This series is legit, some of my favorite RUclips content out there. Your framing and presenting is awesome, and we get some fun exposure into a little bit if everything from the process.
This segment reminds me of the original This Old House. Those early episodes were entertaining as well as informative. You have captured that spirit with this series. What makes your series better than the old one is, you represent an entirely new generation-which is great to see. Keep it up.
As someone who's always had a cold basement in the winter, I can really appreciate the technology those forms provide. That will be a cozy basement (at least that section).
One of the best things about having a cellar is the stable cool temperatures, so I can store wine, beer, apples tomatoes etc, also somewhere cool to go in the summer ! I love the safety caps on the rebar, there were available when I was doing concrete works, but nobody would pay for them !
Great video. The video, along with your narations, clarify your Instagram pictures. I am enjoying this series. Donovan definetly shines. His years of construction experience makes the job look easy-I know “easy” is just an illusion!
Fellow Minnesotan here -- radiant heat looks so nice in the winter! I installed Dricore subfloors in my basement and it's still pretty cold...real radiant heat is going to feel amazing.
amazing to watch someone (Donavan) who knows what they are doing and Matt that lets him do his thing and helps by staying out of the way - unless needed - watched others use ICFs but they never show the details that make the whole system work - access holes for the vibrator under the windows was a neat touch
The wife and I are loving this series (watch on the other Google account for the TV) and we were commenting how Donavan must love having Matt as an “employee” since it’s free-ish labor, stays after hours, gets there early, and has all the heavy equipment needed for the job! That must be refreshing to a contractor. Am I wrong?
I enjoy this series and many things stand out, Matt is straight to the point. . . no fancy introductions, good and bad are shown, info is readily available
I have had a lot of fun watching these episodes. And, been greatly informed about how things have changed with regard to making a foundation. Keep up the good work.
I am rather proud of that little boy in Minnesota who has built in snow and ice to become quite a enterprise. Did you have this dream when you and your dad pulled logs through the first setup you had? I would of never seen this coming in a million years. From borrowed tools to a telehandler. I don't think you even know how many tools that you own now except at times it must feel like "too many" when hauling them all over here. You were a part of helping April W. as names escape me. She herself is quite formidable and tenacious. Yes Josh, you have came a long way
Your wonderful focus on your correct construction methodology showing us the smallest construction structural accuracy detail helps us better understand how to realize excellent craftmanship from others who are either skimping or cheating in order to increase "PROFITS" because their low bid scam always seems to require such preconceived deceptions...Thank you for your most valuable professional ethos!
The walls look great. Lots of hard work, and more to come. Very interesting techniques, and learned a lot. However, when the project is complete, all of this work will never be seen again !!!!
Donovan makes this look easy although I would never attempt it. I would love to have a front row seat and watch the entire build in person but I guess I'll have to enjoy it from where I'm at.
I built the first of this construction in the state of Virginia. We used 2x12" to frame the windows and doors but used two 2x4" with the space across the middle to avoid any voids of concrete under windows. Poured first floor and set floor joist on forms with brick ledge revered to the inside then in a few days poured the second floor. The treated frames prevented having to do any bracing. Had no blowouts on entire 3600sq ft. house.
Thx for showing the 'internals', those steel wire pieces that reinforce & hold these Styrofoam blocks together both vertically & horizontally. Also glad your building inspector called for horz.rebar every course. Looks like you & your contractor work very well together. Appreciate the close up camera shots of notching for tight fit if ICF to original foundation of main house. Like your daily summary (or morning review of prior work) & plan for the current day of work. Did not realize ICF people offered/had those scaffolding brackets for both vertical flush-to-wall fit as well as (rental) brackets allowing 45°-for 'cat walk' assistance during pour & vibrate. So Matt, a very nice & clear video presentation. A note for comparison 4U, another YT presenter, Jessie Muller, is in process of building his 2 story home (up state NY?) using these ICF forms also. It's great for us armchair YT viewers to observe this ICF wall build technique by owners doing assembly with their own hands (+helpers). Enjoy your video. Be safe.🧑🔧👍
It’s nice to see someone using the correct hammer !! It’s a wrecking hammer, I’ve heard them called a form hammer. If you had ever worked in heavy construction, bridges, water, sewer plants, where lots of concrete forms are built to hold concrete in place till it hardens. I really didn’t enjoy heavy construction, but it was a paycheck. I did enjoy framing, house construction, trim work ( cabinets, hanging doors, putting down baseboards, trimming windows). Small contractors are few & far between, they can’t afford to pay workers compensation, social security, unemployment, if they haven’t been charging for it they mostly don’t have funds to pay workers compensation up front every year. In Tennessee if you don’t have workers compensation you lose your license. No license you don’t have to get paid. Tennessee law says if total cost of job exceeds $25,000 & you don’t have a license, owner can refuse to pay builder. He probably has to pay for materials or providers would place construction lien against property. Complicate the process in a hurry
Hey Matt just want to thank you for allowing us viewer the opportunity to see you and Donovan build your new addition.🙏🙏🙏 You guys are doing a fantastic job. Keep up the good work, and keep the vids coming. Looking forward to seeing the finished product.. well anyway happy work day.🙏🙏👍💯🇺🇸🏘️🏘️🏘️
I have used this style form a CV ouple times. Careful when you start the pour they coat the tube of the pumper with something so the cement does not stick the first shot comes out like a loaded cow on fresh pasture. Be forwarned if they syick you on the chute.
My neighbor in Germany did build with this system. I remember that we collected this forms after a strong wind in the night blowing them through the whole neighbourhood! One day before his concrete should get delivered. I on the other hand did build with liapor system blocks. They got filled with concrete too but because they are blocks who have some weight, my walls did still stand up straight.
This brings back the days building our house. 800 cubic yards of 4000 psi concrete and 75 tons of 3/4" rebar. We used reusable forms, but the principle was the same: tie everything together and brace it up straight. Lotta scaffold nails, too.
Make sure you brace, glue, or otherwise secure the top rows so they don't float during the pour. ICFs are great, but still a lot of work and they have little tricks of the trade that are helpful to know. Getting the right slump and pumper truck so concrete isn't slamming into the forms from 60 ft also nice. Cheers Matt!
I've had excellent luck cutting styrofoam like that with a Jigsaw. It is much faster, and provides a cleaner cut than a pruning saw. Might be worth a try next time.
Looking remarkably like LEGOs. Trusting that your concrete pour went well with minimal surprises. Thanks for sharing this insightful video series. Cheers
At 26:29 "Now we're cutting our access holes" "This will give us a place to run the vibrator" 😎 (Ooh, Happy Anniversary! 🎁) "Making sure we're getting concrete underneath the window openings without any voids". So that's what you're doing... LOL Nice video; informative & entertaining. 👍
The first time I saw ICF being used was in June of 2002 so almost 20 years ago. I have not heard any negatives about it. One huge advantage is that it removes the dependence on traditional forms and the scheduling that is involved.
For people like me that didn't know, I looked it up and on the laser level fast beeps means you're too high, move down, slow beeps means you're too low move up, and a solid tone means you're in the goldilocks zone.
Happy Homebuilding! You answered a lot of questions I had about ICF’s and their installation. I would use that system too after seeing the details involved. I’m guessing the R value is about 8 for the walls.
The R-value is 21 at 75 degrees. But without studs for thermal bridging, air passing through a stick framed wall, thermal mass, ICFs way out-perform a wood framed wall.
Did our barn like this but with concrete joining speed block; loads of steel rebar on each 20 cm course and tied to verticals cemented into footings. Was a bit hairy still when we poured it with the pump truck. Will be interested to see(crossing fingers,) how this new MUCH LIGHTER method will work....Sleep well Sunday and hope the weather's good for Monday Pour....cheers...rr Normandy, Fra.
I also live in Minnesota. A couple of decades ago. I helped Habitat For Humanity set up some forms like these. I think, though, that most basements in Minnesota are still concrete block.
So well done. My brother used to do entire houses with ICF forms. Talk about quiet and well insulated. Donovan is excellent!! Talk about a pro. Thanks for the explanations along the way as well. Learned a lot. Would you talk about the inspections required along the way as well? If the inspector would agree to be filmed and talk about what he/she looks for would be awesome as well. Keep up the good work. You'll get it done under $300K yet. :-)
Speaking of those duplex nails, there is a company here, in Mesa Az, that has a nail like that, as their logo. About 25 or so, years ago, they gave their employees some chocolate nails, just like their logo. Except the shaft of the nail was about 1 inch in diameter, about 3 feet long, and the heads were about 3 inches in diameter. Solid milk chocolate. I went to look them up, and it seems that the husband of one of my MANY cousins works there. Porter Brothers. steve
Nice! I saw a price list for diversifoam A-one forms. SO cheap compared to any other block (was like $20 per 8” form) I didn’t know how legit they were. Glad I see you using them!
super work, or a legion game. Insulátion of walls is flawless. It will be a good littlee cellar, but if you store the bottom of fruit air humidity is an inportant factor, best regards
So since you got lots of space, the best idea is change your drawing, give extra 1 foot on ever side of the foundation wall. That extra 1 foot is for your insulation and you won’t lose the size of your room,. Hope you understand.
Wow, first time I’ve see the actual assembly using ICF Blocks, you guys made it look pretty easy. I would love to see an expense report based on the cost of using ICF’s for a foundation per square foot. Great video series watching the build. God Bless.
I was glad to work with these guys, supplying the A-One ICFs for this project.
Thanks for all the help, Brad!
how do you water proof them
@@donp2412 same question here, and another to add, on the outside does the foam stay on whatever is exposed up top or does it get cut off?
You are blessed to have Donavan, he is a skilled master tradesman. Great job!
Agreed, I need a Donavan
Everyone needs a "Donovan" when it comes to something like this !!
Just from what I have seen watching these videos I decided I like Donavan
This series is legit, some of my favorite RUclips content out there. Your framing and presenting is awesome, and we get some fun exposure into a little bit if everything from the process.
This segment reminds me of the original This Old House. Those early episodes were entertaining as well as informative. You have captured that spirit with this series. What makes your series better than the old one is, you represent an entirely new generation-which is great to see. Keep it up.
As someone who's always had a cold basement in the winter, I can really appreciate the technology those forms provide. That will be a cozy basement (at least that section).
It going to be a super comfortable office for sure
One of the best things about having a cellar is the stable cool temperatures, so I can store wine, beer, apples tomatoes etc, also somewhere cool to go in the summer !
I love the safety caps on the rebar, there were available when I was doing concrete works, but nobody would pay for them !
@@mcremona how do you water proof them
@@donp2412 see part 6
Great video. The video, along with your narations, clarify your Instagram pictures. I am enjoying this series. Donovan definetly shines. His years of construction experience makes the job look easy-I know “easy” is just an illusion!
The lumber guy must be stoked when he doesn't have to take the forklift off the truck. "Wait, the homeowner has what?"
I'm enjoying the hell out of this mini-series.
It wont be so mini by the end :D
I am as well…and Happy Aniversary !
Fellow Minnesotan here -- radiant heat looks so nice in the winter!
I installed Dricore subfloors in my basement and it's still pretty cold...real radiant heat is going to feel amazing.
amazing to watch someone (Donavan) who knows what they are doing and Matt that lets him do his thing and helps by staying out of the way - unless needed - watched others use ICFs but they never show the details that make the whole system work - access holes for the vibrator under the windows was a neat touch
The wife and I are loving this series (watch on the other Google account for the TV) and we were commenting how Donavan must love having Matt as an “employee” since it’s free-ish labor, stays after hours, gets there early, and has all the heavy equipment needed for the job! That must be refreshing to a contractor. Am I wrong?
I enjoy this series and many things stand out, Matt is straight to the point. . . no fancy introductions, good and bad are shown, info is readily available
I have had a lot of fun watching these episodes. And, been greatly informed about how things have changed with regard to making a foundation. Keep up the good work.
And yet ICF construction, not just basements, has been around for decades.
This portion of the basement will be warm. Donovan is a treasure to have on the job. Matt, you will learn from him. Happy Anniversary.
Great video Matt. Enjoy following along. I think it’s going to be a great journey. Happy Anniversary to you and that lovely lady of yours.
Ten years of marital bliss!!!!! Only another FORTY years and you both will be even more golden than you already are today!!!
This process is fast, and still very involved. Donavan is a real pro.
I am rather proud of that little boy in Minnesota who has built in snow and ice to become quite a enterprise. Did you have this dream when you and your dad pulled logs through the first setup you had? I would of never seen this coming in a million years. From borrowed tools to a telehandler. I don't think you even know how many tools that you own now except at times it must feel like "too many" when hauling them all over here. You were a part of helping April W. as names escape me. She herself is quite formidable and tenacious. Yes Josh, you have came a long way
I just love working. I can watch people doing it for hours!
Amazing Matt! I had never seen ICFs setup before. Happy Anniversary too! I guess concrete is the newest gem stone for a 10 year anniversary.
Great video. Happy 10 year anniversary!
Thanks!
Your wonderful focus on your correct construction methodology showing us the smallest construction structural accuracy detail helps us better understand how to realize excellent craftmanship from others who are either skimping or cheating in order to increase "PROFITS" because their low bid scam always seems to require such preconceived deceptions...Thank you for your most valuable professional ethos!
The walls look great. Lots of hard work, and more to come. Very interesting techniques, and learned a lot. However, when the project is complete, all of this work will never be seen again !!!!
Well, if you see it again, you know you did something wrong… 😂
Great id think you should sell tickets ... You two are lot of fun to watch. Donavan knows his stuff Thanks
Donovan makes this look easy although I would never attempt it. I would love to have a front row seat and watch the entire build in person but I guess I'll have to enjoy it from where I'm at.
I built the first of this construction in the state of Virginia. We used 2x12" to frame the windows and doors but used two 2x4" with the space across the middle to avoid any voids of concrete under windows. Poured first floor and set floor joist on forms with brick ledge revered to the inside then in a few days poured the second floor. The treated frames prevented having to do any bracing. Had no blowouts on entire 3600sq ft. house.
Thx for showing the 'internals', those steel wire pieces that reinforce & hold these Styrofoam blocks together both vertically & horizontally. Also glad your building inspector called for horz.rebar every course.
Looks like you & your contractor work very well together. Appreciate the close up camera shots of notching for tight fit if ICF to original foundation of main house. Like your daily summary (or morning review of prior work) & plan for the current day of work. Did not realize ICF people offered/had those scaffolding brackets for both vertical flush-to-wall fit as well as (rental) brackets allowing 45°-for 'cat walk' assistance during pour & vibrate.
So Matt, a very nice & clear video presentation.
A note for comparison 4U, another YT presenter, Jessie Muller, is in process of building his 2 story home (up state NY?) using these ICF forms also. It's great for us armchair YT viewers to observe this ICF wall build technique by owners doing assembly with their own hands (+helpers). Enjoy your video. Be safe.🧑🔧👍
Thx I will check out that builder. I want to build my future house with ICF.
This looks great, I love how the builder is continually checking the levels.
It’s nice to see someone using the correct hammer !! It’s a wrecking hammer, I’ve heard them called a form hammer. If you had ever worked in heavy construction, bridges, water, sewer plants, where lots of concrete forms are built to hold concrete in place till it hardens. I really didn’t enjoy heavy construction, but it was a paycheck. I did enjoy framing, house construction, trim work ( cabinets, hanging doors, putting down baseboards, trimming windows). Small contractors are few & far between, they can’t afford to pay workers compensation, social security, unemployment, if they haven’t been charging for it they mostly don’t have funds to pay workers compensation up front every year. In Tennessee if you don’t have workers compensation you lose your license. No license you don’t have to get paid. Tennessee law says if total cost of job exceeds $25,000 & you don’t have a license, owner can refuse to pay builder. He probably has to pay for materials or providers would place construction lien against property. Complicate the process in a hurry
thank you America to show us how we will all be behaving
What a wonderfully helpful dad!
Hey Matt just want to thank you for allowing us viewer the opportunity to see you and Donovan build your new addition.🙏🙏🙏 You guys are doing a fantastic job. Keep up the good work, and keep the vids coming. Looking forward to seeing the finished product.. well anyway happy work day.🙏🙏👍💯🇺🇸🏘️🏘️🏘️
Thank you!!
Brilliant Content! ICF construction is becoming so popular across Europe now.
I have used this style form a CV ouple times. Careful when you start the pour they coat the tube of the pumper with something so the cement does not stick the first shot comes out like a loaded cow on fresh pasture. Be forwarned if they syick you on the chute.
Like spot welding, before a continuous pass, after leveling, of sealant. Great.
Wow all you need is some old timey music and you have the new "this old house"
My neighbor in Germany did build with this system. I remember that we collected this forms after a strong wind in the night blowing them through the whole neighbourhood! One day before his concrete should get delivered. I on the other hand did build with liapor system blocks. They got filled with concrete too but because they are blocks who have some weight, my walls did still stand up straight.
Thanks for sharing. Quite the rapport between you and your builder.
The whole process thus far has been fascinating. This entire series is great. Can't wait to see the concrete pour for the walls.
Thanks!!
Every bit as good as "This Old House" or the Twin Cities version, "Hometime". Those ICF forms have some features that I haven't seen on others.
I concur.
This brings back the days building our house. 800 cubic yards of 4000 psi concrete and 75 tons of 3/4" rebar. We used reusable forms, but the principle was the same: tie everything together and brace it up straight. Lotta scaffold nails, too.
Good choice with the ICFs.
Make sure you brace, glue, or otherwise secure the top rows so they don't float during the pour. ICFs are great, but still a lot of work and they have little tricks of the trade that are helpful to know. Getting the right slump and pumper truck so concrete isn't slamming into the forms from 60 ft also nice. Cheers Matt!
Those last pieces really tied the room together!
Awesome one step closer to having Your project completed!!!!
That is such an intelligent method of forming in a foundation. You have inspired a wave of DIY concrete pours
Thanks for sharing with us Matt. You and Z-man did a good job. Looking forward to seeing the concrete pours. Fred. 🙏🏻🙏🏻✋🏻✋🏻👍🏻👍🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Wow I agree this is going to one cool series & Thanks for bringing us along😄
You guys are having too much FUN! Makes the work go better, doesn’t it! Great work! Thanks!
Great build, and Donavan is a good sport allowing you to film this process.
He also appears quite competent.
I've had excellent luck cutting styrofoam like that with a Jigsaw. It is much faster, and provides a cleaner cut than a pruning saw. Might be worth a try next time.
Loving this series! Very well done in terms of explanations and filming.
Thanks!
I loved Donavan's work in Shall We Dance as John Clark.
A great show: technology, comedy and good team work
Looking remarkably like LEGOs. Trusting that your concrete pour went well with minimal surprises. Thanks for sharing this insightful video series. Cheers
Very interesting method for installing the forms for the reinforced concrete walls that will be going in for the basement !!
ICF's are awesome!!
Neat work with the ICFs--you two got a lot done in just a few days. You're keeping the job site nice and tidy--excellent.
At 26:29 "Now we're cutting our access holes" "This will give us a place to run the vibrator" 😎 (Ooh, Happy Anniversary! 🎁)
"Making sure we're getting concrete underneath the window openings without any voids". So that's what you're doing... LOL
Nice video; informative & entertaining. 👍
You guys are brave to tackle this. Great results.
I'm totaly enjoying watching you guys putting the new edition together you guys are doing an awsome job keep up the good work
It's really odd to see Matt relegated to the "broom guy" 😁, although its a role i know all too well myself. What a find Donovan was!
The first time I saw ICF being used was in June of 2002 so almost 20 years ago. I have not heard any negatives about it. One huge advantage is that it removes the dependence on traditional forms and the scheduling that is involved.
thank you my friend for sharing the information
Wow, thanks for the tutorial in modern construction techniques and materials!
For people like me that didn't know, I looked it up and on the laser level fast beeps means you're too high, move down, slow beeps means you're too low move up, and a solid tone means you're in the goldilocks zone.
Simply a work of art.
Happy Homebuilding! You answered a lot of questions I had about ICF’s and their installation. I would use that system too after seeing the details involved. I’m guessing the R value is about 8 for the walls.
The manufacturer puts it at r28-32 www.aoneform.com/html/compare.html
The R-value is 21 at 75 degrees. But without studs for thermal bridging, air passing through a stick framed wall, thermal mass, ICFs way out-perform a wood framed wall.
Between the spray foam and cutting the ICF forms, this video is the gold standard for anti-ASMR. 🤣 So exciting seeing the progress on this addition!
Hahahaha thanks Trish!
It's looking good Matt.
WARNING: Construction is addictive.
See you guys next time!👍👍
Hey Matt your building systems are way more advanced than ours in South Africa
Did our barn like this but with concrete joining speed block; loads of steel rebar on each 20 cm course and tied to verticals cemented into footings. Was a bit hairy still when we poured it with the pump truck. Will be interested to see(crossing fingers,) how this new MUCH LIGHTER method will work....Sleep well Sunday and hope the weather's good for Monday Pour....cheers...rr Normandy, Fra.
Yo Matt thanks for letting me watch you do some cool stuff and giving me ideas for my own future project 👍👍
INTERESTING… I HAVE NEVER USED ICF’S BEFORE ..THANKS FOR THE INFO !
I also live in Minnesota. A couple of decades ago. I helped Habitat For Humanity set up some forms like these. I think, though, that most basements in Minnesota are still concrete block.
I’m looking forward to seeing this project through to the final piece of moulding.
Really enjoying this series Matt, thanks for sharing. Regards Jim UK.
It all starts with a good foundation....
This is now a fine foamwork channel xD
Thanks for bringing us along on the renovation. Love the videos.
Looking awesome Matt. Thanks for sharing. God Bless.
Very interesting to see this type of insulated forms installed. I want to hear about how "permanent" the EPS foam is, on the exterior, in particular.
So well done. My brother used to do entire houses with ICF forms. Talk about quiet and well insulated. Donovan is excellent!! Talk about a pro. Thanks for the explanations along the way as well. Learned a lot.
Would you talk about the inspections required along the way as well? If the inspector would agree to be filmed and talk about what he/she looks for would be awesome as well.
Keep up the good work. You'll get it done under $300K yet. :-)
Happy Anniversary!!! This is an amazing project...
Matt I say this often in your videos, but you make me feel so LAZY lol. I love these videos!
Hahahaha thanks!!
Thanks so much for sharing your journey.
Speaking of those duplex nails, there is a company
here, in Mesa Az, that has a nail like that, as their
logo.
About 25 or so, years ago, they gave their employees
some chocolate nails, just like their logo. Except the
shaft of the nail was about 1 inch in diameter, about 3
feet long, and the heads were about 3 inches in diameter.
Solid milk chocolate.
I went to look them up, and it seems that the husband of
one of my MANY cousins works there. Porter Brothers.
steve
Just love to see a project come along! Nice work Matt!
Nice! I saw a price list for diversifoam A-one forms. SO cheap compared to any other block (was like $20 per 8” form) I didn’t know how legit they were. Glad I see you using them!
super work, or a legion game. Insulátion of walls is flawless. It will be a good littlee cellar, but if you store the bottom of fruit air humidity is an inportant factor, best regards
So since you got lots of space, the best idea is change your drawing, give extra 1 foot on ever side of the foundation wall. That extra 1 foot is for your insulation and you won’t lose the size of your room,. Hope you understand.
Great series. Even got to see Matt do some work!
I didn't know that Richard Gere works as a contractor.
That's a cool system.
Best Icf video on RUclips... nice work...
Without audio its a very nice Video!
Love watching your progress, can’t wait to see the next one.
Coming along nicely Matt! Thanks for sharing with us!💖👍😎JP
Looking good guys!
Awesome work Matt, big changes to the home-front! :)
Styrofoam form is a new one on me. Everything I've seen in Montana, form wise, has been made out of wood.
Leave the trees alone.
Wow, first time I’ve see the actual assembly using ICF Blocks, you guys made it look pretty easy. I would love to see an expense report based on the cost of using ICF’s for a foundation per square foot. Great video series watching the build. God Bless.
Lumber is so expensive right now, I'm sure this is an economical method. The insulation value could be a cost saver down the road too.
@@TheBigburcie thanks didn’t look at it from that perspective.