The Fox Blocks Line-Up at a Glance
With advice from lead­ing con­trac­tors in the Insu­lat­ed Con­crete Form busi­ness, Fox Blocks has cre­at­ed an incred­i­ble group of blocks.
How to Layout Scaffold on Fox Blocks' Insulated Concrete Form Walls
When you’re build­ing with insu­lat­ed con­crete forms, chances are you’re going to need to set up scaf­fold­ing.
The Fox Block Interlock
When the Fox Blocks inter­lock was designed our Engi­neer­ing staff made the choice not to focus on being with­in 1÷2” to 1” from the build­ing dimen­sion but to give the strongest inter­lock pos­si­ble.
New Training for the Fox Block Interlock
We have found it to be a waste of time and ener­gy to attempt to off­set or stag­ger the block as in the pho­to to the left. By cre­at­ing a ver­ti­cal stacked seam you will be more accu­rate with the job dimen­sions and will increase your prof­it by gain­ing effi­cien­cy.
How do I apply an acrylic stucco finish to an ICF?
Acrylic stuc­co is a thin coat fin­ish which can be direct­ly applied to the EPS insu­la­tion on the exte­ri­or face of the ICF. Fox Blocks pro­vides a con­tin­u­ous EPS sur­face con­ducive for the appli­ca­tion of acrylic stuc­co. All acrylic stuc­co man­u­fac­tures are famil­iar with ICFs as a sub­strate and each have their rec­om­men­da­tions for appli­ca­tion over ICFs. Note there is a dif­fer­ence in the instal­la­tion pro­ce­dures between acrylic stuc­co and tra­di­tion­al stuc­co.
Is the Fox Blocks form recyclable?
Yes, every com­po­nent of the Fox Blocks form itself plus the con­crete and rein­force­ment bars are recy­clable.
Can I leave Fox Blocks forms exposed to ultraviolet rays for an extended period (months)?
Yes, but you will notice a light dust­ing on the sur­face and a yel­low­ing dis­col­oration of the forms. This does not indi­cate any detri­men­tal effects to the ICFs. We do sug­gest, that if the exte­ri­or fin­ish is not going to be installed with­in around a 3 month peri­od or more, the forms be pro­tect­ed from UV rays by installing a tem­po­rary build­ing wrap type mate­r­i­al. The pow­dery film must be removed with soap and water before the appli­ca­tion of a syn­thet­ic stuc­co fin­ish or water­proof­ing mem­brane.
Is there a problem when placing concrete, dropping concrete from the top of the wall which may be over 8' (2.4 m)?
No. Spec­i­fi­ca­tions in the Amer­i­ca Con­crete Insti­tute (ACI) do not lim­it the max­i­mum dis­tance con­crete can free fall. Engi­neer­ing stud­ies and reports have shown that free fall from up to 35′ doesn’t reduce con­crete qual­i­ty and there is no evi­dence of seg­re­ga­tion or weak­ened con­crete strength. ICF con­crete design calls for a high slump mix which assists in reduc­ing seg­re­ga­tion.
What fasteners are recommended for ICFs?

Fox Blocks has con­duct­ed numer­ous fas­ten­er tests for pull-out strength and shear capac­i­ty for var­i­ous fas­ten­ers – screws, ring shank nails and sta­ples into the plas­tic webs. The rec­om­men­da­tion for inte­ri­or and exte­ri­or appli­ca­tions of fin­ish mate­ri­als is for the use of screws which pro­vide the best hold­ing capac­i­ty into the plas­tic webs or fas­ten­ing strips in the forms which are iden­ti­fied on each block.

The EPS insu­la­tion does not pro­vide any hold­ing capac­i­ty for fas­ten­ers.

When can I backfill the foundation wall?
The con­crete must cure for a min­i­mum of 7 days and the foun­da­tion wall must be lat­er­al­ly sup­port­ed, mean­ing the floor sys­tem is installed sup­port­ing the top of the wall. All below grade water­proof­ing / damp­proof­ing must be installed.