With a region as susceptible to Mother Nature’s whims as the South is, business owners have to choose their building materials wisely. Brick, stone, steel, and concrete have long been accepted as the most durable materials, but there’s a concrete derivative that is quickly gaining popularity amongst construction companies. Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) appear the same as “normal” concrete, but it usually results in slightly thicker walls. It’s this thickness that allows for ICFs to be so resilient.
ICFs are two faces of concrete with plastic or metal connections to give it the stability that makes it so impressive. These connections can be in a flat, grid, or post and beam arrangement. A flat arrangement will have continuous thickness from horizontal connections; whereas, the grid arrangement has a waffle-like pattern that will make the wall thicker in some areas. The post and beam arrangement will have horizontal and vertical discrete connections within the two insulated faces. ICFs can either come preassembled, which makes for quick stacking on site, or in panels which will need to be assembled on the job.
The many benefits of Insulated Concrete Forms include termite resistant and fire safe. ICFs also keep the humidity out, which is a blessing in the Southern summers. Not to mention the resistance to heavy winds that become so important during hurricane season. ICFs are so energy-efficient that they can give your business more than 20 percent cost savings, not to mention the fast and easy construction process. On top of the 20 percent cost savings that you can gain with the energy efficient ICFs, they also make for a fast and easy construction process.
To learn more about how ICFs can benefit your business, contact Magellan Construction.