Custom Home Building With IFC Construction Using Concrete Ready-Mix

Concrete is a sustainable building material known for its incredible strength and durability. If you are still in the early planning stages of building a custom home, you may want to consider using an insulated concrete form (ICF) construction instead of traditional wood framing.

ICF Construction Basics

As the name implies, insulated concrete form (ICF) construction is a process whereby permanent, insulated foam forms are built, ready-mix concrete is delivered and poured down the center of the forms, and then forms are left in place to provide future insulation for the structure.

ICF Construction is used in place of building wooden concrete forms that need to be removed once the ready-mix cement has cured. ICF construction is easier and faster for the concrete contractor and produces a house with well-insulated, solid construction.

ICF Construction Benefits 

Houses built with ICF Construction have many benefits over their cousins constructed with traditional wood framing. 

One of the most significant benefits of ICF construction is it provides much greater resistance to wildfire when used in areas with high fire danger. In addition, homes with concrete framing are impervious to damage from termites, wind, and winter storms.

Homes built with ICF are much quieter because the thick concrete insulates the house's interior from outside noise. Combining concrete walls and windows with a high rating for noise reduction will produce a home where you won't hear what's going on outside unless you open a door or window.

ICF Construction Energy Savings

If you decide to build your custom home with ICF construction instead of wood framing, you can expect a house with much better energy efficiency.

Wood-framed homes have exterior walls with wood studs and insulation-filled gaps. Compared to a solid wall of concrete poured between panels of insulating foam, you can easily see why concrete walls are significantly more energy efficient.

Thick concrete walls are much better at stopping heat transfer between the interior and the exterior. This means that when you heat your house in the winter, it will retain the heat longer. Your home will stay cooler when you run your air conditioner in the summer. This means you will have less expensive heating and cooling bills year-round.

Not only does a concrete framed home's ability to control heat transfer mean that you won't have to run your HVAC system so often, but it also makes this type of construction much more sustainable and better for the environment. You will not burn as much fuel for heating and cooling. And no trees were cut down to frame your home!

For more info, contact a company like Bos Concrete.