An insulated concrete form (ICF) home may be your dream come true!
Imagine a home built with walls using a construction technology known for its warmth, comfort, strength and weather resistance? With irresistible radiant-heated floors, draft-free walls, larger windows and wider open spaces. ICF homes offer lower energy bills, a healthier living environment and unlimited design possibilities! Our Burnaby Lake Project – Custom New Build at Burnaby Lake is also outfitted ICF insulated concrete forms manufactured by Nudura! This home is is almost complete so be sure to attend our open house to learn more about these features!
The System
The combination of ICF walls and radiant-heated floors creates an unbeatable team. Together these products deliver an advanced building system that can make the construction of your next home, a home with remarkable benefits.
The Walls
Insulating concrete forms (ICF) are hollow “blocks” or “panels” made of insulated polystyrene. They are stacked like building blocks to form the walls of the structure. Reinforcing steel is added and concrete is poured into their hollow cavity forms. Together these well-known construction materials create a wall system that offers superior insulation and solid construction — much similar to today’s children’s lego blocks, the design of homes using ICF is only limited by your imagination.
The Floors
Imagine warm floors on a cold winter morning. In floor radiant heat transfers warmth from the floor directly to your body in addition to heating the air around you. The result is a more comfortable, cost-effective, energy-efficient heating system. Warm water circulates through durable plastic tubing safely embedded in concrete, distributing even warmth throughout your home. In addition to warmth, concrete floors give you the flexibility to design wider, more open spaces than ever before. Together, in floor radiant heat with concrete floors provide even temperatures, a healthier living environment, design flexibility and overall comfort.
Pest Proof
As lumber degenerates from moisture it becomes more susceptible to insects. ICFs has no nutritional content to attract insects. Concrete is an unappealing food source for termites, carpenter ants or rodents that often dine on or reside inside wood-framed walls.
Fire Resistant
Insurance companies recognize the benefits of concrete as being safer than any other form of construction when fire threatens a home. The plastic forms used in ICFs won’t add fuel to a fire because they are treated with flame retardants to prevent them from burning. In fire-wall tests, ICF and concrete walls withstand continuous exposure to intense flames and temperatures of up to 2,000 degrees fahrenheit. This is up to 4 hours without structural failure compared to wood-frame walls that collapsed in an hour or less.
Repair and Maintenance
Because ICF walls use non-biodegradable materials, they are not vulnerable to rot or deterioration as is untreated lumber. The reinforcing steel won’t rust or corrode, which is protected by concrete.
Sustainable and Green
ICF’s unique folding web-like structure is manufactured from recycled polypropylene and steel. Combined with concrete, ICF upholds buildings that stand the test of time. ICF has low impact on our landfills as it is 100% recyclable and is low waste during the construction process. Combined with other energy efficient construction methods, using ICFs can significantly reduce the amount of carbon emissions in construction of a new or renovated home. This is due to the structures high energy efficiency levels, reducing the amount of fossil fuels needed for heating and cooling, therefore reducing your carbon footprint. You can read more about Green Flooring or Sustainable Building Practices that we use at TQ Construction if you have a green mindset regarding your renovation or new build.
Take the time to study the features and benefits of an ICF home and see if it is right for you and your renovation needs. In the end, you may want to join the growing number of homeowners who enthusiastically agree that choosing an ICF home is the best decision they have ever made!