ICF Builders in West Fort Worth area (Benbrook, Weatherford: insurance, house)

[mdok88]

Any recommendations out there for a good builder that does ICF construction in the Aledo, Weatherford, Azle, Benbrook area?

I'm looking for someone that can go through the design process on roughly 4000 ft home and 2000 gft garage and then get it built.

If there are any designers/architects that are well experienced in this type of construction perhaps I could take that route initially and then look for a builder later once I've settled on my design. Still, would be nice to find a builder that has the skills to keep the whole process all in house and may have some suitable floor plans I can tweak to my liking. I guess that's probably a long shot though on such a rare construction method/type.

[nsumner]

These guys will work with you. https://titanicf.com/

Naima

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by mdok88

Any recommendations out there for a good builder that does ICF construction in the Aledo, Weatherford, Azle, Benbrook area?

I'm looking for someone that can go through the design process on roughly 4000 ft home and 2000 gft garage and then get it built.

If there are any designers/architects that are well experienced in this type of construction perhaps I could take that route initially and then look for a builder later once I've settled on my design. Still, would be nice to find a builder that has the skills to keep the whole process all in house and may have some suitable floor plans I can tweak to my liking. I guess that's probably a long shot though on such a rare construction method/type.

Playing devil's advocate as I would with myself....FWIW we have a place in CO. that is ICF with a SIP panel roof and we straight up love it.

1. Concrete is crazy expensive right now.

2. ICFs per the thermal mass, thermal lag bits work better in areas with large differences between high and low temps per day and seem to perform best in cold climates. When it's really hot around here our days are hot and our nights are hot.

3. Recall a CF of cured concrete weighs around 135-140 pounds. ICFs vary in weight greatly per running foot due to several factors but primarily wall width. As such ICF is heavier to much, much heavier than stick frame, SIP, timber frame + SIP, timber frame + stick wall panels etc. Around here that means the foundation must be expertly designed and expertly built and you'll go broke trying to build a great foundation on poor soil. So dirt is a factor.

On the great side our place in CO is dead calm quiet, built to withstand mountain gales, supports tons of snow, it is very easy to heat and cool and insurance is cheap as the thing is fire resistant and virtually immune to rot.


Good luck.

[mdok88]

Originally Posted by nsumner

These guys will work with you. https://titanicf.com/

Naima

Excellent! Thank you!

[mdok88]

Originally Posted by EDS_

Playing devil's advocate as I would with myself....FWIW we have a place in CO. that is ICF with a SIP panel roof and we straight up love it.

1. Concrete is crazy expensive right now.

2. ICFs per the thermal mass, thermal lag bits work better in areas with large differences between high and low temps per day and seem to perform best in cold climates. When it's really hot around here our days are hot and our nights are hot.

3. Recall a CF of cured concrete weighs around 135-140 pounds. ICFs vary in weight greatly per running foot due to several factors but primarily wall width. As such ICF is heavier to much, much heavier than stick frame, SIP, timber frame + SIP, timber frame + stick wall panels etc. Around here that means the foundation must be expertly designed and expertly built and you'll go broke trying to build a great foundation on poor soil. So dirt is a factor.

On the great side our place in CO is dead calm quiet, built to withstand mountain gales, supports tons of snow, it is very easy to heat and cool and insurance is cheap as the thing is fire resistant and virtually immune to rot.


Good luck.

Thank you for the tips.

I will make sure I cover these things during the design/engineering process.

Would you say that with increased concrete cost, that it is much much greater than timber frame right now? For example should I expect that an ICF build is 7% more than a timber frame build is fair, or that 15% more is fair, or that 30% more is fair?

I fully accept it will be more than timber, just want to get an idea of what is both more and fair/reasonable. I'm happy to pay more for something that (in my opinion) is a better and more complex method, but don't want to be taken to the cleaners at the same time.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by mdok88

Thank you for the tips.

I will make sure I cover these things during the design/engineering process.

Would you say that with increased concrete cost, that it is much much greater than timber frame right now? For example should I expect that an ICF build is 7% more than a timber frame build is fair, or that 15% more is fair, or that 30% more is fair?

I fully accept it will be more than timber, just want to get an idea of what is both more and fair/reasonable. I'm happy to pay more for something that (in my opinion) is a better and more complex method, but don't want to be taken to the cleaners at the same time.

Straight up, I don't know.

Around here the problem with real timber framing is two fold. A. how/where do you buy properly cut, dried timbers? B. where can you find a crew or at least a framing foreman who knows how to frame with timbers? While exploring TF about year ago I found a sawmill north of DFW that would either custom cut and dry timbers but they were booked months out.

ICF will suffer some of the same except ICF is much simpler in terms of skill. Assuming a proper foundation, which as you know in proper soils the foundation may be made from ICFs as well.........ICF is all about proper layout, measuring and some very simple cutting. TF is all about working with wood that is never perfectly cut, flat, plumb, square etc.


Just guessing if your heart is set on very thick ICF walls I'd bet that's the most expensive path around here.......worlds of heavy and expensive concrete, lots of wall thickness SF loss etc. Timbers are expensive but you'd need by weight vastly less.


I'd bet the best local premium choice factoring in a balance of insulation factor, cost, installation skill availability, extreme strength, quiet etc. is probably SIP wall.

FWIIW a neighbor in CO. built what amounts to a pool house for a spa. It's SIP walls and roof with joints covered by thin timbers such that it looks like legit exposed timber framing from the inside. Apparently the guy saved somewhere around 20% of total project costs avoiding timbers.


IMO you should quiz the builder about 2x6 stick frame walls with proper firebreaks, foam insulation and insulated sheathing at least on the outside. Built decently that'd be very quiet, stupid strong, easy to attach doors and windows that'd look "normal" and yield an excellent true R number. Add hurricane clips/ties to the top and bottom wall attachments and you'd have a place that'd meet or exceed most new "hurricane" zone strength reqs. too.


Sorry for the typos....left my glass elsewhere.