33 X 43 ICF home in South Carolina

Started by MushCreek, May 14, 2012, 06:48:16 AM

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MushCreek

I had already had an inspection on the under-slab portion of the house (using air pressure, BTW). There was an access just outside the house, so I put an inflatable plug into the main drain, and pumped it up. They wanted me to fill the bath tub, but we don't have one, so I filled the drain system at the standpipe for the washing machine. If you do this, note that there is a surprising amount of water in a whole-house DWV system, and when you deflate the plug, that water comes out FAST. They recommend an extension hose to inflate the plug; now I know why. PM me if you have use for a 3" inflatable plug now that I'm done with it.

The lesson I learned is that you need to ask specifically what they want to see so far as tests are concerned. I wish I had known that they wanted it tested with water. I had to buy a special pressure gauge for the air test- money wasted. The water test is better, if not messier, because it's easy to spot a leak.
Jay

I'm not poor- I'm financially underpowered.

MushCreek

The slow 'n steady build continues..... This winter has been a bear for weather. The whole project got sidelined a bit, as my wife landed a job in SC, so I had to make living quarters suitable for a female. To top it off, we hosted both Thanksgiving and Christmas, decorating the basement to receive guests.

I strapped the ceiling with 1X4's, and then leveled them, which proved to be a slow and tedious process. There are over 500 intersections between the strapping and the trusses, and nearly every one needed some shimming. In the long run, it was well worth it, as I shimmed as much as 5/8" in places! The ceilings are going to be smooth and painted, so the ceilings need to be good.

It took me a while to get a drywall crew in. We decided that drywall was worth hiring out- I'm too old for that stuff. As I prepped for drywall, I kept finding things that needed to be added or finished. Every time I checked something off the list, two more things cropped up. With a pro drywall crew, once they start, there's no turning back. They hung all of the drywall in one day, and we have round one of taping and mudding done. They'll be back Monday for round two.

Here's a few pictures of the strapping. In the second one, the pink foam at the top is insulation for the top plate. It is also insulated outside, so there is no thermal transfer from outside. In the third picture, I'm installing a plywood ceiling in the kitchen so there is a surface to nail the embossed tin to.







And some pictures with drywall:

Looking in the front door:



The back of the house, looking through from the living room, through the dining room to the kitchen:



The kitchen. The main sink goes on the left under the big window. The range goes in between the two smaller windows. The fridge and a prep sink will be on the right:



The basement stair well:



In some of the pictures, you can see the angled window returns I designed to lessen the tunnel effect of the thick ICF walls. We've decided we really like the effect. Due to space limitations, I wasn't able to do all of them.
Jay

I'm not poor- I'm financially underpowered.


Don_P

Looking good, better get some heat and air moving, they'll be back before those beautiful window flares dry in these conditions. And they do look sharp  [cool]

MountainDon

Yes!! Those windows are fabulous!  Well done!

Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

MushCreek

Luckily, we're having a spell of warm and very dry weather (for the first time all winter!), so things are drying well. I open all of the windows during the day to help drying.
Jay

I'm not poor- I'm financially underpowered.


MushCreek

Wow- Time flies! I'm bumping this up as there is another potential ICF builder. Progress has been steady (OK, slow) but there are a lot of things that aren't much to look at. I completed all of my electrical work, other than hanging a few ceiling fans. Same for the plumbing. I had a major inspection, and got my permanent power turned on. Yay- no more living on a single 20A extension cord! Detailing the attic prior to insulation took quite a while. I sealed everything, and built foam boxes to enclose the ceiling cans. I had R-50 cellulose blown in, so now we are fully sealed and insulated. I put in two mini-split HVAC units, which are up and running, so we now have A/C. They are remarkably quiet and efficient. A single 12K BTU unit keeps the whole house within 1/2 degree F. as long as the internal doors are open. Last month's electric bill was $66 for an all-electric home. Here's some pics-

A careful old man up on the scaffolding-



HVAC unit, outside and in-





Attic details-



A rewired fixture from 1929. LED bulbs-



The deck; 8 X 28. I decided to build it now to facilitate siding the back of the house-



One of my columns out front. The upper part is a foamboard mock-up to determine proportions-



Another antique light fixture; same era-



The house as it is today. I'm painting the siding as I go.



Still got a long way to go. I'm trying to get the outside sided and finished so I can work inside!
Jay

I'm not poor- I'm financially underpowered.

Bevis

Build looks good.  Q: What are the boxes that cover the can lights in the attic made out of??

MushCreek

They're made of 1/2" foil covered foamboard. They are mostly to make a final seal on the cans, and also to prevent heat chimneys from hot cans. I'm using LED's, which barely get warm. I used ICAT's, Insulation Contact Air Tight cans, but they aren't very air tight. Once installed, I could see light shining through them up in the attic. I think they depend upon the ceiling bezel to help seal them. The LED inserts are air tight, and I am going to caulk them to the ceiling to make sure. They last a long time, so I shouldn't have to deal with them once installed.

Recessed lights are a controversial topic among green builders, with some feeling they have no place in a home. I feel mine are well enough detailed to maintain the energy efficiency of our house.
Jay

I'm not poor- I'm financially underpowered.

Bevis

Thanks...I used some of those ICATS when I enclosed my garage, and made it into a new entertainment room.  I noticed that while up in the attic I could see light.  Just switched to LEDs.  I'll be cutting my foam board to make some boxes tomorrow.


Osprey

I put the same mini split in my cabin and have been very happy with it. Going on 4 years now and hasn't missed a beat. My electric bill even in the middle of summer rarely exceeds $50 and is usually in $35 range. The only "high", $80 electric bill, I had was when we had very cold, for NC, multiple evenings of below zero weather. I knew the efficiency was compromised when the temp gets down around 15 degrees but did not realize the loss of efficiency was almost 80% in the -7 temps I was seeing. I have a gas "wood" stove so I should have just left the fan running on the mini split and relied more on the stove. I decided on a mini split mainly because during my travels overseas especially in hot weather spots like the Caribbean that is what everyone uses. I have the 14K btu unit with 2 room units. I like that I can close off my bedroom at night while turning the other unit off or have different temps in each room. 

Redoverfarm

Good to hear of the efficiency of the Mitsubishi system.  I too installed one of those systems in my garage apartment.  Sort of went overboard though installing two 9,000BTU in the apartment and another 2-12,000 in my workshop and garage.  The outside unit is a 42BTU (3.5 ton).  I installed it basicly myself with the exception of vaccuming the refrig lines and had a HVAC professional do that.  I doubt that mine will be as efficient here in the mountains but hopefully the temperature will not drop that far for too often.  I couldn't believe the markup of dealers.  I put double the system in for the same money that they wanted for just 2-9,000 air handlers.  Be interested to hear how they preform later and any problems you might experience with them.

MushCreek

I used a computer program to calculate my HVAC requirements. At our local design temperatures, it came out 12K for heat, and 9K for A/C. That's for the whole house! I wanted to go with a multi-head system, with cassettes mounted inside of a drop ceiling, but the efficiency and low temperature performance was really degraded. My units are rated at 23 SEER for the 12K, and 26 SEER for the 9K. Low temperature heating is possible down to -13 F., which is well below the local records. Single digits are rare, although it happened 3 times this past winter. I'll be curious to see how the heating performance is.

One of the reasons we went with mini-splits is that they don't make central systems SMALL enough! Installation was easy; no ductwork at all.
Jay

I'm not poor- I'm financially underpowered.

MushCreek

Still eating the elephant, one bite at a time! I finally got the outside done, except for some decorative work. Winter came in hard and fast here, so the few details left outside can wait until spring. I've had a few other things going on taking my time (nothing serious) so work has slowed some. I put a tin ceiling up in the kitchen, something we've always wanted. I wanted to get it up before all of the cabinets and appliances were in the way. The ceiling fan is new, but has a vintage look, and goes well with the tin.

I'm working right now on the master shower. I got the mud base done, and put down pebble tile for the floor. It is actually slices of pebble, polished and glued to a mosaic scrim. Walls will be white subway tile, with an accent stripe partway up. I put in a niche, too. All of the extra little niceties do take time, though.

The mini-split heat pumps worked well this summer. The difference in power bill from A/C versus non-A/C months was only about $20. Now the heat is running, and doing a great job. We've been down to 17 F. already, but the inside is comfy cozy all of the time.

Here's a few pics-











Jay

I'm not poor- I'm financially underpowered.



MountainDon

Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

GSPDOG

Jay what did you use on the porch ceiling?  Looks really nice.
Thanks for Reading
Jim Brown

MushCreek

The ceiling is 1X6 white pine beadboard. I put a very light stain (Golden Pecan) on the pieces before putting them up. I didn't want to darken it, but just bring out the grain and knots. The two little black things are brackets for the future porch swing, bolted to the framing, as I don't trust lag bolts just screwed in.
Jay

I'm not poor- I'm financially underpowered.

dablack

Beautiful work.  I'm very impressed.  Love the corbels and other craftsman touches. 

Austin

rick91351

Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.

MushCreek

Another installation- Between holidays, work, and travel, it doesn't seem like I've been getting much done lately. OTOH, I realized that it's down to paint, trim, and flooring, so the end is in sight!

I got the drywall hung in the garage, but it's been too cold to tape and mud. I insulated the garage, so it stays warmer in there for the wife's car. I made a homemade drywall lift out of my engine hoist. It works great for one old guy humping 5/8th's Fire-X around. I'll post more details on it if anyone's interested. The shower is done, as is the master bath except flooring. I got a little carried away on tile work, but the results are nice. I poured two concrete slabs just before the weather got too cold; one in front of the garage, and one in front of the barn. Nice to have a solid surface to work/park on! I finally finished the deck, too. I used hog panels for balusters. Kind of a rustic look, and minimal blocking of the view. Lately, I've been working on the kitchen cabinets. 33 drawers! Whose bright idea was that?!? We won't have upper cabinets, so I needed as much storage as possible. The bottom drawers incorporate the toe kick, so you gain another 3-1/2" of depth. I also made some compound drawers with an inner drawer to double storage of smaller stuff.





















Jay

I'm not poor- I'm financially underpowered.


MountainDon

Clever use of the engine hoist   :)  Nice work too.
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

rick91351

 [cool]  It all starts coming together, at the end...   ;)

The whole house looks nice, and well thought out.

BTW I like your tile work in the shower.   

Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.

JohnC

Hi Jay,
The house looks wonderful! You are in a very pretty part of the country too. I have been looking at the Mitsubishi split system as a retrofit, so I will probably have a lot of questions later. Again, great job on the house! :)
John

new land owner


Redoverfarm

Nice work Jay.  Bet you can't wait for the weather to break so that you can do some landscaping.