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No one wants a big project

31K views 197 replies 44 participants last post by  Cole82 
#1 ·
Well I am trying to line up a company to sub out a basement to. I can dig it if need be, but would rather just have them dig footings poor build walls poor and strip.
Well here is the kicker that no one in my small area wants to deal with. 14' wall 1' thick and 400running feet. The owner doesn't want anything else but the foam forms.
No one in my area wants to do it. Town of about 400,000 should I try and cordinate from a further larger city? I'm no wall guy never done one before. I am stuck and the time line is short to begin with.

Cole
 
#104 · (Edited)
Well we have had verry little porgress, the weather is getting on my nerves. It just won't stop raining....

On a side not no one has been to the site in about a week. Then early early this morning I get a call from a neighbor saying that some one was in the volvo excavator late last night. They just wanted to give us a heads up on some fishy activity. After thanking them for the phone call I told them I was going to be out there all day today.
After getting there it is muddy and misting just like I thought it was, but it apears some one with a dually truck and a a very long trailer attached tried stealing the volvo ex. Really not sure though but someone was for shure stuck out there in a truck. And some one for shure moved/messed with the volvo. But the truck and the ex never got closer than 200yards. I don't know what was going on, but I may install a gate now. They had to have a key to the volvo or picked the lock as there was no damage to the ignition switch. Some one did do some damage to the icf wall as well. about a 20' section was knocked over against the cribbing. Plus they broke a abunch of glass bottles and light bulbs around the house.
 
#105 ·
I have been wondering whats up with your little house project.

You can thank the rain for saving the ex. Sounds like someone was either stuck and trying to "borrow" the ex for a push or else just plain old stealing it.

Is it too wet to put up the ICF under the house? I am thinking maybe if you can get the walls up and ready then when the weather clears you are ready to pour.

Or just call Kyle from Guthrie and have him slam it out in no time.:whistling

Hang in there, one thing about Iowa, if you don't like the weather, just wait a few minutes and it is bound to change.
 
#106 ·
Some of the days have been to wet to lay block. No one works though when I'm not on site so when I can't make it nothing happens. I'm getting stretched very thin. Lot's of work and no time to do them, the house is also 50+ miles away. We are only a day and a half away of being ready to pour, but will have to wait untill we can get the pump 1/2 mile though the mud pit to the house.
 
#113 ·
1.IHI is right code
2.Will have a built in cooler
3.Tax benifit
4.They have other houses with icf and like it.

Tall ceiling height for large wine storage tanks. The tanks are 10' tall and they have a hatch on top.

A couple pics

 
#121 ·
They are rental's. I had to notch a 1/4" deep by 3' long groove into those 2x4 uprights. They seam to be better designed for steel studs they fit in that alongated hole in the studs perfect. But no one had 18gauge studs on short notice.
 
#122 ·
Got word yesterday TLC 10/22/09 at 9 p.m. TLC 10/29/09 at 6 p.m. are the times the first show airs.

We are trying to pour the wall wednesday this week, but we are supose to get a boat load of rain that day as well so we will see.

Got the new screw running this week. Today was day one and went very very well. Also started to rock the driveway so the pump and trucks can drive down that instead of the mudy field.
 
#123 ·
What a *****ing mess. The 45* cornes held great, the straight sections of wall held great, the T intersections held great, the door bucks held great. Now onto the 90* corners. Every single one of the seperated and blew out. YOu heard me every single one. The rep on hand had no sugestions and was making frantic calls. No one had an awnser, everything was built EXACTLY as the instructions said. Light forms awnser was we don't sell a lot of 12" wall. I am trying to get a person higher up in the company to come look at it. IF it was a defective batch of premade corners or they need to redesign for the 12" walls.
Sorry no pics I forggot the camera. I will get them soon though.
 
#125 ·
Every 90 degree corner blew out? Thank your lucky stars for all those other angles. What did you do different in the other corners. Extra support/bracing? Something has to be up.

Sorry to hear of the train wreck, were you able to reinforce the blown corners and finish the pour or did you have to punt.

Last item in the wall is the factory rep at this point. I would be blowing smoke from all holes and few new ones as well.

I used to have a boss who would have said "a little slow on the uptake don't you think!" After the third corner blowing out. He was a real jerk, but it did force me to make adjustments sooner rather than later when my process wasn't working.

Any camera's rolling when this went down?
 
#126 ·
No no camera's from discovery.
The 90's were the only premade part of the wall. They are a huge peice of foam that fit into the tounge and groove of the straight wall blocks. That is where it failed the tounge ripped off on the big corner pieces came off.
The 45's we had to hand cut and glue together. same with the T intersections. Hand cut and glued.

The blow outs were repaired and we finished. It shouldn't be to bad but can't really tel until I remove the 80 2x4's on the corners.
 
#127 ·
Good on ya for gettin it done!:thumbsup:

Learning curve is always steep, but now you know.:whistling

I would say that the corners were crap and you need to adjust the process until the manufacture figures it out.

Probably be the last ICF you do for two years so basically you have some very valuable information that you will not use again. :thumbup:

Pics will be great, take some with all the extra bracing so we can make fun of you. This is still the best thread on this site all year and probably ever!
 
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