Hello, We recently purchased a house that has ICF. I have only heard about ICF's until now. The problem I have is that the clothes dryer is vented into the garage and I want to route it outside. On a wood built house I would know how to easily go through the wall but on this ICF wall I don't know the proper way. I assume I need to eventually cut a 4" hole.

Any help would be great..

Thanks

You might find it easier to go up to the attic and then out.

It's a split level house and the laundry room is in the basement. That would be a really long run and I would like to not have to tear up any interior walls if I can avoid it.

With the right equipment (concrete hole saw), one can drill a hole in the ICF.

Now that I can do. Should I have any concerns about jeopardizing the structural integrity of the wall? I wouldnt think a 4" hole would do anything.

Missing the rebar in the wall will result in easier coring.  One 4" diameter hole, even through rebar will not jeopardize the structural intergity of the wall.  Ideally, the hole should be a little larger than the pipe going through it.

Posted By kbry7 on 17 Apr 2013 11:46 AM
Now that I can do. Should I have any concerns about jeopardizing the structural integrity of the wall? I wouldnt think a 4" hole would do anything.

The only problem is possibly running into rebar, which can be difficult to cut through. If I were doing such a hole, (which I did have to do while building the house!) I would use a 1/2" hammer drill bit and make a series of holes in a circle. That way you if you run into a rebar you can just keep drilling away from the bar. Makes for a messy hole, but once it's all covered up inside and out, who cares? Install a 4" PVC or ABS pipe into the hole foamed or grouted to the concrete. Run the vent pipe through that using foam to fill in the space between the two pipes.

Thank you all for the help. This will make my weekend a lot better.

There are no HRV's designed for use with a dryer vent?

Is the garage ICF also?

I would make the hole at least 1/4" larger than your intended pipe. If using standard 4" snap-together galvanized metal duct, I would core drill with a 4-1/4" bit. Put a slight downward slope on the pipe so any water accumulation drains away. Seal around the pipe with spray foam or non-shrink grout. I wouldn't use PVC pipe for a dryer vent. I don't think code allows it either. I have seen photos where PVC pipe was used for dryer vent that was pretty clogged up with lint. The cause was attribute to static charge buildup in the plastic pipe causing the lint to cling the pipe. You should be able to rent a 4-1/4" core drill at most tool rental places. The tool rental place may also have a rebar locator that you can use to find the rebar in the wall.

If you have to route the pipe up before going out through the wall, you might want to consider a drybox if you have limited space in your laundry area. This allows the dryer to be pushed back against the wall without mashing the flex hose. This assumes that your dryer isn't backed up to the ICF wall, but rather an interior stud wall. Here is a link: www.dryerbox.com

A metal detector might help you to miss the rebar. A copy of the house plans might also help you to locate it so as to avoid hitting it with the core drill... Tends to mess up the teeth on the hole saw...

An unvented condensing heat pump clothes dryer (as is popular in Europe) would render the dryer venting problem moot, eh?

They're becoming more available in the US over the past year, and it's worth taking a look before coring a hole in your concrete.

Posted By jonr on 17 Apr 2013 12:47 PM
There are no HRV's designed for use with a dryer vent?

Yes, But I want the mositure outside

Posted By NFC on 17 Apr 2013 12:56 PM
Is the garage ICF also?

Yes

Posted By arkie6 on 17 Apr 2013 01:13 PM
I would make the hole at least 1/4" larger than your intended pipe. If using standard 4" snap-together galvanized metal duct, I would core drill with a 4-1/4" bit. Put a slight downward slope on the pipe so any water accumulation drains away. Seal around the pipe with spray foam or non-shrink grout. I wouldn't use PVC pipe for a dryer vent. I don't think code allows it either. I have seen photos where PVC pipe was used for dryer vent that was pretty clogged up with lint. The cause was attribute to static charge buildup in the plastic pipe causing the lint to cling the pipe. You should be able to rent a 4-1/4" core drill at most tool rental places. The tool rental place may also have a rebar locator that you can use to find the rebar in the wall.

If you have to route the pipe up before going out through the wall, you might want to consider a drybox if you have limited space in your laundry area. This allows the dryer to be pushed back against the wall without mashing the flex hose. This assumes that your dryer isn't backed up to the ICF wall, but rather an interior stud wall. Here is a link: www.dryerbox.com

Thank you for the recommendation on slight downward angle great idea for moisture. I think the recommendation for PVC (from dmaceld) was only has a conduit for the metal pipe, which doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.

Posted By Ronmar on 17 Apr 2013 01:15 PM
A metal detector might help you to miss the rebar. A copy of the house plans might also help you to locate it so as to avoid hitting it with the core drill... Tends to mess up the teeth on the hole saw...

I do have access to a metal detector I will try that. I don’t know how I would acquire the original house plans but I will ask around.

Posted By kbry7 on 17 Apr 2013 02:14 PM
I think the recommendation for PVC (from dmaceld) was only has a conduit for the metal pipe, which doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.

Correct.

If you are using a PVC pipe sleeve for a 4" metal duct, you will need a piece of PVC pipe larger than 4". A PVC sleeve is useful if you put it in the ICF foam prior to pouring the wall, but I don't see much need for it if you are core drilling through cured concrete.

If you have a basement window, they make replacement windows that have a dryer vent built into the window

Posted By arkie6 on 17 Apr 2013 07:41 PM
If you are using a PVC pipe sleeve for a 4" metal duct, you will need a piece of PVC pipe larger than 4". A PVC sleeve is useful if you put it in the ICF foam prior to pouring the wall, but I don't see much need for it if you are core drilling through cured concrete.

Makes sense.. Thanks

Posted By smartwall on 18 Apr 2013 09:21 AM
If you have a basement window, they make replacement windows that have a dryer vent built into the window

Unfortunately my garage doesn’t have any windows.. That would have been to easy. ;)

A commercial core driller will be able to cut right through embedded rebar.

Posted By ICFHybrid on 19 Apr 2013 08:47 AM
A commercial core driller will be able to cut right through embedded rebar.

That's exactly what I will be using.. Luckily my local tool rental shop has one.

Thanks