________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
▲ Bruce Carrell , Carrell Group , President
Robust and resistant
“ We have a subdivision that ’ s been under construction for almost a year . The streets and infrastructure should be finished in June . In total , the community has 66 homes and an amenities center .
“ We ’ re also working on another development , comprised of around 60 homes , in the Myrtle Beach area ,” Bruce adds . “ Though it ’ s not finalized , we ’ re hopeful . But we remain incredibly busy with the custom homes side of the business , despite market fluctuations .”
Bruce and Grant started building with ICF in 2000 – a new method for a new millennium . “ In total ,” reveals Grant , “ I ’ d say we ’ ve completed north of 200 ICF projects , and we ’ ve won three major national awards in the process .
“ It wasn ’ t easy ,” he continues . “ We had to compete with builders and projects in much bigger metropolitan areas . We primarily build along the coastline of North and South Carolina , which tend to be smaller resort communities near the ocean , where hurricanes are an annual threat .”
By filling expanded polystyrene ( EPS ) foam panels with concrete , and reinforcing the structure with steel cables and rebar , ICF homes become incredibly robust and resistant . Unlike wood , moreover , a home built with ICF won ’ t buckle as easily under hurricane-force wind or quickly rot when water-logged .
Some estimate that ICF frames can withstand winds moving in excess of 300 miles per hour , which is particularly reassuring for customers of Carrell Group since , as Grant has pointed out , the possibility of a devastating hurricane is always around the corner .
“ The public really began to catch on to the power of ICF in the wake of Hurricane Katrina ,” highlights Grant . “ It really changed a lot , especially in terms of insurance coverage . It made sense for people to start building disaster-resistant homes . They ’ re also much safer when it comes to other kinds of catastrophes , whether it ’ s a fire or a leak causing water damage .
78