Home Site Map - Steps - Basement Walls and Ceiling -
Access Holes
(The evaluation building is only single story so there are no concrete floors.)
Required holes
Here are some ideas for the holes you will need through the ICF walls and the concrete ceiling/floor above. It is very hard to make holes through ICF walls after the concrete pour, so it is important to fully plan ahead. In addition to the holes listed below you should add lots and lots of spare holes. If in doubt, add a hole, or preferably two. The list below is a bit random and could do with a cleanup, but that all helps stimulate the deep thought process.
Use 4" ABS pipe collars and then the actual pipes or electricals can be fitted later.
Main electric conduit from plot junction to come through back wall
Will come through the back wall in the service room that's mid way along the basement back wall. Needs thick cable in schedule 40 conduit from the main junction panel that's to the north of the driveway.
Main water pipe from Well to come through back wall
Will come through the back wall in the service room that's mid way along the basement back wall. The pipe must be well insulated (inside wall EPS sheeting), particularly as it comes through the drain rock backfill area so that cold air does not freeze it.
Implement toilet and sink drain pipes for Main Level above
These drain pipes need to be in the floor above, ie in the ceiling
of this level. This is because most things are either in an island (eg
kitchen second sink) or are separated from the DWV stack by a
doorway. Typically each wet area will need a toilet ring in the
floor plus one for the bidet plus a bath waste pipe in the floor
plus a general one for the sink and anything else.
Provide floor drain in bathroom and utility areas (Basement ceiling)
Drains in bathroom floors are a good idea and would be hard to
retrofit later through the concrete.
If nothing else they guard against someone accidentally letting the
bath overflow.
During house construction they may also have a role in draining
water off the flat roof.
Put a drain under the Main Level bathroom and one under the utility
room. Also put one under the island in the kitchen.
Plumbing and electrical holes through ICF walls and floors
Don't forget there are 2 internal ICF walls that also need holes.
Make sure you have holes for all the plumbing and electricals that
are on the house blueprints.
More holes and add plenty of spare holes to be safe.
Need a few electrical plugs on the outside wall for garden power.
Need water taps for the garden on outside walls. Need ample external
garden taps.
Need holes for broadband, gas, satellite coax etc.
Need ERV holes (ERV also needs to provide intake air to wood fire)
(ERV ducting will be 4")
Need tumble dryer vents.
Need extractor fan vents for bathrooms and kitchen. All bathrooms
need extractor fans. Ideally even the ones that have windows
(although code does not require it).
Hot (and cold) water needs to go to the garden for a garden shower
and for the swimming pool.
Need a pipe through back wall near each end in case a sump pump ever
needs to be retrofitted. A sump pump needs a way to get the water to
a storm drain.
Need a pipe to and from the rain water storage tank (which will be
buried outside).
Need fire sprinkler pipes.
Need trash shoots from Kitchen to basement.
Need fire ash shoot to basement from living room fire.
Need wall and floor holes as per drawings. This includes wall
alcoves eg up the stairway and for appliance garages.
Special provision is needed for the two bathrooms on the basement
level (including the apartment bathroom). The toilets need to be
mounted to the ICF wall using 5/8" threaded studs. The baths are easier but even so need
some planning.
Need a separate waste pipe to the outside from the kitchen garbage
disposal unit. Waste pipe from garbage disposal will be separately
routed out of the house so that it can either be routed to the
septic or to a compositor. The switch will be in the basement so it
is just a pipe to an external composter.
Need access holes through the floors. Lots are required. They get
services from the basement to the upper floors. Used for lots of things
such as sewer pipe, hot and cold water, radiant heating for upper
floors, electricals, etc, etc.
Make sure right floor holes done to get all pipes and wires through
PEX pipes, DWV, ERV (ERV ducting will be 4"), radiant heating PEX,
central vac, etc.
To do this it will be necessary to mark out where the various rooms
on the Main Level will be so that holes in the floor are provided to
get eg the PEX through under the fixture.
Sink drain pipes can be routed later, but if floor mounted toilets
are used then their waste pipes need to come up through the concrete
floor.
For central vac, need holes in the concrete floor. The holes in the
floor also serve as drainage if the fire sprinkler system goes off.
Floor plan drawings need to show floor holes.
Hole for a possible safe in internal ICF wall
Even if you are not thinking of having a safe (I'm not) it is still worth providing a hole for it. Internal ICF walls are the best place.
Make sure right wall holes done to get all pipes and wires through
Outside wall lights etc.
Implementing the holes
The holes are implemented using 4" ABS pipe that is braced on both sides using 2-by lumber. The ABS pipe is cut to a length of 16-1/4".
(The pictures show bits of 2x4 to sometimes attach to the vertical bracing, but it is better to just always toenail them to the batons using 3" screws (in lots of places you need this anyway, so you may as well do it everywhere). Drill angled screw holes 1-5/8" in from the edge so the holes come out about half way on the edge.)
Cut 4" holes in the 2-by lumber using a 4" ABS joining collar as a marking template. The hole needs to form an interference fit with 4" ABS pipe.
Screw in place the bracing lumber on the inside of the wall. Cut the ICF polystyrene around the hole and dig out the circular piece of polystyrene. Be very careful not to let bits of polystyrene fall into the wall cavity.
Use gentle hammering to fit the pipe after the braced holes have been made.
Wall hung toilet mounting studs
ICF inspection holes
Under all the windows and in strategic places in the ICF walls it is necessary to implement inspection hole. The functions are:
Let air out during the pour
Let you see the concrete level
Let you poke a concrete vibrator into the wet concrete to
consolidate it.
A plug is fitted to the hole at the last minute as the concrete level rises. It is held in place using wood screws.
After cutting the round hole with a jigsaw, keep the center piece and screw it to another piece of 2-by (at least 7" wide) to form the plug. Glue (with EPS adhesive) a 4" circle of scrap ICF polystyrene wall to the round wood to complete the plug.
Inspect, brace, and repair ICF EPS (Basement walls and ceiling)
Inspect the integrity of the ICF EPS in detail to find anywhere the
concrete could leak out. If necessary make and apply lumber to brace
it.
Fill any holes with EPS glue or foam.
Cover top edges of top ICF
To protect the top Lego protrusions from concrete, cover the top with plenty of decent duct tape.
(I tried using 2" scrap bottoms of ICF blocks, but the concrete sticks them in place so they are hard to get off.)
Thoroughly inspect all dimensions, window placement, etc
Inspection and double checking should have been done throughout the whole block placing process, but do a final inspection for plumb, level, true, etc as you won't be able to change things after the concrete pour.
Cut away Form-a-drain in southern corners
Want the concrete corner blocks to be right up against the
polystyrene that is vertical against the footings. That polystyrene
is 3.6" thick and separates the 72 degree house concrete from the 47
degree corner blocks.
Cap off the ends of the Form-a-drain, but not actually necessary
because they will already be angled down away from the corners.
There is no requirement to put waterproofing round the concrete or
to put gravel under it.