Repairing the Future

[jeep jake]

I think we have all heard of ICF's (Insulated concrete forms), I always thought it was cutting edge to a degree. I know a architect who thinks this is the future of residential home building. My old man (who I work for) pulled me off site to look at a job which is kinda unusual. Generally a laborer will go cause it's normally just opening up walls or checking footings etc... But not this time.

This was built in 1923, the ICF's looked like they were made of some sort of strand lumber. The issue was that the stucco was in very poor condition at best. The structural engineer thought that the stucco was acting as a diaphragm (which has failed ) the solution was to shore up the structure remove the stucco in sections, remove the insulation, add 18 ga steel studs in between the concrete pillars, insulate, add 3/4" CDX or OSB. The fasteners were specified along with screw pattern for the ply wood. heres how it came out

 

[jeep jake]

pics of the first section

 

[jeep jake]

it's not letting me post all the pics

 

[jeep jake]

he center section was left untouched due to the fact that there was pipes that were not in budget to move. The structural engineer ok'ed it.

 

[jeep jake]

we did this in four sections heres how it turned out. Now all thats left is the stucco guys coming in and re stuccoing

 

[Guilliaume woodworks]

That's pretty wild looking stuff...I think if I opened up a wall and found that stuff I would call ghost busters! Not familiar with icf's & not sure if I wanna be. Thanks for posting pics, I like to see different techniques of building. Looks like you did a clean job.
                                 

 

[jeep jake]

Thanks man.

 

[Vindingo]

That house looks like it's straw-bale construction, and I bet that is rammed earth in there and not concrete.

Are you in the mid-west?  They aren't super common, but we learned about them in school...

They are making a resurgence with the whole "green" movement. 

 

[jeep jake]

No it was definitely concrete and steel reinforced too. It looked like steel cable but what was exposed was pretty rusty. The blocks were to small to be hail bail 6" deep 4" wide 12" long

 

[jeep jake]

No it's not common especially in this are. It's a distressed home that is under contract for just shy of a mil. Yes I work all around Chicago mainly north shore.
Check out the job I am starting today

 

[jeep jake]

Look at this a old bucket footing

 

[Rob-GB]

The insulation part of the ICF looks very much like "strammit board" (not sure of the spelling).
I have only seen it used during the repair of a failed roof system.
It was a compressed straw board and worked really well until the wet got in, then it acted like a sponge.......a very heavy sponge. [eek]
Did not smell too nice either as I recall.  [unsure]

Seeing different construction methods is always interesting as are the solutions to the problems they throw up.

Thanks for sharing

Rob

 

[jeep jake]

rob thats kinda what I thought to it looked like some sort of strand lumber.

 

[tiralie]

It's a distressed home that is under contract for just shy of a mil.

Looks like you did good job, nice and clean. That house looks fairly derelict, is it in a bad part of town or just a victim of the mortgage crisis etc.? Any more pics you can share? I am always interested in these kinds of projects.

Check out the job I am starting today

Ya, that post with the little block on top looks real good...NOT! [big grin]

Another complete reno?
Tim

 

[oldie]

+1    Rob-GB

http://www.stramit.co.uk/content/view/13/30/

'Concrete' council estates (a mix of 'concrete' tower-blocks, masionettes, etc) built 40/50 years ago, used this stuff to line garage roofs underneath masionette type homes.  Provide thermal insulation to concrete floor in dwelling above, and, offer fire protection from the garages.

Richard.

 

[jeep jake]

Those little blocks are treated 4x4s

 

[leakyroof]

Those little blocks are treated 4x4s

. Why, what's wrong with that. [wink]..  Rust proof, cheap. Paintable OR Stainable... [embarassed]
Did the OTHER end of the support pole rust away or what.. [crying]

 

[jeep jake]

Just fixing another contractors mistake I will post pics when I'm done

 

[jeep jake]

Just to give you a idea of the proper size of the footing compared to the bucket footing the previous contractor installed

 

[leakyroof]

Just to give you a idea of the proper size of the footing compared to the bucket footing the previous contractor installed

. How thick was the floor?  And how far/deep does the new footing have to be?
Lots of questions, I know, but you get into some interesting work.
Does a structural Engineer set the specs for the footing size?
Our support I- beam in our old house only runs 3/4 of the length of the basement( although luckily, all the posts meet it in a bolted metal on metal connection, no wood "shims" needed)
I work in the North Shore every day, so now I'm looking at all these older houses a bit differently now after seeing your posts... [embarassed].  [eek]