ICF Gone Wrong: Importance Of An Experienced Team

Now when you know more about the benefits of ICF, you may already start to look into the developer.

Here’s when the main adventure begins.

Just as with the materials, picking the right contractor to do the job is very important.

Of course, you may want to save and think “what can really happen if I get someone cheap?”

OR, even worse, “can’t I just do it myself?”

Yes, building with ICF is generally easier because of its’ lego-like construction process. But you don’t want to underestimate the importance of the right team.

Today we’ll take a look at what can happen when the team is not experienced enough. 

In a Reddit post made by a user u/nativerestoration, they’re sharing some pictures of their ongoing ICF project and asking if they are ‘too picky’ or is it really the ICF gone wrong. Let’s take a look ourselves. 

You can see here, how the cuts vary by more than half inch in some instances.  The user writes, “I was repeatedly told that they couldn’t line their cuts up.”

“My biggest complaint is that the first two courses weren’t leveled and set before going anymore vertical (even though the manufacturer states otherwise). This will cause major issues later.”

User says that even though the physical plans were on site, as well as the email copy they’ve sent to the contractor, they had to give all opening sizes and locations.

“At this point I feel like I am paying for hired help rather than a contractor,” they write. “I also caught them using drywall screws for assembly. They are neither structural or rated for use in pressure treated material.”

After the bucks were installed, it was evident that the openings aren’t in the same plane. But this isn’t the worst part yet.

Here you can see that blocks were not being levelled. User says that they feel like it’s a combination of issues — “blocks not being level and poor craftsmanship.”

“I feel the “close enough is good enough” attitude was prevalent throughout the entire job,” they write.

“There’s so much wrong here, I don’t even know where to begin.”

However, the real problems started after the concrete has been poured.

User says that they were told it was “impossible” to cut foam blocks level — and there’s the result. This is a finished wall, and even if you have zero experience with building, you can see how wrong it looks.

“Am I in the right to be beyond pissed off at this point?” user asks.

“I was repeatedly told that they do this all the time,” they write. “They supposedly used a laser level and finish inside the forms.”

The user told the contractor that the finish was not what they were looking for, and the contractor came back to fix their job.

“Better,” user writes, “but still way wrong.”

When the contractor cut off the form, it became even more evident that something wasn’t right. You could clearly see the waves on the top of the walls.

The user says they were repeatedly told that they “didn’t know what [they] were doing”.

“Call me crazy, but I believe the topples should lineup?” they write.

Although the contractor assured the client they used a laser level, you can clearly see the difference.

“I wouldn’t be as pissed if they were at least consistent,” user writes. “We could have used some sort of plywood as filler to make it all in the same plane. However, it varies from 1/4″ to over 1″ out.”

After personally checking grade, the user was even more shocked.

“6′ level on top of wall. Notice how bubble is to the right of plumb. Almost 3/8″ out of level in 6′.”

They say this issue is the same around the entire perimeter of house.

That’s when they decided to take the matter in their own hands.

After grinding for three days and having two grinders burn up, the wall was finally looking better.

However, it didn’t go without surprises.

“We encountered several pieces of rebar without adequate concrete coverage that had to be ground off and epoxied over,” writes the user. “The topple had to be removed and reinstalled. Old anchor bolts had to be removed and reinstalled.”

There was simply too much work to do.

Eventually, the user wrote that it simply costed them more money to fix this.

What are your thoughts?

Goldentrust has years of experience building with ICF and we can guarantee you will be satisfied with the results. We take pride in every project we work on, from start to finish.

Check out our social media to see how our ongoing projects are going!