Building blocks

Two local entrepreneurs are using a new building material in their first construction project.

Dennis Marchi and Jerry Zimmer of Zim-Mar LLC in Cape Girardeau are building a 2,000-square-foot home with an 1,800-square-foot finished basement in the Whispering Oaks subdivision using insulated concrete forms, the first residential project in Cape Girardeau to do so.

The forms are manufactured by the Logix company of Toronto, Canada, and are considered a revolution in building construction by local builders.

Made of recycled materials, the forms are lightweight rectangles of expanded polystyrene sheets reminiscent of white Styrofoam coffee cups. Each form is a component of two 2 3/4-inch thick expanded polystyrene sheets that are 16 inches high and 4 feet long connected with a 6-inch-wide brace made of recycled milk cartons. The brace is shaped to hold supporting steel rebar, horizontal rods used to strengthen concrete.

The forms have interlocking components that are reminiscent of Lego blocks, allowing the forms to be stacked on top of each other securely up to about 10 feet high. At this point, vertical supports are inserted and cement is poured in the 6-inch space between the sheets, creating a solid cement exterior wall insulated inside and out with the thick, polystyrene sheets that are kept in place.

The end result is an exterior wall almost 12 inches thick compared to a standard wood frame wall of 4 inches. The process is repeated for each 10 feet of building height until the desired height of the building is reached.

The polystyrene sheets are easily cut, allowing contractors to install windows and electrical wiring components with ease and accept a variety of interior and exterior wall coverings including plaster, wood and gypsum wallboard for interior finishes and stone, vinyl, brick and log for exteriors.

Using less concrete

Larry Payne of Rose Construction Products provided the cement for the house. Using the insulated concrete forms saved on the amount of concrete used for the basement, he said.

With conventional plywood braces, a basement wall needs to be 10 inches thick. But with the Logix forms making a total wall width of 12 inches, Payne said only 6 inches of cement was poured.

A new material on the outside walls is being used to build a house in Cape Girardeau's Whispering Oaks subdivision.

While the polystyrene sheets slowed cement curing time, it wasn't significant enough to delay construction, he said.

Robert Hinkebein of Hinkebein Construction in Chaffee, Mo., is excited about using insulated concrete forms, as they are called, for the first time on a Cape Girardeau residence. He said the forms have been used in nonresidential construction in the area with success.

And while Zim-Mar's project is a five-bedroom luxury home, Hinkebein said there are no limits to how a builder can work with the forms.

"They can be used for any size house," he said.

Insulated concrete forms are gaining in popularity for a variety of reasons, including superior energy efficiency, sound insulation, structural strength and moisture resistance compared to traditional building methods all while being environmentally friendly, said Logix regional manager Steve Brown.

While home buyers can expect to spend about 5 percent more for a house using ICFs than a traditional wood-frame house, Brown said they will more than make up the difference in energy savings.

"We see less illness and allergy problems than conventional housing because the indoor air quality is much better," he said.

Todd Marchi of Vernon L. Godecke Co. in St. Louis, one Logix's distributors, said use of the product can reduce a homeowner's insurance by up to 25 percent because the forms act as a fire retardant while providing superior energy savings.

"Compared to a wood-frame house, ICFs will save a homeowner about 44 percent in heating and about 34 percent in cooling bills," he said.

The house in Whispering Oaks is so airtight a special whole-house humidifier and air purifier was installed. Called a Humidifall, the humidifier is a built-in waterfall, providing a unique visual effect while clearing the air of collected dust, pollens and other indoor contaminants by filtering the water at the rate of 25-feet per second.

Marchi thinks the structural security an all-cement house offers will attract home buyers looking for an energy-efficient home.

"And I liked the idea of building a house with recycled materials," Marchi said.

The solid concrete foundation and exterior provide more than eight times the strength of conventionally framed buildings, meaning they are better able to withstand tornadoes and earthquakes, which Marchi pointed out is valuable as Cape Girardeau sits on the New Madrid fault line.

And homeowners qualify for up to $2,000 refund from the government for purchasing an energy-efficient home, he said.

The house should be completed in March, he said, and is priced competitively in the subdivision.

carel@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127