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Building with Polystyrene Forms and Concrete

The project in Norwell, Massachusetts, involves putting an addition on an existing house to create an in-law suite. A lower-level garage is being built with a spacious suite above. The area has been excavated and the slab and footing poured. The pour was done in one step. A number of products were used to make the slab-and-footing pour faster and easier. Insul-Tarp, an innovative all-in-one vapor barrier and insulation product was used underneath the floor slab. ReddiForm polystyrene blocks or ICFs are being used for the walls. Bob talks with Ron Ardres from ReddiForm about the ReddiForm process. ReddiForm is a modification of the original ICF concept. The blocks are simple in design and can be laid out in a number of ways. This layout flexibility reduces the waste factor to about two percent. The blocks are lightweight but strong enough to support heavy weight and resist high compression. Steel is added as reinforcement to the structure. Holes are drilled into the slab through the cells in the ReddiForm blocks to hold steel dowels that will act as reinforcement and tie down. The blocks are glued to the floor for additional reinforcement. Rebar is also added horizontally throughout the structure. Additional rebar reinforcement can be added as specified to support the bearing loads. The ReddiForm system improves construction speed and helps economize projects by reducing steps and labor. In this home, the blocks will be stacked seven-and-a-half feet high to create a basement and a two-car garage. Once the basement walls are complete, foam forms will be put in place horizontally over the structure to act as the first floor slab. The slab and the walls will be poured in one continuous pour.

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Big Energy Savings with Concrete Construction

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Building with Polystyrene Forms and Concrete Now Playing

Building with Polystyrene Forms and Concrete

Clip Transcript For:

Building with Polystyrene Forms and Concrete

computer-generated transcript - may not be 100% accurate

" Our project here in Norwood Massachusetts involves putting an addition on an existing 24 year old house to create an in law suite another transition in life when we aging baby boomers. Welcome back our parents. In this case what we're doing is building a lower level two car garage and then above it will have a spacious suite now the interesting thing that we want to show you is that construction technology that's being used. Last week we excavated and we poured the slab and footing for the entire addition all monolithic Italy all one -- A monolithic -- including the footing and the slab means that everything is -- and one step instead of two or three. So we've used a number of innovative products that make it easier to pour both the slab and the footings. We've also used a different product that is called pencil tarp. Which is used instead of -- moisture barrier provides both insulation and a moisture barrier underneath the floor slab when it's -- Tell these white blocks that we're looking at are -- form let's go down and learn all about them. Ron our address is here from reddiform and Ron you are the man who."

" Invented this concept right yes. How did it ever occur to you that you could make forms out of you know not Dixie cups but I wish you could take the credit for it but it was invented many years ago the idea was invented yet I just improved upon -- you've modified -- all right let's let's look closely well we've got here. I mean is that these are. Short sections that basically are just laid down over the slab. And right. They will all get filled up with concrete yet. What what makes it would makes the product unique this product unique. Is that basically these two forms a corner form and a straight form does at all. Because. There's no top or bottom -- left to right -- down so it goes together this way -- It goes together this way and it goes together this way for the so therefore. It's a left corner yeah. And it's -- right before. One size makes it real easy from the point of view the installers exactly yeah very simple in reduces waste. Put it the waste factor on this is like 2% what about the strengthening our -- to worry about. No stand on leash out okay -- you can actually bury this in the ground and backfill both sides before you fill. Okay. All right let's go through the steps of what else they're actually doing good you do have to reinforce it right yes absolutely. We're which would work did design news. In the design really came from pan floors on huge construction jobs OK a pan floor is they take away some of the concrete that you don't need bright orange. So we're taking away the concrete but adding steel reinforcements and how are we tying it to the slab. What we do -- in this case because of because of this so many holes this court to place the steel in in this slap in the slab and have it projecting through right because. Then you wind up cutting more if you're not exact right Susie -- replaces placed the form down. And drill through the cells to where you want the -- where you want -- dollar which are steel rebar right and then you can epoxy mean in case of where you have uplift in Florida. Or if not you just put me just now put a minute in the in the hole -- and that's just for sure and when you say uplift in Florida you mean -- hurricane situation yeah. -- pressure systems trying to lift up the roof -- now what what am -- looking at way down here is that an adhesive yes what we do here in this case we we just. Put it to the building line and glue it down that's it say at the rebar and the glue right exactly F and then you have to add additional rebar horizontally for the last every few every few courses yes in this case it did the amount of steel is determined by what you want for wind loading. Or backfill pressure okay okay okay they're like being in in in the in an above grade application. We would putting a piece of steel vertically every third cell every second or third cell and no we can increase that like before you need a 140 mile an hour wind load right we just -- a piece of steel every cell then. OK and then -- it okay just increases the wind pressure and here one of the objectives obviously is speed of construction and economy yet and so what we're doing is we're. Contained to build this up to seven and a half foot high. In this case here in this case well aware in this will be a basement and a two car garage yes and then above that we're actually going to form up. A slab system yes we're actually we're gonna actually take a form a piece of foam. That will span from. Here to there with the middle wall it's actually gonna span from this wall to the center wall and then back to the other wall and -- particular span is like nineteen feet moved. We're gonna set that up at a foam we're gonna temporary support underneath it it. And then we're gonna put steel in -- we're gonna pour that slab. As well as the wall in one continuous pour fantastic."

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