Think Of Building Your Basement Out Of ICF

Are you planning to build yourself a house?

When you are in the planning stage with your architect or builder there are may things to consider, one of them is how you are going to insulate your basement walls.

In the past 5 years there have been many code changes in the building code in Ontario and one of the big ones is the amount of insulation that you have to install in the walls of your basement.

The actual amount of insulation that you have to install varies by the amount of windows you have in the house and the heating system that you are planning to use in the new house. Its an equation that has to do with the overall energy efficiency of your new house and the standard the code demands it to be before you will be granted a permit. 

One of the ways that you can easily meet the minimum amount of insulation needed is to have your basement built out of ICF (Insulated Concrete Forms). ICF is a concrete wall that has foam insulation installed on both sides of it. This creates thermal mass, making it superior to conventional insulated concrete basement walls that are only insulated on the inside.

In fact ICF is such a good insulator that not only does it help your new house meet whatever minimum insulation code that is required but it also will exceed it.

It actually exceeds it in a way that it helps you not have to spend more money on insulation or higher end windows elsewhere in the house.

This means that the added cost of building your basement out of ICF is offset somewhat by the savings you achieve in other parts of the house.

ICF doesn't just help you reach your insulation requirements it also helps create a warm, dry and cozy area that most basements never achieve. ICF helps you create a real living space that is usually reserved for storage and that pool table that seldom gets used.

So remember that while you are in your planning and budgeting stage of your new house build ask about an ICF basement, you won't be disappointed.

Rob Abbott

Village Builders Inc.

2016 - The Year YOU Get Your Dream Custom Home?

New Year, New Homes

Let 2016 be the year that you finally stop living in somebody else's home and start building that dream home that you always wanted!

There is no better time then this year to get yourself a custom home.

Most people want to start the building of their new home in the spring and why not you have been stuck inside because of winter and would like to have you home ready to live in before the next one arrives. To do this you should be starting the process of the design of your home NOW.

If you wait till later on in the winter closer to spring you run the risk that the architect or designer that you want to draw the home is to busy to complete your drawings before spring arrives.

The sooner that you are able to get the drawings completed the sooner that you are able to bring them to a builder for a quote. Like architects and designers builders become busier with not only quoting but actual work the closer that it gets to the actual spring.

The best way to make sure that you get the service you want from your architect/designer and the most attention from perspective builders is to get them your dream home plans early. The longer they have to help you with them the smoother the build process will be, the smoother the process of the actual construction usually means a saving's for you the homeowner.

So if you really want your new custom dream home ready to live in before next winter you should be STARTING RIGHT NOW!

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.

How Far Out Of The Ground Should Your Floor Joist Be In A New Home?

Q:

How close can the floor joist be to the ground level when building a new home?

A:

There is no set rule, some regions and municipalities have rules and regulations but it’s more common sense rule for you and your builder than anything else.

The floor joist of your home are usually set on top of the concrete or block foundation and then have a rim joist that is attached to them that runs around the entire outside of the perimeter sitting on the foundation wall. This rim joist is not engineered or designed to deal with any kind of moisture and because of this efforts need to be made to keep it from coming in contact with moisture from outside.

The easiest way to make sure that your rim joist does not become saturated with moisture is to build the house so that it is fairly far out of the ground. Do not be worried that you are building your home to high out of the ground; the worry should always be “are you building your home too deep into the ground?”

How you ask can you not worry about building your home to high out of the ground? Contractors have a saying that we tend to live by, it is "you can always grade up to the house, you can’t grade down". Having a house that is “high and dry” is something that everyone should want; this will mean that you never have to worry about water problems.

Back to the question that you had about the floor joist/rim joist. You want the house out of the ground so that when the rain comes off the roof it isn’t going to roll or splash back against the foundation and rot the siding or joist behind it. You should be at least 18 inches out of the ground to the bottom side of your rim joist. Every area has a different thinking on this and some building codes differ so it is best if you check with your local building department.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.