ICF Homes
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Concrete Home Builders
ICF Homes – Insulated Concrete Forms
Houston is an ideal place to build an ICF home and Dreams 2 Reality is one of the few custom concrete home builders experienced in this technology.
Insulated Concrete Forms (or ICFs) are forms or molds that have built-in insulation for accepting reinforced concrete. ICFs have become a preferred home building product worldwide. These large, hollow blocks are filled with reinforcing bar and concrete.
The end result leaves you with a high-performing wall that is structurally sound, insulated, strapped, has a vapor barrier and is ready to accept final exterior and interior finishes. An Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) Home can be multiple stories high and have many design features of a typical frame home. The ICF walls incorporate framing, insulation, vapor barrier and shear resistance into one step.
ICF homes offer many benefits to the homeowner including:
- An ICF concrete home can provide substantial utility cost savings over conventional construction when complementary materials and methods are incorporated into the structure during construction.
- An ICF concrete home provides a quiet indoor environment.
- An ICF concrete home is durable in that the structure is solid concrete, unaffected by many of the problems of common frame construction.
- The insulation value of the EPS foam never deteriorates and is unaffected by moisture or settling.
- The solid wall construction eliminates drafts and air leaks that attribute to dust and pollen buildup within the home.
- An ICF concrete home that incorporates proper heating and cooling systems offers clean air environments for the occupants.
- An ICF concrete home does not incorporate cavity wall construction that can be conducive to moisture and mold buildup.
- ICF homes don’t offer a “readymade” home for bugs and critters to live unlike wood frame walls.
- ICF Homeowners repeatedly exclaim “We’ll never go back to wood after living in our ICF home”
ICF Concrete Homes – Why choose us
Dreams 2 Reality has a long standing record of proven customer satisfaction. Our method of concrete homes design and construction provides an optimum opportunity for complete client involvement. We limit the number of projects we accept in order to ensure our up front and personal touch for you and your new home.
If you’ve decided it’s time to move up to the luxury and comfort of a custom home, we hope you’ll view our website and and get an idea of what Dreams 2 Reality has to offer. Your choice in builders is one that will affect not only the outcome of your home, but your overall home building experience.
20 years of experience
Honesty
Quality
Customer Satisfaction
Customer Service
Flexibility
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Personal Care
What is ICF?
Insulated concrete form (ICF) is a system of expanded polystyrene (EPS) rigid insulation blocks separated by plastic webbing. It is used as an integrated concrete form to pour a concrete wall instead of a traditional wood plank or plywood form. ICF blocks come in interlocking sections, so a wall system fits tightly together. Once the blocks are in place, concrete is poured, and finishes like drywall and siding are attached to fastener strips embedded in the insulation.
Several steps of the construction process are made quicker because the insulation and fastener strips are included with the ICF blocks. ICF walls are typically between 6″ and 12″ thick. Wall thickness is often impacted by the soil condition and the amount of support that the overlying parts of a building require.
Is ICF Construction Less Expensive?
Insulated concrete forms cost about $150 per square foot, which is 2% to 7% more than standard wood-frame construction. Overall, you’ll likely end up spending about 5% to 10% more in total construction costs than you would for a conventional wood-frame home. Do keep in mind that the price of concrete can fluctuate, and the price of your home is also dependent on the design, local construction labor costs, and additional factors.
It is also important to remember that the amount of time required to compile all of the necessary permits for an ICF home will likely take longer than for a conventional home. Since this is not the standard in the residential construction industry, the permitting process can be a bit more arduous. A licensed builder will likely be familiar with this process to make it a smoother (and hopefully quicker) experience. And, for those DIYers out there, ICF homes are not something that we would recommend attempting yourself if you are not a licensed professional.
Location
P.O. Box 1524
560 Houston St.
Montgomery, TX 77356
*** By Appointment Only ***
