The boards are up...

And then the snow came...

After getting the trusses up, we had to keep shoveling snow, inside the house, until we got the boards on. Lots of work… We used 5/8″ OSB wafer board, and the trusses had to be pushed left or right to straighten out the roof as we were going. So, how do you get the roof straight if you don’t even know if your bottom or sides are straight?

Here is a trick we used. Measure from each corner 48 1/2″ up and put a string line across the trusses. Once you have the first line of boards lined up correctly, the rest follows without trouble. But, the beginning must be right. Also, mark the edge of the board every 2′ so you know where the center of each truss has to come to. If the trusses are a bit off, make sure you push them to the correct place before nailing them in place, or you’ll get in trouble on the next row.

After putting all the boards in place, we covered the roof with 30lb felt paper. Why not ice and water shield? You try getting that to stick in freezing weather! And, not only that, it is way expensive, too. We have always used felt paper in the past. You just have to cover it up quickly so it doesn’t get blown into shreds.

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We ordered the trusses from a company out of Albuquerque called Champion Truss. It is a rather large company so I thought we would be guaranteed nice trusses, since that is all they do. But, unfortunately, you can’t assume anything, and we should probably have researched it more.
When the trusses were delivered, the first thing we noticed was that the end trusses were made to the wrong dimensions, and the bottom truss was smashed to bits. The company asked us to send them a picture of the broken truss and sent us a signed architect drawing showing us how to fix it. The only problem was that the drawing described a part of the truss that wasn’t even broken.
My husband can pretty much fix anything, but a truss that is completely smashed and splintered is beyond his capasity to fix. So he got a hold of the owner of the company and the owner agreed to come and see for himself what the trusses were like.
As they went through the trusses, one by one, they discovered another truss with a break through the top cord, even though it had a stamp of approval on it as well!
Basically, they ended up replacing five of the trusses, but the owner insisted that the end trusses were fine (which they were not!), so we didn’t get those replaced, and it caused two weeks of hassles trying to fit the out riggers on trusses that were made to the wrong dimensions.
Anyway, a week later, the new trusses were supposed to be delivered. The driver showed up in a semi just as the sun was setting, and my husband had to rig up lights and try to back him in as far as he could up the driveway. They had to unload the trusses by hand, and as the driver was leaving, he took a 20′ tree out on the way out of the driveway! Needless to say, my husband was fuming. After negotiating with the company for another week to see if they would give us some kind of compensation, the owner basically told my husband that it was his fault that the tree had come down, because he had tricked the driver into a difficult position, and that if we wanted to go to court, this was the story he was going to stick to…
Anyway, we got the trusses up onto the walls, and they were so twisted and warped that Nigell got really depressed. Some were higher than others, some were longer than others. They didn’t even bother to measure accurately that the 2×4’s on the end trusses were 2 feet apart. It was basically the shittiest trusses we have ever seen, and we want the whole world to know that if you can take your business elsewhere, you are better off avoiding Champion Truss. The workmanship is way below par, and they have no integrity or customer service. I hope they lose their stamp as well as their business…
So, when it comes to ordering engineered trusses, make sure you ask local builders who they would recommend. Trusses cost a lot of money, and if you want quality workmanship, you must ask around to save yourself both hassle, grief and aggravation.

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After the walls are built, you have to think about how you are going to attach your trusses. We chose a truss clip that is only available from Florida. It gets buried into the concrete, and the trusses just slip into it later. Very simple. But you MUST mark everything accurately, and make sure you put them in absolutely straight!!!
We marked the walls with a marker, on both sides of where the concrete goes in. That way, there was a better chance of getting the truss clips in straight.
Then, we checked every position with an actual truss clip, to make sure there was no webs or rebar in the way.
Finally, we went around and put clear packing tape on top of each marking. Why? Simply because you won’t be able to see the marks if (or should I say WHEN) you mess up the top of the wall with concrete.
Pouring walls is extremely messy. So we covered our markings, and after smoothing the top of the walls with trowels, we simply peeled off the tape and stuck the truss clips in.
Often, you don’t have a lot of time before the concrete goes off, so it is important to work quickly. Make sure the truss clips are in straight!!!
Remember, it is all set in stone.

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ICF Walls

We made the window bucks out of 2×12 lumber on the sides and tops. On the bottom of the buck, we simply put 2 pieces of 2×4 across with a space in the middle, so you can easily fill concrete under the windows. The opening in the ICF should be the rough opening of your window + 3″ in both directions. That way, your finished opening, inside the buck, will be the exact rough opening for the window.

If you don’t use pressure treated lumber, the buck has to be covered on the outside with either felt paper or ice and water shield so that it isn’t in contact with the concrete. To ensure that the buck stays in place, we put long screws into the sides. These screws will grab the concrete when the walls are filled, and it will be nice and solid. In addition, the bucks also have to be braced with pieces of OSB that are attached to the ICF. This bracing comes off after the pour. You might also consider bracing the inside of the buck in the middle with a temporary 2×4, especially if the window is bigger than a 4×4 opening.

Again, we put rebar on every row and form lock on every other row, as well as horizontal rebar every two feet. Finish the walls off by cutting all the knobs off the top row, foaming all the seams and bracing everything that could pull apart!

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Calculating the concrete for ICF is not difficult. Basically, every 8′ block with 6″ spacing inside takes 6cu ft of concrete. So, if you measure your linear feet, you are using 6cu ft of concrete every 8′ (18″ inches high).

This measurement is pretty accurate, so once you figure out the numbers, I usually add 1/2 yard for waste.

When we poured the stem wall, we used a conveyor belt truck. (Those things are big, so make sure your driveway is wide enough!)

There are many advantages to using a conveyor belt truck. First of all, he has a very long reach, and can easily put a sock on, which drastically reduces the mess. Second, when he stops the flow of concrete, it doesn’t just keep falling out of the sock. And third, there is no waste!

After pouring the concrete, make sure you run around and check if the walls are plum! Now is the time (before the concrete goes off), to adjust the plumness by screwing the blue ICF bracing in or out. It is a bit stressful, so make sure you have enough people on site for cleaning and fetching things.

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Stemwall is ready

The other thing to watch out for is that if you need to make cuts, try to cut on a cut-line. Up against the windows, you don’t have to worry about that, but if you have to use smaller pieces of block somewhere, they will snap together without problems if you cut them on the cut lines.

Third thing to watch out for is to alternate the corners every row. The corners have one short and one long side, so on every row, you should have one corner with a long end, and one corner with a short end, and on the next row, you switch them so they are always staggered. This is what holds your structure together.

Fourth thing is to make sure the blocks are snapped together properly. If they aren’t, you can get blow-outs and uneven walls, so knock each block with a hammer to make sure it snapped together properly with the block below it.

To start your first row, just line the blocks up next to eachother. Put your number 4 rebar into the clips inside the blocks and make sure that they overlap 20″. On our stemwall, we put the rebar in the outer clips all the way around.

On the second row we put our formlock in. Formlock is a piece of metal grid made to fit into the blocks and stiffen and straighten the wall. It is a major pain in the butt to put it in, but if you can do it, it does make a difference. Try to plan it so you’ll end up with a form lock row under the windows, and also at the top of the wall. They should go in every 2 rows, while the rebar goes in every row.

Putting in formlock is definitely not a girl’s job. A big heavy guy might be good for the job, or a big heavy hammer. Push, squeeze and knock until you get it in.

The stemwall was supposed to be 3′ high (2 rows). But we built it 3 rows high, and filled it half way up the third block so the join would be inside the block.

Before we could pour the walls, we attached a special ICF bracing system that can hold the walls straight when they are being poured. DON’T try to pour the walls without this system – if it starts to lean when filled with concrete, there is nothing you can do to rectify it. With the support system in place, however, adjusting the walls is easy. You just turn the legs, and the wall will move in or out as needed.

You also need to put in vertical rebar every 2 feet. We drilled the rebar into the slab before we built the ICF wall. Tie it to your horizontal rebar with rebar ties so they don’t move when you pour the concrete.

And last, but not least, all the seams between the blocks were foamed with special ICF foam, and also foamed to the floor. Diagonals were checked, and OSB bracing were put along vertical seams at the top of the wall. Lots of work!

And, if you want to save yourself some grief later, make sure you cover the tops of the walls with feltpaper and duct tape. You don’t want those knobs full of concrete if you are planning to build the rest of your walls in ICF, too. Keep them clean, and you’ll be glad you did…

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We used a conveyer belt with a long sock!

Looking good, isn't it?

The first thing to do is to calculate the concrete. If you are mathematically inclined, you can do it yourself with a simple calculator. Just remember to calculate everything in feet, so if your slab is 4″ thick, that is 1/3′. If this doesn’t appeal to you, CLICK HERE to get access to a concrete calculator that will do it for you.
Before calculating the amount you need, you have to try to get the pad as level as possible. We actually got down on our knees with a large level and scraped and raked until it was as flat as we could get it. A little over the top? Not really. If you are trying to calculate the concrete for a 42′x42′ square, and you are 1/4″ off on your measurements across the whole pad, that adds up to 1.4 cu yards! It doesn’t take more that a 1/4″ discrepancy to screw up your calculation!
This is why people end up either short, or they’ll have 2 yards of concrete sitting somewhere on their property, and I tell you, 2 yards of concrete is hard to hide!
Anyway, on our pour, we ended up with half a bucket left over! We did the measurements as accurately as we could, after flattening everything with a level, and then we added about 1/2 yard to that, and it worked great!

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Ready for concrete

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The ground is prepped

This is what it looked like before we put the plastic on top.

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