Pouring Upstairs ICF Walls

First up, we put the braces up to hold the blocks in place. The braces also act as a means of plumbing the walls up - they are adjustable so you can pull or push the walls out.

The braces also have a scaffolding arm so dropping in rebar, and eventually the actual pour are all within easy reach. If you choose to do an ICF home, I hope you consider the ARXX blocks because the bracing system makes the whole process so much easier.

But for the outsides of the Momplex, we borrowed scaffolding from family to brace around windows and corners. Does this look cold outside? The wind is blowing too ... brrrrr ... But I was actually sweating hot trying to push the scaffolding through piles of snow - it's not a four wheel drive operation - or even a two wheel drive operation. We pushed that scaffolding around all 176 feet of the Momplex, through snow drifts and down and up the hill to prepare the entire outside for the concrete pour. It was a long, long day.

The next morning was clear and cold. 10 degrees and a slight wind to the east. I started off with jumping jacks to warm up. Warm up as in stop shivering, not as in getting my muscles loose :) We will be pouring concrete today into the ARXX blocks. Because the blocks are insulated on all sides, the concrete is protected from the cold as it cures up. We've heard stories of concrete being poured on Christmas Eve at 40 below.

Just waiting on concrete! I liked this picture because the roof will look just like this when done! Motivating!

With the number of windows, we began by pouring a first row of concrete, filling in window sills.

Good thing we had the pump truck!

Concrete is placed in the sills. Remember the sills have an opening in the middle for concrete placement. The concrete is then vibrated.

Then it's packed down and the window kit consisting of a piece of foam is placed over the concrete, followed by a piece of 1/2" plywood cut to the window sill size. This finishes the window itself out and keeps concrete poured above the window from leaking out the sills.

But then with the great weight of concrete being placed over the windows, we need a brace to support the window headers. We have all this precut and I just screw in place.

While Uncle Bill and I work on windows, the concrete continues to pour upstairs.

Once the concrete is poured to the top, we go around the top and neatly screed it. We decided not to put the top plates on - treated 2x12s with anchor bolts in them - because we are concerned that the anchor bolts would transfer cold to the concrete, resulting in concrete not curing properly. So we decided to cover the concrete in foam until it cures.

Our ground crew hands up foam in precut widths.