We are certified Nudura installers, so ICF is not something we subcontract out.
An insulated concrete form wall is a core of reinforced concrete with rigid foam on both faces, poured in place. You get continuous insulation with no thermal bridging through studs, a wall that does not rot or burn, and a noticeable drop in outside noise.
In a New England climate the running cost is where it pays back. The wall holds temperature far longer than stick framing, so the heating and cooling system cycles less. It is also the reason ICF shows up on coastal and high wind builds.
One of our own jobs, photographed as it went up. Same crew on site for all four stages, no subcontractor.
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On a full house an insulated concrete form wall is a good decision. On an ADU it is closer to an obvious one, for three reasons that all come from the building being small.
A small building has much more outside surface per square foot of living space, so heat leaves it faster and the wall carries more of the load. An ADU normally sits near the main house or a lot line, where a concrete core between the two settles the noise question in both directions. And the same proximity is what makes fire separation come up when the town reads its setback rules.
The cost difference over stick framing is also a smaller absolute number on 800 square feet than on a whole house, while the heating bill it reduces belongs to a unit that is occupied all year.
We are certified Nudura installers, so it is worth explaining what is actually different about the forms we build with. Nudura ICFs are made with patented technologies exclusive to Nudura, and each one solves a problem that costs time or quality on a normal foundation.
A triple tooth interlock locks the forms together, so there is no wire and no glue holding the wall while it is built. A continuous full height fastening strip keeps the wall height accurate and prevents the shrinkage you get once concrete is placed in forms that are not fastened the full height.
A patented hinged web lets the whole form line fold and ship flat, which puts about 40 % more product on a truck than other ICF products. On site the crew unfolds them and stacks — fewer deliveries, less waiting, less standing around.
96" × 18", the biggest standard form on the market. One block places 12 sq ft of wall, and the eight foot length leaves around 60 % fewer joints in the wall than other systems. Every joint is somewhere the wall can move or leak air, so fewer of them is the whole point.
A patented foam interlock makes the form reversible four ways, so the same block forms a left corner or a right corner. It speeds the build up and it means we cut far fewer blocks, so there is much less waste left on your site.
DURALOK, DURAFOLD, DURAMAX and the 4-Way Reversible System are technologies of Nudura®. Figures above are from the Nudura product literature.
Nudura is a product line, not a single block. Part of what you pay a certified installer for is picking the right one for what you are building, rather than forcing one product onto every job.
The main line, and what goes on most of our foundations and walls. It combines DURAMAX, DURAFOLD and DURALOK with the 4-Way Reversible System, and it lets us mix products through the build instead of committing to one form on day one.
Nudura's multi-link form system, for a fully exposed concrete surface that runs out to the face of a standard Nudura form. It is built on DURA MULTI-LINK Technology®, a tie that lets us make custom multi sided form combinations — useful on commercial work and on anything where the concrete itself is meant to be seen.
For when the target is a number. The Plus Series lets a designer or engineer build the R-value up, optimising R-value against thermal mass for real energy savings over the life of the building, and meeting newer insulation requirements with a single product rather than layers of added insulation.
Building envelope products that work alongside the ICF line, so the insulation is continuous where the wall meets the roof and the slab. They install quickly and replace several traditional forms of insulation that are far more labour intensive, which keeps the envelope consistent and keeps the labour bill down.
One crew from the foundation to the final piece of trim. See everything we do.
A second, self contained home on the lot you already own. Detached backyard units, garage conversions and basement apartments.
Read moreGround up builds, from the foundation and framing through to the final trim, finished to code and to the schedule we agree on.
Read moreExtra room, second storey, in law suite or garage. We tie the new structure into the existing house so the join does not show.
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