# wiring new icf home



## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

Ug... a glutton for punishment, I see. :laughing:

Not too much info out there. A little bit on this site is about as much as you'll see in any one place.


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

fishman302 said:


> fixing to start a new icf home does any body know of a site that has some info on this application


 

I've done a bunch of them. Any openings on the exterior walls will get the polystyrene troughed out for the wires to pass. X3 your normal time for any openings in the foam. They're fun but messy


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

mcclary's electrical said:


> I've done a bunch of them. Any openings on the exterior walls will get the polystyrene troughed out for the wires to pass. X3 your normal time for any openings in the foam. They're fun but messy


Do you use that special hot knife tool, a router, or some other implement of destruction?


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

MDShunk said:


> Do you use that special hot knife tool, a router, or some other implement of destruction?


Electric chain saw. Run a long bolt through the bar so it serves as a depth guide.


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

MDShunk said:


> Do you use that special hot knife tool, a router, or some other implement of destruction?


 
I've found a sawzall to work the best. The router is too messy, although it makes a slightly better looking cut. But once you foam in your wires, who cares?

The hotknife makes fumes

A sawzall can make two parallel cuts, let the blad go all the way back and bounce off the cement. Then remove chunk of foam . Lay wire in place. Hilti shot one hole straps to the cement and get inspection. After inspection, spray foam the troughes.


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

mcclary's electrical said:


> I've found a sawzall to work the best. The router is too messy, although it makes a slightly better looking cut. But once you foam in your wires, who cares?
> 
> The hotknife makes fumes
> 
> A sawzall can make two parallel cuts, let the blad go all the way back and bounce off the cement. Then remove chunk of foam . Lay wire in place. Hilti shot one hole straps to the cement and get inspection. After inspection, spray foam the troughes.


A chainsaw makes the perfect sized slot for the wire to stay in place without fastening. i just take some scrap wire and wedge it in for inspection. Foam afterwards. All done.


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## farlsincharge (Dec 31, 2010)

480sparky said:


> Electric chain saw. Run a long bolt through the bar so it serves as a depth guide.


Great minds think alike.

Cut the boxes in with a drywall saw, use pieces of that foam to wedge into the trough holding your wire after.

What are you guys using for boxes. We use the Iberville 2104 lssax as that is all we have found that will work. They are normally used for steel studs.


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

farlsincharge said:


> Great minds think alike.
> 
> Cut the boxes in with a drywall saw, use pieces of that foam to wedge into the trough holding your wire after.
> 
> What are you guys using for boxes. We use the Iberville 2104 lssax as that is all we have found that will work. They are normally used for steel studs.



I just use a normal 4sq. Ramset to 'crete. Mud ring to required depth.


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

480sparky said:


> A chainsaw makes the perfect sized slot for the wire to stay in place without fastening. i just take some scrap wire and wedge it in for inspection. Foam afterwards. All done.


 

They won't let us get away without fastening here. Even if i cut the slots to fit the wire tightly, they still require strapping within the 8" or 12" rules. I argued with them about it because after the foam, it will be secure. Their argument was it's not secure at the time of rough in


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## fishman302 (Feb 6, 2011)

guys thanks for the info this is a new one on me . all sound like good ideas ill give them all a try and see what works best for me.


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## wcord (Jan 23, 2011)

480sparky said:


> I just use a normal 4sq. Ramset to 'crete. Mud ring to required depth.


we use 2104lle and spray foam them into place. Just make sure you block them so the foam doesnt push the boxes out
Also we spray foam the slot and once its set, then we call for an inspection.
have been using the sawzall method but have been considering the electric chainsaw


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## nick.pei (Jun 15, 2009)

Our work uses skill saw with a dado blade. Easily set the depth and gives you the width you need. Drywall saw for box cutouts


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

mcclary's electrical said:


> They won't let us get away without fastening here. Even if i cut the slots to fit the wire tightly, they still require strapping within the 8" or 12" rules. I argued with them about it because after the foam, it will be secure. Their argument was it's not secure at the time of rough in



So when you run NM through the holes you drilled in studs, they won't accept that either?


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## Voyager (Mar 4, 2010)

Use the hot knife (I think it is called a foam scoop). It works fast and doesn't leave any mess like a saw would. I have done several of these and the foam dust will get all over you, other workers and the job site if you use a saw blade of any kind. Static electricity will make it nearly impossible to brush off. The cleanup afterwards is a bitch.


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

480sparky said:


> So when you run NM through the holes you drilled in studs, they won't accept that either?


 

Of course they would. It's plainly written in the NEC the hole would count as support. It's not, however, plainly written that jamming in between two pieces of styrofoam would count as support.




wcord said:


> we use 2104lle and spray foam them into place. Just make sure you block them so the foam doesnt push the boxes out
> Also we spray foam the slot and once its set, then we call for an inspection.
> have been using the sawzall method but have been considering the electric chainsaw


 

Around here, foaming the slots before inspection would be no different than drywalling a wall before a rough in inspection


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## sdico (Jun 27, 2013)

*Installing wiring in ICFs*

There's a 1/4" bit for drills that is designed to be used like a rotozip bit for drywall. Use it in your rotozip, setting depth to slightly less than the thickness of the foam. Insert fully, and you will create a slot that retains about 95% of the dust created. Run a shop vac over it, and it will clean out completely. A 2 1/2" foam ICF will allow you to place up to 4 wires in each slot. Tap them in with a small block of wood. Works great & allows you to select small areas to run all your 'chases' in. If you standardize the locations (example: Horizontally, 6" to 10" from ceiling) then you don't have to worry about a drywall screw in your wiring. Just don't forget to tell your drywall contractor about your "standard".


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## sdico (Jun 27, 2013)

sdico said:


> There's a 1/4" bit for drills that is designed to be used like a rotozip bit for drywall. Use it in your rotozip, setting depth to slightly less than the thickness of the foam. Insert fully, and you will create a slot that retains about 95% of the dust created. Run a shop vac over it, and it will clean out completely. A 2 1/2" foam ICF will allow you to place up to 4 wires in each slot. Tap them in with a small block of wood. Works great & allows you to select small areas to run all your 'chases' in. If you standardize the locations (example: Horizontally, 6" to 10" from ceiling) then you don't have to worry about a drywall screw in your wiring. Just don't forget to tell your drywall contractor about your "standard".


By the way - if you only put one or two wires in a slot & imbed them fully, a drywall screw will never reach them.


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## JPRO2 (Dec 17, 2008)

http://www.ipexamerica.com/content/...roductid=109&submarketid=17&marketsegmentid=5 this is what we started using great product works really well and the finished product is perfect. For cutting we use an electric chainsaw


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

The Ipex box probably works well but it is special here order so on a recent job I used Nutech airtight plastic boxes. There were vertical plastic strips imbedded in the styrofoam so I drove self tapping screws through the flange on the box into the plastic strip. It worked well.

I didn't want to buy any special tools for this job so I used a Sawzall and cut a trench through to the concrete. I then bought a small can of spray foam to hold the cable in place in spots. This allowed the inspector to see the wiring. He was impressed with the fact that I trenched all the way back to the concrete. He said some guys cut a slice and try to stuff the cable in just below the surface (which he has failed). Like most jobs, if an inspector sees that you are making a concentrated effort to make it safe, he will be sympathetic.


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## lighterup (Jun 14, 2013)

*icf home*

I like the hot knife , and cut narrow channels deep so nm is away from outer edge and tightly fitted in channel. 
I used pieces of wood shoved in channel at 4' intervals as well as within
6" of box knock outs , but I'm not in the state of euphoria , I'm in north
east Ohio and they did not have a problem with these methods.
Some of the contractors building these homes hate it if you take too much
of the foam away because they say it's compromising the integrity of the
"green" factor.


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