Long-term value, energy efficiency, comfort, and safety – four important factors we look for when purchasing a home. Every homeowner is different and weighs the importance of each factor differently. But one thing is consistent amongst all buyers; these factors are a necessity.
With that being said, achieving these benefits must be expensive and difficult, right? Well, we are here to tell you that that is not necessarily true. What if we told you there was a simple way to build a home that could provide the owner with all of the above?
Building From The Ground-Up
If you have no previous knowledge of how a home is built, let us educate you. Construction starts by excavating the area in which your foundation will be poured. Afterwards, forms are used to create your foundation wall, as well as the layout of the basement if one will be present.
Concrete is then poured into these forms, filling in the spacing in between to take its shape. After it has set, the forms are stripped to expose the now-hardened concrete foundation. From there, builders construct the framing for your home and continue to build from the ground-up.
What Are Forms?
Think of concrete forms almost like a mold. These forms are typically made out high-density overlay (HDO) plywood. Take a gold brick for instance; when you pour gold in a flowable state into a brick mold, it will solidify into that shape.
The same thing occurs with concrete; when the concrete is poured into the forms, it will flow throughout them, filling in space almost like water fills a container. When it sets, like the gold, the forms can be removed and it will maintain that shape.
Insulating Concrete Forms
Unlike typical concrete forms, insulating concrete forms are made from a rigid thermal insulation that stays in place permanently, opposed to being removed after the concrete has set.
The units lock together somewhat like lego would to create a form for the structural walls and/or floors of a building. ICF’s come outfitted with reinforcing steel bars (rebar) to give the poured concrete increased flexural strength.
Benefits of Insulating Concrete Forms
ICF’s provide numerous benefits to the homeowner, such as thermal insulation, energy efficiency, greater comfort, safety, long-term value, and more, as listed below:
Maximize Your Households Energy Efficiency
Studies conducted by the Portland Cement Association concluded that homes built using ICF exterior walls offer up to 71% savings in regards to heating and cooling costs when compared to wood-frame houses.
When living in an environment like ours (Edmonton), the weather can go from one extreme to another within a 24-hour cycle. The high thermal mass of concrete protects the interior of a home from the outside environment much better than wood-frames do continuously.
Finally Get Some Peace & Quiet
If you were to take a guess, which would you think would allow more sound to pass through: a wooden frame or a thick slab of concrete?
If you guessed concrete, you’d be quite right. New owners of a home built with ICF’s are always raving to us on how unbelievably quiet there new home is. This makes ICF’s the perfect choice for properties located on busy streets, or in high airplane traffic areas.
Not Even The Big Bad Wolf Could Blow These Houses Down
ICF’s have a long-standing track record of withstanding the intense winds of hurricanes, tornadoes, and fires. Although weather this extreme isn’t common here in Edmonton, we do receive some pretty serious storms once-in-a-while.
Long-Term Value
Effect Home Builders put pride in our work, ensuring that our homes are built to last. Our ICF built homes are proven to retain its value longer than homes in the market built out of wooden-frames.
This is also thanks to the fact that reinforced concrete offers substantially better durability and requires less maintenance and repair over its lifetime.
Custom Homes With Effect Home Builders
All homes built by Effect Home Builders are built and designed to withstand and power through Edmonton’s climate. Sit down with our experts for a consultation to see how all your needs and desires can be met through a custom-built home by Effect Home Builders.
Still hesitant? Check out some of the beautiful, custom homes we have built for valued customers, like yourself, in the past. Click here, we promise you will not be disappointed.