Good briefing. Just so happens I am in the planning stages of building an ICF house. South facing windows, hydronic in floor heating with geothermal heat pump. A few solar panels and this thing will just about heat/cool itself...

IMO this is a huge vote of confidence in favor of ICFs. I find it interesting/suspect that so many builders have put up vids cautioning people about ICFs, but they are all saying the same talking points. Thanks Noah, again.

Interesting perspective… Irish stone cottages do have really thick walls, but they also have really small windows. ICF homes can take advantage of modern glazing and be very light-filled and very warm. Again Irish homes are only warm because of the big fire in the middle!!

With housing and mortgage costs insane we are going to buy property and build our own home using ICF. I'm doing all the work myself. I like the disaster resistant aspect of ICF's. We have severe blizzards, -40f with 60 mph winds, we also have tornadoes, and wild fire risk. I'm going for an R-30+ ICF sealed attic with air exchanger and humidity control. I'll use brick, cement, or metal exterior finishes for durability and fire resistance.

Hi Noah, we're in the process of building a ICF house. We used the Perfect Block system for a couple reasons. When researching icfs I found that termites use the foam as a path to the wood above so pest certification is a problem. We are in Northern Nevada so this wasn't a big problem for us but may be for other locations. It is also fire rated at 4 hrs so it is different than the white Styrofoam icfs. These blocks are basically ground up Styrofoam mixed with cement and a binder and molded into a 1ft x 4ft 10in block then glued together with expanding foam. Not to hard to build with. The problem we had was finding a line pump. They don't recommend a boom pump because of the highth the concrete falls from. We finally found a pump but had to run it ourselves. From experience I knew it wasn't a good plan but didn't have much choice do to our location. We got it done but won't be doing that again. Just the wife and I 25 yards didn't make for a fun day! I would make sure there is a pump company near you before deciding on icfs. We really like the house! Very quiet and well insulated. We loosely followed the Perfect House design ideas and would recommend it. I feel in the long term it will serve us well and be a low energy use house for our retirement home.

@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley

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Thank you for the information and great reply n164!

It’s great to see you Noah, I hope you and your family have a Happy Easter!

Well don't be kicking off anytime soon. You are a weath of knowledge . And your designs are so well thought out. Cheers

Good exhortation Sir!!! My next home will be ICF with log siding on the outside to make it look like a log home but have ICF under the logs. What are your thoughts about that?

I also love the adobe Santa Fe style homes. That would be a second option....

Pueblo style ought to look good too.

Hey Noah, you're looking well! Curious what was your favorite ICF that you've used so far? I'm trying to decide what to use for the foundation walls for our timber frame house. Faswall blocks are one option we're considering, but we're going to put in a small cellar to house our clivus composting unit so I'm trying to figure out the best way to put that in. Might want to use part of that as a root cellar though, so it might be better to just use concrete block filled with rebar and concrete without any insulation to let it be as cool as the ground temp down there and just really insulate the ceiling joists well. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. By the way, in December we finally got the go ahead from the county to build our home! After years of dreaming and planning this is really actually happening now! 🥳🥳🥳 All the valuable information in the Hand Made House Academy will now be going to good use. 🤩

@mikeconley9590

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I hope your build goes well.😉

@carolewarner101

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@@mikeconley9590 Thanks Mike. However it goes I'm just going to enjoy it. Whatever breakdowns there are, I'm just going to wrap those into the process of living this adventure rather than letting it get me down. I've dreamed about doing this for over 30 years and am so lucky I get to live that dream!

@mikeconley9590

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@@carolewarner101 we just finished our cabin in the mountains last year. Working on my brothers now , and almost done with it. We did all the work ourselves so it was affordable and paying with cash as we went left us debt free. Good luck.😉

@carolewarner101

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@@mikeconley9590 Wow Mike, way to go! That's a LOT of work. How many people worked with you on your house to help you build it, just your brother and you?

@mikeconley9590

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@@carolewarner101 about ten of us . It's taken over three years of work though , we're getting old.

Having seen 18th century stone cottages in Scotland.. building one in the right location would be wonderful to live in...

Do you have an opinion on traditional brick (not just brick siding)? When I see some old brick homes like Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest or the buildings in Colonial Williamsburg, it strikes me that brick can be just as beautiful as stone.

@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley

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Traditional Brick work is beautiful and I have crafted several homes with brick veneer foundations and chimneys.

Do one on straw bale homes.🤓

I haven't actually seen you build anything. Ever.