BuildBlock News

  Video Transcript Strategies For Managing Pressure On ICF Walls While Pouring   Pressure occurs at areas in the wall where you disrupt the flow of concrete such as short corners or large openings next to corners. It also occurs when you vibrate the walls between lifts to ensure proper consolidation. Vibration helps to get rid of air pockets and ensure there is no honeycombing in the wall. It also causes the concrete to return to a semi-liquid state, temporarily increasing the pressure in that area. In this video, we’ll show you how to combat pressure in these situations.  

  Video Transcript In this video, we’re going to cover how to form pilasters in ICF construction. pilasters or pilasters are rectangular columns that project from within a wall. They are typically present where a structural load must be carried that exceeds the capabilities of the wall. The wall thickens to accommodate the structural requirements of the pilaster. In our example, we’re building an 8-foot basement with BuildLock KD blocks. The yellow bridges are 8 inches and the red bridges are 12 inches. We are building a 12 by 20-inch pilaster.   For our first course, we’ll need to cut

  Video Transcript Welcome to BuildBlock’s Digital Product Catalog. BuildBlock provides a wide variety of insulating concrete form products and accessories. Our one-stop shopping experience helps to make every job simple, cohesive, and efficient. This video is part of our Digital Product Catalog, which is a series of videos that will cover our entire product line.   In this video, we’ll cover BuildDeck. The BuildDeck floor and roof decking system is a lightweight, stay-in-place, insulating concrete form and is used to construct a solid, monolithic, and insulated concrete floor or roof. BuildDeck provides structural integrity through reinforced concrete while providing

  Video Transcript Welcome to BuildBlock’s Digital Product Catalog. BuildBlock provides a wide variety of insulating concrete form products and accessories. Our one-stop shopping experience helps to make every job simple, cohesive, and efficient. This video is part of our Digital Product Catalog, which is a series of videos that will cover our entire product line.   In this video, we will cover BuildBuck, our ICF bucking solution. When building with ICFs, it is important to buck any openings such as doors or windows. Proper bucking keeps the concrete inside the wall during the pour, and provides attachment points for

Here’s a video from our Digital Product Catalog!   Video Transcript Video Transcript Welcome to BuildBlock’s Digital Product Catalog BuildBlock provides a wide variety of insulating concrete form products. Our one-stop shopping experience helps to make every job simple, cohesive, and efficient. This video is part of our Digital Product Catalog which is a series of videos that will cover our entire product line.   Today we’ll be taking a look at the BuildLock KnockDown, or KD, system. KnockDown systems are ICFs that are shipped as bundled panels and boxes of bridges based on the sizes needed for a project.

Here’s a video on fire-resistant construction in wildfire-prone areas! Video Transcript In this video, we’ll take you through a construction model of an ICF home that meets fire code standards. We’ll pay special attention to high-risk areas and give you practical suggestions on how to design and build. We’ll be using the framework of a simple, cost-effective home, that has a vented roof, but we’ll look at unvented roofs and concrete roofs that provide added protection and higher performance. We’ll start by going over how the walls are formed using our example model.   Starting with the basement, we poured

ICFs Aren’t Just for Basements Insulating Concrete Forms (ICFs) are often used in below-grade applications. The insulation properties of ICFs make them an excellent solution for finished basements but over the past 20 years, ICFs have been growing in popularity as an above-grade construction solution. The same benefits apply for both below and above grade application, and the end-user enjoys exponential benefits when the entire structure is ICF. More and more, ICFs are being used to construct homes, mid-rise structures, schools, safe-rooms, and more. Build Virtually Any Design ICFs are an incredibly adaptable material to use for almost any design,

Video Transcript In this video, we’re going to cover the no T-wall method, which divides the T-wall into two separate walls, saving time and labor, but requiring two separate pours. First, construct your straight wall the exact same way you would usually construct a straight wall, except where your T-wall is going to go, place your L-bar each course. We recommend leaving it at this diagonal angle at this point to allow more of the bar to be covered in the initial pour, as well as stay out of the way when working around it. Rasp it into place just