Building an ICF house

Miscellaneous

T.E.:

Hi, my friend sent me the link to your website. I live in the neighborhood and saw your old house come down and have been watching the new one go up. I had never seen construction like that, so I've found the progress to be interesting. I hope to one day build a new house on a nearby lot that I just bought. So far, yours is looking very nice. Good luck with the rest of the project.

Vlado:

Thanks. Yes, every step of the way, from design to construction, everyone involved was very excited about the project. I hope that over time our build code will become more consumer/owner/environment-oriented by requiring better insulation and structural soundness.

I wish you good luck with your project-to-be.

Windows

Bruce:

I've been following your building process for a while now. You've

gotten your windows installed so you've made the decision on who's to

install. However, I've missed who the window manufacture is. I'm

unable to tell by looking at the pictures. Would you please update the

site about who and why you picked what you did or point me to where I

missed the information.

Thanks,

Bruce

Vlado:

Hi Bruce. Thanks for your email. Well, you did not miss it. I deferred that update for a reason. But, now that you asked, here it comes:

Windows are fiberglass windows from Marvin, Integrity. It was not an easy decision and, at the time, it was not easy primarily because of their price. The other choice was vinyl windows from a local manufacturer. These other windows were less than half the price yet with similar energy savings features. To make it harder to decide, we have around 25 windows in our design. Marvin Integrity are supposedly quality windows with supposedly good customer support. This all from researching the Internet. I will not go into details, you can get the specs from manufacturer's website. Further research suggested that energy savings are pretty much the same across most manufacturers with the given set of features (argon, glazing, frame insulation). Marvin Integrity windows are fiberglass on the outside, meaning [allegedly] color will not fade as much over time due to UV exposure. Wood is on the inside, which is generally wanted and praised for its looks, but for us its insulating properties were more important. Marvin Integrity also carries 20-year warranty on insulating glass air seal, meaning argon should not leak over time. But then again, how would you know that your seal cracked and that you should call customer support line. As you can tell by now, it was a bit of an educated guess, a bit of a bet, and a bit a visit that I paid to a nearby construction site that had the other windows just installed - they were ok on the outside; acceptable, yet not as nice on the inside. During the course of making the decision, we went to Marvin showroom twice and we also went to other manufacturer's production facility. Closer inspection suggested Integrity was somewhat better built window but, then again, that is what one would expect at such a difference in price. Since this is one of those things that you cannot know until you experience it, our experience with Marvin Integrity will find its place on the page I am planning to add as we start living in the house.

Now on to the reason for deferring the update:

Our Marvin Integrity windows have since arrived and were installed. However, there is a visible difference between the color of grille-between-glass and the color of the window. We notified our builder, who in turn contacted Marvin and now we are waiting to see how this will be resolved. I guess the claimed Marvin customer support is put to the test. I will update the website with whether this is resolved to our satisfaction.

Regards,

Vlado