Is a high performance ICF home less expensive to build than a wood framed high performance home?
Yes, mar­gin­al­ly high­er on the ini­tial cap­i­tal costs, but, it is a record­ed fact that Fox Blocks high per­for­mance homes out per­form in com­fort and oper­at­ing costs over a wood framed home. These cre­ates month­ly cost sav­ings for the life cycle of the Fox Blocks home.
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A restau­rant built to last.
How much will it cost per square foot to build an Fox Blocks ICF home?

Build­ing with Fox Blocks ICFs pro­vides you with a high per­for­mance wall sys­tem for the foun­da­tion and above grade walls. Build­ing any high per­for­mance home, with either ICFs or con­ven­tion­al wood fram­ing, has many fac­tors that define the end cap­i­tal costs.

What addi­tion­al mate­ri­als and labor are required to make a con­ven­tion­al foun­da­tion equiv­a­lent to an Fox Blocks ICF foun­da­tion which exceeds ener­gy code require­ments in most loca­tions? Con­ven­tion­al wood fram­ing requires con­sid­er­ably more mate­r­i­al, insu­la­tion and atten­tion to air seal­ing to make it qual­i­fy and per­form as a high per­for­mance wall. All of this, for con­ven­tion­al con­struc­tion, adds mate­r­i­al and labor costs to the over­all project. Fox Blocks ICFs pro­vide a sim­ple method to build high per­for­mance walls that pro­vide ongo­ing ben­e­fits from the high insu­la­tion val­ues and mass con­crete walls that are ener­gy-effi­cient and pro­vide cost sav­ings for the life cycle of the build­ing.

Com­par­ing cost per square foot between con­ven­tion­al con­struc­tion and ICFs for a high per­for­mance build­ing, is like com­par­ing apples to oranges. To devel­op con­struc­tion costs, more detailed infor­ma­tion is required, for instance the num­ber and size of open­ings, the shape and size of the home, the region­al costs for mate­r­i­al and labor, etc. If you have a project you’d like us to review and pro­vide a mate­r­i­al esti­mate, Fox Blocks would be hap­py to have one of our rep­re­sen­ta­tives con­tact you. Please com­plete and sub­mit a lead infor­ma­tion sheet on the web­site or call Cus­tomer Ser­vice.

When is a Taper Top form required?
Taper Top forms are specif­i­cal­ly designed to pro­vide a larg­er bear­ing sur­face along the top of the wall. Typ­i­cal­ly, the increased bear­ing sur­face may be used to sup­port mason­ry, floor or roof loads. Taper top forms are used in the tran­si­tion from ICF to wood frame con­struc­tion and the taper top form would be the top form on the wall.
Do you need special code approvals to build with Fox Blocks ICFs?
No, ICFs in gen­er­al are cov­ered in the build­ing code and Fox Blocks ICF has a prod­uct eval­u­a­tion report that con­firms the prod­uct and appli­ca­tions meet the require­ments of the respec­tive build­ing codes in the USA and Cana­da. These reports are avail­able on our web­site.
How do I protect the ICFs below grade?

All ICF walls below grade, that have hab­it­able space on one side (base­ment), must have a water­proof­ing / damp­proof­ing mem­brane installed. For walls that do not have hab­it­able space on one side (crawl space, frost walls, etc.) the EPS can be left exposed to the earth. The EPS will not dete­ri­o­rate when exposed to the earth.

What is a ‘blow-out’?

A blow-out’ is a break in the form, gen­er­al­ly due to the pres­sure from the liq­uid con­crete dur­ing the con­crete place­ment and/​or con­sol­i­da­tion. Fox Blocks ICFs are designed to main­tain a high safe­ty fac­tor of pres­sure from the liq­uid con­crete. Dam­aged forms or fail­ure to sup­port areas where forms have been cut leav­ing a large area of EPS between the web sup­ports may cause a blow-out. Over con­sol­i­da­tion may also cause a blow-out.

Fox Blocks rec­om­mends the Pre-Place­ment Check­list be reviewed for all wall assem­blies pri­or to the place­ment of con­crete, to find poten­tial prob­lem areas and install addi­tion­al strap­ping or sup­port to pre­vent blow-outs. Gen­er­al­ly, for an Fox Blocks form, the size of a blow-out may be lim­it­ed to the EPS between the webs, 6″ or 8″ wide by the height of one form. If a blow-out occurs, the con­crete pour moves to anoth­er area on the wall, the hole is patched by replac­ing the EPS, installing wood sup­port over the area, and then resum­ing the pour.

Is installing ICFs a DIY project?
Fox Blocks rec­om­mends that all installers using Fox Blocks ICFs com­plete a Fox Blocks train­ing pro­gram to ensure they have a bet­ter under­stand­ing of the basics. How­ev­er, for first time installers, it is pre­ferred that a Fox Blocks trained, expe­ri­enced installer inspect the instal­la­tion pri­or to place­ment of con­crete and assist in the place­ment of the con­crete, as they are famil­iar with work­ing with con­crete and can ensure the build is struc­tural­ly sound and safe and the walls are con­sol­i­dat­ed prop­er­ly, built straight and plumb.
How does the ICF block get secured to the foundation?
The ICF blocks are held in place with either low expan­sion spray foam or a met­al starter track. The bracing/​alignment sys­tem, typ­i­cal­ly installed after the 4th course of block, also sup­ports the ICFs in place. Once the con­crete is in the wall there is no con­cern with the forms mov­ing. The con­crete is con­nect­ed to the foot­ing with rein­forc­ing dow­els.
What if my contractor doesn’t know how to build with it?
Fox Blocks offers the most com­pre­hen­sive installer train­ing in the indus­try. We can train your con­trac­tor or help you locate a trained installer in your area.