Owen Roberts is a big fan of insulating concrete form (ICF) construction. “I’m building my own house with that,” he says. “We used ICF on all four floors, and we’ve found it works great.” After a thorough scan of ICF brands on the market, Roberts settled on the Quad-Lock system, which consists of expanded polystyrene panels and polyethylene ties. Panels are available in three thicknesses, with insulating values from R-22 to R-40. The ties have flat tabs on both ends for the attachment of interior and exterior finishes. Plus, Roberts says, “You can do radiused walls.” Of the systems he has seen, “This seems to be the simplest and most flexible. The stuff works great.”
Up on the roof, Roberts has found another product that suits him. “For flat roofs we always used a double layer of modified, torched down,” he says. But insurance rates rose due to the risk of fire during installation, so Roberts switched to a roofing membrane from IB Roof Systems. This 80-mil PVC and co-polymer alloy material is seam-sealed with a heat gun, rather than with a flame. And while Roberts began using it out of necessity, he prefers the new system. “We’ve gone from a ¼-inch buildup to 1/16 inch,” he says. He does miss torched-down roofing in one sense, though. Fewer fires mean fewer restoration projects. “That took away a profit center for us,” he jokes. “We rebuilt a couple of those. One was for a roofer.”
Quad-Lock. 888.711.5625. www.quadlock.com. Circle 185.
IB Roof Systems. 800.426.1626. www.ibroof.com. Circle 186.
