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ICF exterior wall installation renovation

JBarca | Posted in General Questions on

Hey y’all,

We’re looking at buying a house that was built quite recently using ICF construction throughout. We are hoping to add a second exterior door, but after some research it seems wildly ill advised to do so.

The room in question has two exterior walls. The first is not load bearing but already has a large window in it. The second is load bearing but doesn’t have any windows.

Are we out of our minds to try to add an exterior door to either of these walls? Would adding a door to a wall with a relatively large (for the size of the wall) window in it compromise the wall too much?

I’ve read about the need to use steel to reinforce the header, as well as there being some challenges with pouring concrete in place after the fact. 

Can anyone advise on this at all? 

Thank you kindly. 

j

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Replies

  1. Expert Member
    Peter Engle | | #1

    If the window opening is wider than your proposed door opening, then you might be OK. Most windows and doors are standardized at 6'8" high, and the header would already be in place for the window. You would just have to cut down the wall to floor level. That's harder in an ICF wall but not impossible.

    Cutting a door into a blank ICF wall is similar to doing it in a masonry wall. Lots of cutting, bracing, steel supporting the wall above the opening, etc. Not impossible, but lots harder than installing one in an existing window opening.

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