The DIY Plowman Home using BuildBlock ICFs is a true do-it-yourself project from start to finish.

Science Teacher, Phillip Plowman and his father are sharing their BuildBlock ICF project. They have been building an entire home themselves from top to bottom for the last year, using much of summer break and weekends as peak working hours. 

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Phillip is a science teacher in Virginia and has been working on this home for the past year with his father. Phillip mentions he is fortunate to have weekends and summers off to work on building his own home.

Phillip and his father have done every aspect of the build from the ICFs to the plumbing, electronics, HVAC ducts, framing, and more. They chose BuildBlock ICFs because of the efficiency and past experience with poured walls. After months of research looking into different ICF companies, he eventually chose BuildBlock ICFs for both price and 6-inch on center fastener points.

Phillip says, “Buildblock has the highest pullout strength for fastening. I am very happy thus far with the product. I love the quietness, solid walls and the speed at which we could lay out the walls. With the two of us we could layout a whole level in one weekend, then spend the next few days bracing and preparing for the pour.

Phillip also found a great advantage with BuildBlock when setting the floor into the block and was able to laser the floor before he poured the walls. He said,” It was very convenient to have a solid safe floor during each pour.”

Building a house yourself will present its challenges, especially while working full time. Some of those challenges include planning  wall penetration for septic, dryer lines, etc. Phillip and his father also have been adding in top of the line technology, using a geothermal unit. This unit is a 3 ton water furnace for the 3900 sq. ft. home. Airflow systems of Charlottesville designed and is installing the system.