipe connectors and it is alot of extra wear on the pipes, but other than that its Great!

It's a myth that Helix damages pumping equipment. It is less abrasive than the aggregate in the mix... But that does not mean some superstitious pump operators don't like it.

We have dosed the truck successfully many times but you do have to trickle it in. If it forms a ball, there is no way it will every breakup. If you want to see an excited pump operator, let a ball slip through to the pump!! As long as it doesn't ball up it will dispense evenly through the mix. The advantage of dosing the truck AT the plant is that the water acts as a lubricant and you get no clumping. Just add water to the truck, dump in the Helix and then the mix.

Helix doesn't harm the pump truck but if the mixer has a recycler on it that employs a diaphragm pump, it might damage that.

i have PERSONALLY used it and here is the problem, you have to stand on the top of the truck WITH IT SPINNING FULL SPEED- so the tiny little metal pins get distributed correctly and while you are trying to hold on to something balancing with the truck vibrating like a roller coaster ride at Six Flags, you are holding a 30 -40lb box trying to get it to come out slowly enough so its not in a big ball! don't let them tell you its easy because they will and its not, its freaking dangerous, with that said if they mix it at the plant its doable! however you still need to verify with the pump truck operators, they have had issues with it actually hanging up and embedding in the rubber couplings that connect the steel pipes. it is a carryover from the larger helix they used in other commercial applications that does do damage to the pipes, so its some myth but its a lot of reality, once they see the ICF helix they are not afraid of it as much(its much smaller than the stuff that they had problems with earlier) , but if you let the pump truck operator show up and set up and THEN tell him you are using HELIX, you might have some concrete trucks lined up waiting for another pump truck, better to be safe than sorry. use helix mix it at the plant, that's my last comment , good luck

i have PERSONALLY used it and here is the problem, you have to stand on the top of the truck WITH IT SPINNING FULL SPEED- so the tiny little metal pins get distributed correctly and while you are trying to hold on to something balancing with the truck vibrating like a roller coaster ride at Six Flags, you are holding a 30 -40lb box trying to get it to come out slowly enough so its not in a big ball! don't let them tell you its easy because they will and its not, its freaking dangerous, with that said if they mix it at the plant its doable! however you still need to verify with the pump truck operators, they have had issues with it actually hanging up and embedding in the rubber couplings that connect the steel pipes. it is a carryover from the larger helix they used in other commercial applications that does do damage to the pipes, so its some myth but its a lot of reality, once they see the ICF helix they are not afraid of it as much(its much smaller than the stuff that they had problems with earlier) , but if you let the pump truck operator show up and set up and THEN tell him you are using HELIX, you might have some concrete trucks lined up waiting for another pump truck, better to be safe than sorry. use helix mix it at the plant, that's my last comment , good luck

Well, that is one thing we will certainly agree on! I would never stand at the top of the mixer trying to dose anything at high speed! It would likely get me a citation from OH&S if I survived.
We dose a normal idle. Then spin at high for about 5 minutes. It doesn't matter if it is slow or fast, if you drop in a clump, it will come out as a ball! We use a doser. Basically a basket made of 1/4" bar at about 4" x 6" on center. It is slightly larger then the original Helix box. Open the box, fold back the ears and slide the basket over. I will probably add a few bars to reduce the openings to around three x three. This prevents big clumps from breaking loose and falling in the mixer. Some times it doses really easy other time it seems as though the Helix has had a really rough trip and is all settled together and then it takes more time to make sure it comes out evenly. About a minute per box if it has not been compacted.

Also since it's usually our own job site, we often have a skid steer or backhoe on site. We load the boxes in the loader and lift them up beside the ladder on the mixer. Makes life a little easier.

Agreed that communication is key. No one like surprises. On the other hand, as Helix is gaining popularity, more pumpers are familiar with it. We have two different boom pump companies and two line pump companies that we use. Both have no problem with Helix but I guess it probably helps to have a long working relationship with them.

If you can't be sure that you have a good dose it is helpful to have a smaller grid to lay over the pump trucks hopper grid to catch anything larger then 2 x 2. As you should be using small agg for ICF, this additional grid should not create any problem.

What I do is use buckets from the homarama and separate the 45 lb boxes into 2 buckets per box. Try loading full cardboard boxes in a rain storm You'll do it a different way. Plus the driver will have less of a tendency to drop the whole thing in one shot. It's fed in with the drum at idle then after your prescribe amount is in the drum it's run at high speed for about 5 minutes. Depending on what your dosage is you may need 10 or more buckets. You fill the buckets on top of a couple of pieces of OSB to catch any spills. Have a dust pan handy, you don't want to try and pick up any spills with your hands. The stuff will go thru leather gloves. I only use Helix on my jobs with rebar for the lintels

SW - interesting that you get yours in 45 # boxes. Ours come in 10 kg (22 lb) boxes which are quite doable but now I understand why some people have trouble dosing full boxes. I went with ICF because I'm to old to carry wood forms and Helix because my back doesn't like bending over ;-) so I'm sure not going to carry 45# boxes up ladders.

The other advantage in splitting a box is that you would fluff the product up a bit so it will dose easier.

I'm in the same situation, that's why I look for ways to make things simpler and less time consuming. I bought a crap load of the product before they started I believe putting it in smaller boxes. The price was too good to pass up. In a lot of case less than rebar. Your right about the fluffing thing but that was a off shoot of the situation with the rain problem. The boxes fall apart if they're in the rain, hence the buckets

Sorry itchy trigger finger

Dont use it.

Wow? If you have a comment you really need more than three words. Don't use what? Why? Did you have a negative experience? What happen? As it stands right now what you said is worthless.

sorry. I meant not to use fiber. Use rebar vertical and horizontal. Solid, durable. Use J-bolts to attach any treated structural lumber... etc.

Well 25 years ago, I was told not to use that cheap foam product to form walls, it will never work. Use good solid plywood forms and you will never have any problems.

Been doing ICF ever since.

I agree with FBBP. Helix is not some new wonder product. It's design was developed in 1998, hardly a new product. I'll let you in on a little secret, all concrete cracks. It doesn't matter what slump or mix , it all cracks. Rebar is there to bridge the cracks, If you have rebar every 16" horizontal and every 12" vertical what about the concrete in between the matrix. Helix is in the whole mix so it bridges the micro fissures through out the mix. Use what you want but as far as Helix that is what I tell my customers to use.

That is a very good point, I don't think that I would have realized it. I really appreciate all of your input which is valuable indeed. Maybe you should consider writing a book on ICF home construction.

As my engineer said, rebar solves the equation in 2 D (sort of) Helix solves the equation in 3 D!

kenbw77, I failed my 12th grade typing final so no book for me