ICF (Insulated Concrete Forms) are a fairly new concept to the general public and concrete contractors alike. Quite simply, they are stiff, hollow foam forms that fit together like a puzzle to create basement walls. Once they are fitted together, concrete is poured inside the foam forms. Although there are still contractors who know nothing ...
1. Introduction The International Residential Code (IRC) has prescriptive provisions for concrete house design. That is cool, because that means that you don’t have to hire an Engineer (or Architect) to a design concrete house. I mean you can if you want to (hire an Engineer or Architect), but we’re expensive. There are limitations to ...
Six years ago when we decided to build the “house of our dreams”, we considered a number of construction options. The house we lived in at that time was plagued with moisture problems in the basement, so we were determined to avoid that problem if at all possible. Many people in our area were going ...
The longwave radio band allows reception of a number of European broadcast stations, as well as some types of communications. It can be received on many shortwave and multiband radios sold in the United States, as well as some non-shortwave receivers available in Europe. Longwave is located at a lower frequency than AM (a.k.a. mediumwave), ...
One of the most important decisions for a homebuilder is what type of basement to install. Should it be a concrete block, poured cement, or insulated concrete form basement. There are benefits and drawbacks to each type of basement construction. Determining your current need with the right type of basement construction is critical to the ...
For those of you who do not know what “Rastra” is….it is an “ICF”. For those of you who do not know what an “ICF” is…it is an “Insulated Concrete Form”. Basically, a form made out of Styrofoam that allows concrete to be poured into it forming walls for a house. Pretty simple concept that ...
Many radio receivers are capable of receiving the sound portion of broadcast television programs. This feature is useful for portable listening or during power outages. Most TV band radios also receive regular AM and FM, some receive other bands as well. The vast majority of TV band radios don’t receive every TV channel (2-69). Most ...
We needed to replace our under-cabinet kitchen clock radio, as it was over twenty years old. So, I did some research through Google search words and found a fairly good selection of candidates. Our old one certainly didn’t have the built-in electronic wonders that the current ones do. One thing that I’m doing more of ...
Third Year in College – 2001: I was a psychology major. I had always desired to work in a helping profession. Psychology was interesting and it laid a great foundation for learning about people, but it was not the approach that I wanted to take. I did research to learn about other helping professions. I ...
Draft – Comments Welcome Outline Minimum Reinforcement Maximum Reinforcement Development Length Embedment of V.S. into Footing Termination of V.S. at Top of Wall Reinforcement Splices and Continuity Summary References 1. Minimum Reinforcement The minimum vertical reinforcement ratio for a wall in general is 0.0012 (Gr. 60 bars not larger than #5); however, this is for ...