Note: This blog post features Logix ICF, the predecessor to Element ICF. For the most up-to-date benefits and insights, we encourage you to explore our latest Element ICF Blog Posts.
This week we are talking about the “strong bones” of a Steel Reinforced Basement.
Most basements are built with regular concrete walls, usually about 8’ high and usually about 8” thick. And they are usually built WITHOUT steel reinforcing (“rebar”).
Residential-use rebar is a round steel rod that is cut to desired lengths. Residential grade is about 1/2” in diameter with a “deformed” or rough surface that will bond well with concrete. Rows of rebar cast in the wall and placed vertically increases the strength of the wall and rows of rebar placed horizontally reduces the amount the concrete wall will crack over time as the concrete ages.
How much does rebar cost? It depends where you are but let’s say about $0.40 per foot. A typical 30’x40’ basement might take about 700 feet of rebar and so that would mean a total material cost of about $300 for a rebar reinforced basement.
So over the lifetime of the home, that $300 of rebar in the basement walls will mean less wall movement, more structural stability, less cracking, less damage to finishes and less moisture coming in through the cracks.
That might well be the cheapest, most cost effective lifetime insurance you can buy for $300. As one builder said to me, “I would consider any homeowner who makes a conscious decision NOT to use rebar in the basement, an idiot.”
Logix ICF makes it easy to place rebar. Every Logix form contains “chairs” where horizontal rebar can quickly and easily snap into and Logix provides complimentary engineering guidelines that specify the right amount of rebar to use.
Strong bones. You can’t see them, but you always feel them. For life.
