As a licensed electrician I can confirm this is the proper way to remove knock outs.

I came to the comments for this

Peter Beyer thx for the tip! Sounds like a great idea. Having trouble visualizing it though. Do you have a pic or a how to video?

You want to let the chain hit the concrete so no one steals your chainsaw! Our favorite is a 10" blade for better control. We cut out for ALL switches & receptacle boxes with the saw. Need extra room for a plumbing stack? Foam glue a 2x4 to the location, cut on both sides of the 2x4 with the chainsaw. Push the 2x4 flush with the wall & retain with some scrap wood. After the pour, saw out the foam with the chainsaw and you have a 4" square chase.

@@cfberry two hockey pucks with a bolt and some washers

Then the ICF wall would be weaker and the cable is no less protected than when it is tacked to the side of a wood stud.

I used a hot knife for my build and it worked great. Yes it does enlarge the grove a little bigger but at the end of the day it is of no consequence since you need to anchor the wire to the concrete to keep it as far back as possible so a little extra width isnt a bad thing and you re-spray foam around the boxes and wire channels anyways. Typically there isnt a huge number of electrical channels and boxes on exterior walls so the little extra spray foam need to fill all the wire channels that are 1" wide instead or 3/4" probably doesnt even equal 1 can on most homes and the homes that are big enough to need two can afford the second can :) Either way you do it you win because you have one of the best built and insulated homes you can buy. I had to sell my ICF home when I moved out of state but I can honestly say if I ever built another home ICF's would not even be a question its the only way IMO.

Because $

Exactly

Thanks for the insight, this is good to know and the exact reason that I hang out on youtube watching videos of things I "already know how to do". I know conduit in the forms (i.e. embedded in the concrete) weakens the wall, but it seems to be the better route IMO. My thought is to go up a block size from what is necessary from a structural standpoint and then there's room for the conduit without compromising wall integrity.

NM contains pvc coated cables within it but the outer sheath of NM, which contacts the EPS is protecting the inner conductors. The electrical code specifically allows routing NM cable through a channel cut in EPS. I wouldn’t be worried about this.

I was cringing watching this video for the same reasons.

I don't think I would want to work on any of your sites.

The plastic webs that hold the block together are a half inch below the foam surface and provide attachment points every 6 inches horizontally. It's like having a stud every 6 inches. BuildBlock also has hard attachment points that allow for attachment of heavy cabinetry or finishes.You can learn more here: buildblock.com/buildblock-icf-installer-training-series-trades-finishes/

@@BuildBlockICF But how do you find these webs under the drywall? Will a stud finder read the webs?

@@rockys7726 The electronic ones will not but there is a Japanese stud finder that is actually a sharp pin on the end of a handle that you stick through the drywall. You know you’ve hit the webbing when it stops short of bottoming out.

@@ACitizenOfOurWorld so you leave holes everywhere you miss the stud?

The clearance for drywall is built into the purpose built ICF boxes. That being said based on the way this guy was beating holes with that drill this guy doesn't seem to care much about the right way to do things.

Similar as the metal outlet box, just bigger.

Just frame the inside of your ICF build so you won’t have to cut into the foam.

@@4philipp termites can eat the frame. Hard to spot termites under icf. Rockwood will help I assume as I dulation to prevent them.

I'm building my home with ICF as we speak. It's better to lay electrical after wall is concreted in and via the inner polysterene wall :)

​@@shrek22use metal Frame

I always wondered why they don't just mount a run of pvc conduit in the ICF pour for electrical. Jamming the wire in a small foam slot just seams crappy to me. I suppose it's actually mounted deeper than in a 2x4 wall.

Only if you accidentally sit on your hot knife!

BuildBlock ICFs Mounting one box literally takes ten times (conservative estimate) to install. So I would say it’s a pain in the ass.

Yes but you dont have to drill holes through all of those studs!

Just along the exterior walls. Interiors are still sticks

Why? I live in a northern climate in Tornado country and am looking to build in a rural area. The peace of mind it would give knowing my family is protected. Those concrete walls keep things nice and quiet during frequent 30+mph winds. I'm very interested in why you dislike ICF so much. I've been so concentrated on all the pluses maybe I'm missing some significant negatives.

@@christopherbeddoe406 Think of it as a swimming pool, where moisture and air cannot escape unless you ventilate, therefore losing air you pay to heat while paying to heat make up air, so there goes some of the energy efficiency. People that use drywall, especially painted with acrylic or latex paints will get mold as vapor that gets behind it cannot escape easily. Wooden floors will also have trapped moisture and termites can easily make their way up the styrofoam. If a whole family is living there, and even large pets etc, thats a lot of vapor expelled and is even more than the showers and cooking, so you'd have to ventilate seriously to keep condensation from forming. The roof systems are often just wooden framed and shingeled or metal panels so same as mobile home these days unless reinforced. I'd prefer build a reinforced frame and place hempcrete, as it insulates, breathes staying dry. Foam shrinks and hardens over time as well, but even clay walls and hempcrete which is not made with concrete but lime will last centuries. Or a strong 1 story timber frame infilled with hemprcrete, woodwool panels plastered in breathable lime, or pourous brick and lime. Seriously the best materials. Wooden frames and steel frames can be made very strong and anchored well into the earth. Idk about roofs in tornado zones, but, most ICF's are just wooden framed standard roofs. Use only nails and the thing might come apart.

Otherwise, as those methods are still scarce for some reason, I'd just buy manufactured housing or mobile home rated for your area, the company should anchor the thing down with large screw anchors or to a foundation and insure and replace if the thing gets torn up

Not sure where you get your info from but I hope you are not a contractor

@@gfy2979 all ICF and tightly sealed homes need a dehumidifier to remove moisture. This can also be accomplished when the AC is running. I open my windows at home a lot but you need a source of make up/ fresh air. This can be set up on a thermostat so fresh air comes in at the best time of the day.

I thought that was ridiculous also but I'm still open to ICF

John Nickolsen you’re dealing with concrete, so you need a hammer drill 😂

@@Couchlover47 Sorry, I'm getting back to you so late. I never said I lost interest in ICF Construction. Don't know how you read that into my comment. I clearly stated that I lost interest in these particular videos. As far as using tools for their unintended purpose, this guy is literally using a cordless drill as a physical hammer. (This isn't like somebody in a pinch using a screwdriver for a chisel.) Not to mention, chipping at concrete with no eye protection. This guy is a walking liability lawsuit. My background is in design, manufacture, and installation of equipment for labratories, clean rooms, and cryogenic research with over 43 years in the trade.

@@ELIRAXPRT The reason it's taken me a year to get back to your comment is as I stated, I seldom watch this poster's videos anymore for reasons previously stated. In my original comment, I never made any indication of a loss of interest in ICF Construction. Better supplies and techniques coming out daily.