Insulated Concrete Forms are foam insulated blocks filled with concrete, used to construct the exterior walls of a home or commercial building. Engineered for comfort, safety, cost-efficiency, ICF’s use an interlocking tongue and groove system to ensure blocks lock tight and evenly.
Homes built using Insulated Concrete Forms are up to 8.5 times stronger than a wood-frame home. With steel-reinforced concrete, walls can withstand winds up to 200 miles per hour. The sturdy foundational walls resist buckling and cracking five times better than a concrete block wall.
Thinking of your family’s safety, the ICF wall is superior to the traditionally built home for fire resistance and containment. ICF walls have been proven to withstand fire for as long as four hours, whereas a wood frame wall would typically collapse in less than an hour. The foam used inside the ICF blocks is manufactured with flame-retardant additives. As a result, the foam is designed to melt away but not add combustion. An ICF wall helps to contain a fire, keeping your home and family safer. Serious house fires can contain temperatures of 2000 degrees Fahrenheit and a fire can easily spread from one side of a wall to another, but in an ICF built home, your exterior walls will not allow the fire to pass through it even at these temperatures. Building a home with passive fire protection is essential in preserving the integrity, safety, and value of your home. It can also create an additional layer of protection for your family.
An ICF home also increases your home security. Often a burglar will enter a house through a wall-usually the wall between the garage and the home to avoid setting off the glass-break alarm. The incredible durability of the ICF wall would not allow for this to happen.
