I want to build a modern home design that has two long cinder block walls with mostly glass front and back and steel roof. Cinder block walls would also subdivide the inside. It would sit on a concrete slab. My questions are: How do you insulate cinder block -- can you just pour in foam and is it enough for a moderate climate to have a single wall of cinder block so insulated? Also, how do you relate rebar and insulatation in concrete block? Finally, can you have a "polished" concrete floor if you have added fiber to the concrete mix for strength? Would all this be relatively inexpensive compare with other building methods? I really do appreciate any feedback. Thank you.
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IMO, You would be far better off looking into ICF ( insulated concrete forms) for your home. It can be fairl;y easy for a DIY with moderate skills and a head full of common sense.
basicly it is 12" wide foam lego type vblocks that stack and interlock, hollow inside, that is filled with concrete and stuccoed or sided over.
These walls can be rated at around R22 or more for insulation value, are solid and quiet to live in
Excellence is its own reward!
basicly it is 12" wide foam lego type vblocks that stack and interlock, hollow inside, that is filled with concrete and stuccoed or sided over.
These walls can be rated at around R22 or more for insulation value, are solid and quiet to live in
Excellence is its own reward!
Thanks for your response. I have heard about these forms. Three questions: Do you know a good company? Is the insualtion built in? what is the cost relative to insulating cinder block? Thanks again.
The brand I've used is ARXX but that is based on local availability more than anything else.
Yes, the insulation is included, The foam that forms the blocks is the insulation. The form blocks are left in place after pouring, saving the labor of form stripping.
Cost comnparisons are hard to make because the labor portion is a different thing for the various kinds of walls so if you are a DIY, that compnenet varies the total cost, and because the insulation is so much better with ICFs so there is a continual payback
Excellence is its own reward!
Yes, the insulation is included, The foam that forms the blocks is the insulation. The form blocks are left in place after pouring, saving the labor of form stripping.
Cost comnparisons are hard to make because the labor portion is a different thing for the various kinds of walls so if you are a DIY, that compnenet varies the total cost, and because the insulation is so much better with ICFs so there is a continual payback
Excellence is its own reward!
Thanks for your response. I have heard about these forms. Three questions: Do you know a good company? Is the insualtion built in? what is the cost relative to insulating cinder block? Thanks again.
