Hello GreenBuildingTalk.... I'm in the design stage of an ICF house here in Southern Ontario. I am working with an Engineering / Architect firm to finalize the plans now. I had a question for the experts out there... I plan on doing ICF from basement to gables on a 1 1/2 storey (possibly raised) bungalow. Basement is likely to be about 9 feet tall. Main floor 12', and the second floor will depend on pitch of the roof. (12/12) My question is how many pours will be required? The plan is to do a monopour from footings to top of basement wall, and then use the Hambro D500 system for the main and second floor. So what I am looking at is.... 1st Pour - Footings and basement walls. 2nd Pour - Main floor 3rd Pour - Upper walls to gables. 4th Pour - Upper floor. Yes, the basement floor is not listed, but let's just keep that out for now. Does this sound right? I know some people here have said they can pour all the way to the roof in 1 shot, but I don't want to take that risk. I'd like to avoid more trips from the pumper truck. Just wondered if anyone had any other suggestions out there. Brace the main floor from outside in order to pour both the floor and walls together?? Any tips? Thanks for your time.

You have the correct number of pours

Do not try and pour your floor and walls at the same time, it's not worth it

Depending on the size of your gables you maybe able to pour them at the same time as the upper floor

Posted By Chris Johnson on 03 Dec 2014 07:54 AM
You have the correct number of pours

Do not try and pour your floor and walls at the same time, it's not worth it

Depending on the size of your gables you maybe able to pour them at the same time as the upper floor

Excellent. Thank you for the quick response.

I would agree with Chris.

Depending on your experience, mono pours can go well but you might consider doing a standard strip footing and then placing the block, install the Hambro system with supports and pouring the floor and walls at the same time. Every job should be evaluated on its own merits. Some times the wall /floor combination works very well, other times there may be a great deal of utilities and infrastructure that needs to go into the floor so it is better to pour it by itself.

Posted By FBBP on 03 Dec 2014 09:18 PM
I would agree with Chris.

Depending on your experience, mono pours can go well but you might consider doing a standard strip footing and then placing the block, install the Hambro system with supports and pouring the floor and walls at the same time. Every job should be evaluated on its own merits. Some times the wall /floor combination works very well, other times there may be a great deal of utilities and infrastructure that needs to go into the floor so it is better to pour it by itself.

Thank you for your input. I'm new to ICF, but not new to construction. I would like to do a monopour, but I also understand the risks and challenges that it presents. I've been looking into precast hollowcore for the floors as there is a supplier very close to where I plan to build. Again, thanks for your input.

We prefer to start off of a straight footer, get two courses in and check it again with the laser. Shim as needed and go on. Not saying you couldn't monopour the footer and first pour, but it's more work holding it all straight with steel in and braces connected. Chris was right on not worth it pouring floor and walls together. Possibly on last pour if the gables are small. Just too much that could go wrong at same time. Someone could have forgot to mark a cut tie and you get a blowout, not a big deal but takes time to patch up and keep going. Pump costing you $$ sitting idle or moving to another spot. If you have enough crew it's not bad. If you have an issue with the floor at the same time it's double the what ifs etc. Put your efforts in doing each one at a time, you will thank yourself later.

Posted By South Texas ICF on 04 Dec 2014 11:24 PM
We prefer to start off of a straight footer, get two courses in and check it again with the laser. Shim as needed and go on. Not saying you couldn't monopour the footer and first pour, but it's more work holding it all straight with steel in and braces connected. Chris was right on not worth it pouring floor and walls together. Possibly on last pour if the gables are small. Just too much that could go wrong at same time. Someone could have forgot to mark a cut tie and you get a blowout, not a big deal but takes time to patch up and keep going. Pump costing you $$ sitting idle or moving to another spot. If you have enough crew it's not bad. If you have an issue with the floor at the same time it's double the what ifs etc. Put your efforts in doing each one at a time, you will thank yourself later.

Excellent, thank you for the tips. I'm still in the early stages now, but I want to make sure that I have thought of most of the problems that could arise. I like the idea of monpour, however I imagine it could be more stressful too. Anyone here have experience with fast foot, or a system like that? Or Helix? If Helix can replace some of the structural steel in the walls, that would allow for easier consolidation and pouring of the concrete. However, I guess it depends on cost, and whether or not it is available at the local readimix plant.

I used Fast Foot for my ICF basement footings. No regrets.

Here are my footings: http://www.fab-form.com/fastfoot/fa...nSmith.php

I sent Fab-Form some photos of my project to use on their website and they sent me a couple T shirts.

As I've written before, I only do mono pours. First time might be a little nerve wracking but if you cover all the bases it should work out well. I've been doing them over ten years with no problems. I poured an addition with footer and walls directly out of a truck about a month ago with no problems. Helix is the bomb. If you can get an engineer to write your specs with it there is no reason to use anything else except for door and window lintels.

Could you not do the basement slab with a thickend edge then build the walls off if it? That way you dont have to use the fast foot and you can have a nice solid flat surface to build from?

The monopour scares me lol. But I have no icf experience other than reading like crazy about it and taking a logix class.

A mono pour is done the exact same way as a separate footing and wall pour. You pour the footing first then continue around and pour the walls next. The type of bracing that you use is important