NEPTUNE BEACH, Fla. – A new hurricane-resistant construction technology called Insulated Concrete Form, or ICF, is catching on in Northeast Florida.
After Hurricane Michael hit the Florida Panhandle in October, an image showed one house that was left standing on Mexico Beach. That home was built with ICF.
ICF is made of the same foam used in disposable coolers. Rebar is put in between and concrete is poured inside of that. Then it’s stacked like Legos inside of the home, making the walls resistant to high winds.
Mark Mantarro rode out Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and decided to build his Neptune Beach home with ICF five years ago. It was one of the first local residential homes built with the material.
ICF adds about 30% to the cost of construction, but Mantarro believes it is worth it.
“We paid a little more upfront and it is not insignificant, but we don’t have the concerns year after year,” said Mantarro.
He also saves on insurance because of the ICF in his house.
Aria Homes owner Irina Johnson was the general contractor for Montarro’s home. She is seeing an increase in hurricane-resistant construction.
“We all love living close to the beach. It’s beautiful. You shouldn’t be so afraid. But you should be cautious. You should put some thought into it,” said Johnson, who is currently building Tony Wanderson’s house on Ponte Vedra Beach.
Wanderson survived Hurricane Andrew 27 years ago.
“We prepared for it. Thought we were ready and the storm came through and we pretty much lost our house and sat in our car for 2 ½ hours, waiting for the storm to get out to feel safe,” said Wanderon.
Wanderson said he will never live in a house constructed like that again. His dream home is being built 35 feet above sea level, so he is not using ICF, but is using steel pilings, concrete block and sea walls to make sure it stands strong during future storms.
“I don’t know that I’d ever stay if a Category 4 or 5 were coming anymore, but more so is just making sure that you’re building a home up to standards set by the city or the state and probably exceeding them if you’re going to live on the beach,” said Wanderson.