Hello All, Nice meeting you all. I am very new to ICF with only a few days into the concept. I will like to ask a couple of questions (pardon the simplicity of the questions): 1. I am interested in importing the product to West Africa to develop a proof of concept building, which is the best and most cost effective product in the market. We do not experience earthquakes or hurricanes here but we have occasional strong winds during the rain season (5-10 months annually depending on the area). 2. Is and ICF block of 4 inches ideal to build a bungalow? What is the recommended sized block to use? 3. How many ICF blocks will be required to build (for example) a 3 bedroom bungalow of about 2,150 sqft (200 sqm). 2. We roof houses here with long span roofing sheets. Will ICF support the conventional roofing system. 3. Inner walls: I watched a number of videos where ICF was used for the outer walls and wood frames used for inner walls. Will you recommend using ICF for the inner walls? 4. Plastering and finishing: Is regular cement mix plastering used or is there any special finish used with ICF? 5. Can anyone recommend an international GC who can visit us to train and supervise the proof of concept project. Thank you all for educating me more and I am very open to your recommendations and suggestions.

I suggest you get in touch with IntegraSpec ICF. I am a distributor/builder for them in Ontario Canada and they can assist you in West Africa. I believe they have done some work in that part of the country before and I know they have some very experienced installers in Europe that could assist with training.
Visit them at www.integraspec.com

1. Sorry, don't have an answer for this one.
2. 4" or 6" depending on what kind of wind loads you will experience. 4" can be difficult to consolidate the concrete properly with the rebar installed.
3. Typical ICF block size is 16" tall X 48" long. the corner blocks typically get you about 48 linear inches of outside wall length. 2100SF rectangle will have about 196LF of wall or 49 blocks. 4 of these would be corners so 45 straight, 4 corner per course. At 16" tall 6 courses of block for an 8' wall height, 7 courses for a 9'4" wall height. So 24 corners and 270 straight blocks for a 8' wall and 28 corners and 315 straight blocks. This of course is an over estimation as it does not take into account any wall openings for doors and windows.
2? The ICF with a re-enforced concrete core should be able to easilly support any roof you choose to put on it.
3? Inner walls can be done with ICF, but it is usually more cost effective to build them of other materials. But depending on cost and availability where you are at, ICF internal walls may be cost effective where you are located.
4 ICF can accept just about any finish you choose to put on it. Screw on sheets of mesh and plaster away
5. Sorry I cannot help you with that answer.

Good Luck with your project.