We went out to the acreage to see if there was any progress since our last visit. The weather here has been terrible as winter tries to maintain its hold on us. Tons of snow and cold temperatures over the last week left us feeling that any progress from our last visit was unlikely. However, much to our surprise, as we drove up to the lot, we saw that there had been activity. We were shocked to see the "lego basement" walls up and the footings poured.
A traditional cement basement is constructed by cribbers who use plywood to create a form within which cement is poured for the basement walls. Once the concrete has set the plywood forms are removed leaving the concrete walls on top of the concrete footings. We chose to build an ICF basement after discussing the benefits of this approach with the president of Green Living Homes, Arnie Gable. Arnie has been a joy to work with and really makes us feel that he wants to build us a beautiful house.
An ICF basement (Insulated Concrete Forms) consist of blocks of styrofoam that are hollow in the middle. The block is held together with plastic struts. See picture below.
The blocks are stacked one on top the other to form a wall on top of the footings. Rebar is laid in the hollow and rests on the plastic struts. Once the lego wall is completed then the cement can be poured into the hollow space in the wall.
Once the cement sets, the styrofoam is left in place to provide a well insulated basement that is supposed to be much warmer than the traditional cement basement.
The cement still remains to be poured in the lego walls but we suspect that will happen any day now. Here are some pictures of the finished lego basement.
Well that is all for now. Needless to say, today was an exciting day!! Stay tuned for more updates.
Les and Sandy
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