ICF Bracing

Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) construction is increasingly popular for energy-efficient homes and commercial buildings in Canada. ICF walls are built using interlocking foam blocks that serve as permanent formwork — concrete is poured inside the forms, creating a highly insulated, structurally strong wall system.

ICF bracing is temporary scaffolding and support installed during the pour to keep the foam forms from bowing, shifting, or blowing out under the hydraulic pressure of wet concrete. Proper bracing is critical to ensure walls are plumb, level, and structurally sound after the pour.

Hilltop manufactures reusable ICF bracing systems suited for residential and commercial ICF builds.

Bracing set-up and features.

- The aluminum strong back channel is screwed to the ICF wall. There are slotted holes used to screw the channel onto the wall, the slotted holes will allow for the form to sink from pouring concrete.
- One gravity pin is inserted into the channel which pins the scaffold bracket and turnbuckle into the channel.
- The bottom end of the turnbuckle is fastened to the ground or floor.
- A hand rail is mounted on the scaffold bracket.
- Planks are mounted on the scaffold bracket and the hand rail.

Break down of each part

- Crate - Our crate holds 40 complete sets of bracing and is powder coated.

- Channel - The channel is extruded aluminum meaning there are no sharp edges and the channel has been engineered to exceed the structural reequipments of the channel.

- Turnbuckle - The turnbuckle is designed from powder coated steel HSS. The turnbuckle telescopes to allow the user to set the turnbuckle to the exact desired length.

- Scaffold Bracket - The scaffold bracket is designed from 1/4" steel sheet metal and is powder coated.

- Hand Rail - The hand rail has been designed to wit stand and exceed the minimum requirements for scaffold systems.

- Channel Adapter - The channel adapter is used to mount a turnbuckle into a horizontally mounted channel, a 4' frost wall will need a channel horizontally across the top to keep the wall straight, the channel adapter will be use to mount the turnbuckle into the channel.

Crates both standard and custom order.

We sell crates which hold 40 complete sets of bracing per crate. The crate will hold 40 channels, 40 turnbuckles, 40 scaffolds, 40 handrails and 80 gravity pins. We also will make custom crates for specific products or quantities.

ICF Bracing Over-view