Wednesday, August 27, 2008
The Pour
BLOW OUT!!! This is the only one. I forgot to put the bottom brace back into this door opening on the porch and the form pushed out from the bottom. Lost a couple shovel fulls of concrete. We were actually pouring the house walls, but the mixture made its way to the attached porch and found the missing brace. If the Ready Mix driver hadn't seen it, nobody would have because we were all busy pouring inside.
Well, that's it. 13 yards of concrete in about 3 hours. I only took two pictures. I don't know if anybody else took any pictures.
It looks the same as before there was concrete in the forms.
The moisture seeping out is partly the heavy rain from the night before and partly the excess water from the concrete. I also hosed off the top blocks because I will be stacking another layer and didn't want rough concrete between the two layers of blocks. Hope those beam pockets are in the right place.
Mantle bolts
Here's how I embedded some bolts in the ICCF for later use to hold the fireplace mantle and the ledger boards for the stairway landing, etc. First, use a hole saw to drill out a piece of foam. Insert the bolt in the center of the cutout.
Squirt a little foam on the bolt to hold it in place.
Foam the cut out back in place. I later shot some more foam over the exposed end of the bolt to ensure that the concrete falling down into the form wouldn't dislodge the bolt. The foam is later pulled away.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Package strapping instead of all-thread rod
Here's the picture using the strapping to hold the "ledger." The hole at the end will have a piece of all-thread driven through it that will be cast into the concrete and will eventually hold the board in place. 
Details
I decided to arch the doorway to the porch and match it with a window opening in the porch. I cut an arch shape out of plywood for each and used the plywood for a template to scribe into the ICCF. I cut from each side with a sawsall and then finished the cut with a hand saw. By far the least messy method I've used.Both openings were then bucked out with 1/4" masonite flexed at the top. The plywood template was then placed back under the masonite to hold it in place. Cleats were attached to the door jambs to hold the plywood tight, and the whole thing was tacked in place with construction foam. Because of the roof slope, there's not much concrete above these arches.
Ledger board attachment (sort of)
These aren't ledger boards, as the beams will carry the second floor load. These are kind of end nailing boards for the floor sheathing, but the attachment method is similar. Drill a few holes in the board 15" o.c. Place the board on the wall so that the holes align with the solid "nodes" in the ICCF. Run all-thread through and use a plywood "washer" on the back. Drill additional holes and run all-thread into the form's hollow area. That piece will be cast into the concrete and is later used with a bolt and washer to actually attach the ledger.
Here's a tightened bolt (not cast) and a loose bolt (to be cast and tightened later).
I did another one using the plastic strapping shown in other pictures to hold the board in place during the pour. It works great and could be done for 5 cents worth of strapping instead of $2 of all-thread. It was also faster, I didn't need somebody with a wrench on the other side. I didn't even make plywood washers.
Here's a tightened bolt (not cast) and a loose bolt (to be cast and tightened later).
I did another one using the plastic strapping shown in other pictures to hold the board in place during the pour. It works great and could be done for 5 cents worth of strapping instead of $2 of all-thread. It was also faster, I didn't need somebody with a wrench on the other side. I didn't even make plywood washers. Adding pour windows
Filling under the windows reduces the amount of fall for the concrete when filling the forms, but there aren't windows everywhere and I don't want the concrete to fall more than a few feet because the aggregate can separate out. So, holes are cut in the ICCF with a keyhole saw.
The locations (on vertical columns) are marked with a three inch drywall screw, which then serves as the handle to remove and replace the triangle. The triangle is marked with paint so that it can be quickly replaced. At pumping time, the hose is shot in the hole, then the triangle is buttered up with foam glue and stuck back in place. Foam glue can adhere and cure when wet. When you work around the building, the glue has cured by the time you pour the next lift above this hole.
It's best to also use a couple of 16d nails as a mechanical fastener. Just drive them in at an angle to toe nail the piece in place.
The locations (on vertical columns) are marked with a three inch drywall screw, which then serves as the handle to remove and replace the triangle. The triangle is marked with paint so that it can be quickly replaced. At pumping time, the hose is shot in the hole, then the triangle is buttered up with foam glue and stuck back in place. Foam glue can adhere and cure when wet. When you work around the building, the glue has cured by the time you pour the next lift above this hole.
It's best to also use a couple of 16d nails as a mechanical fastener. Just drive them in at an angle to toe nail the piece in place.
You don't have to use a triangle shape, but it's the easist to replace quickly. Avoid circles. Here's a pour hole done in the shape of Pooh Bear's head. I also did Piglet and Eeyore. Tigger's a fraud.Wall bracing and forms
Here's a detail picture of how the window forms work. The middle section is removed, filled with concrete, replaced, and held in place with plastic window shims. The plastic shims can be pulled right out of concrete if not in too deep. Also, the foam glue doesn't stick to them.
Although the blocks are glued together, I still put up several types of bracing. Here, a rafter tie-down that will be used on the roof serves as a bracing attachment for the kick-out. The lateral 2x4s are attached to the window form boards. 
These are my Fast Footer boards again.
This bracing is held in place with plastic strapping that if often used for bundling materials or on boxes prepared for shipping. The plastic band probably has a test strength of several hundred pounds. There are metal clasps that the strapping passes through that allows you to cinch the strapping tight. When you are done with it, you simply cut it loose and throw away the 25 cents worth of strapping. I really got my money's worth of my $30 strapping package and still have hundreds of feet left over for future uses.
These are my Fast Footer boards again.This bracing is held in place with plastic strapping that if often used for bundling materials or on boxes prepared for shipping. The plastic band probably has a test strength of several hundred pounds. There are metal clasps that the strapping passes through that allows you to cinch the strapping tight. When you are done with it, you simply cut it loose and throw away the 25 cents worth of strapping. I really got my money's worth of my $30 strapping package and still have hundreds of feet left over for future uses.
Putting in the beam pockets
Not shown is 6" sill seal foam placed inside the form below the work area. That's what keeps the cutout pieces and sawdust from falling into the form.The pocket is put in place and held with construction adhesive.
The concrete is separated from the beam end by galvanized sheet metal.
The concrete is separated from the beam end by galvanized sheet metal.Then it's finished and a piece of rebar is placed in the hole on the top of the bracket. The red line is the 2nd floor level (minus the sheathing and finish layers).
Close to pour
Here's the basic house all laid out. The partition wall across the center is at 2nd floor height. The brackets on the back wall will get cast into the concrete during the pour and will hold the ledger board from which the joists will hang. The livingroom (closest) will have beam pockets cut into the block and cast in place.Monday, August 11, 2008
Bucking windows and doors
My brother's here to help me. He's ripping 4x8 sheets of 1 1/8 plywood into strips for the bucking.
Here, the bucking is staged. 
I'm using packaging strapping for a lot of temporary and some permanent positioning of bucking. I'm calling it bucking, but it's really form boards that will be removed.
This is the end of day five. You can see some of the bracing also attaches to the window forms and a lot of things have the packaging strapping on them (click on the picture for more detail). The highest block on the left is the height I need for the first pour.
Stacking days 2,3, and 4
The white truck is a rebar delivery. I had almost used up my first 1,500 feet of #5 rebar.
You can see the Genie Lift in the corner. Even though it is a hand crank, it's a real time and back saver.
Time to add bucking to the windows. The blocks are dark because we had another rain.
The blocks are set down on two pieces of pipe, allowing easy removal of fingers. Then, it is rolled and/or adjusted side to side. Foam glue is placed and the pipes removed.
We marked the windows using water based spray paint. Regular paint dissolves the blocks.
You can see that the moisture in the curing slab has warped the masonite and turned it into a tripping hazard.
I decided that it would be easier to deal with the scuffed concrete than a jobsite injury. You can also see the discoloration of the ICCF from a recent rain. It adds several pounds to an already heavy block.
I decided that it would be easier to deal with the scuffed concrete than a jobsite injury. You can also see the discoloration of the ICCF from a recent rain. It adds several pounds to an already heavy block.Stacking starts
Now we can start stacking block. The masonite didn't work and was removed as soon as these blocks were stacked. There were few cuts, so these were stacked in a day.
