Exterior Walls - ICF Designer

Interactive Demo — Demonstration House Floor Ground Floor 1 level

Windows & doors

Building view

Exterior Walls

Review the saved layout and fine-tune dimensions before internal walls.

Status

Building closed successfully…

Interactive demo opened. Explore every stage freely; your changes are temporary and cannot alter the universal example.

Building closed successfully. Fine-tune dimensions if needed, then continue.

Convert a chain of walls — choose start and end

Pick the first and last wall. Check the highlighted path, choose Timber or ICF, then convert.

First wall Last wall Direction around chain Convert selected walls to

Timber framing Timber insulation

Retaining controls are off in Project Settings.

Add Exterior Timber Walls →

Add exact timber envelope runs after ICF optimisation. They will shape the roof and building envelope without changing ICF quantities.

Rotate building

Quarter-turns or custom angle

Reorient the plan on the sheet. A saved north direction rotates with the building.

or

Fine adjustment

Shift two parallel walls

Shift two parallel walls to change a room dimension.

First Wall

Click a wall on the plan to pick it.

Second Wall

Check that this wall is parallel to your first choice on the plan, especially for angled or irregular layouts.

Adjust by

mm

Apply exact amount (non-modular)

Off: rounded to the nearest 203.2 mm block to minimise site cuts. On: the exact amount.

Outputs

Area 179.43 m² · foundation layout · wall schedule

📐 Current Building Area: 179.43 m²

92.0°

Select walls in the plan, then use the adjustment controls at left. Use Dimensions in the top bar to show or hide measurements.

Select a wall in the plan first.
Or right-click a wall in the plan for its actions. Changing a dropdown is only a draft until you press its Apply or Convert button.

Page Help

Manual Adjustment

Purpose

Building Closure and Manual Adjustment are one page for review. After drawing or import you land here to inspect the saved wall geometry and any closure or module optimisation that was applied. Exact IFC takeoff runs can intentionally remain independent rather than being forced closed. It is the deliberate checkpoint to confirm or fine-tune wall lengths before the external layout becomes the foundation of everything downstream.

What ICF Designer Has Already Done

For an ordinary outline, applied the saved closure and module optimisation; angled layouts can use a suitable pair along their actual bearings, while exact IFC runs can remain independent.
Recorded the final saved wall lengths and any available original, pre-adjustment, cumulative adjustment, and differential evidence for the schedule.
Recorded non-module cut, waste, savings, and pre/post estimate evidence where the current layout provides it; the plan and schedule do not by themselves verify a cut position.

What Decisions Are Still Yours / Why It Matters

Review the recorded automatic adjustment, or make an exact/non-modular change where a dimension is critical. Choose an appropriate opposite-side wall pair and verify the outline after applying it. Review any saved evidence that a bastard cut is required. Automatic closure can include a non-modular remainder when full modules alone cannot close the outline. Forcing an exact dimension can also be the right call, but it can add bastard cuts, vertical joints, extra support, waste, and labour. This page is where you decide whether that trade is worth it, with the numbers in front of you.

What To Check

The wall schedule first — it's the numeric record behind the picture.
Any saved non-module cut evidence: exact changes can add vertical joints, extra support, waste, and labour, but a red schedule row does not verify the cut position.
That any fine-tuning is done before you carry the layout forward — this is the last geometry checkpoint before the model hardens.
The cost overlay is a design estimate for comparing options, not a contractor quote.

Practical Construction Notes

For an ordinary drawn outline, pressing Optimise applies closure and module optimisation before this review. Exact IFC takeoff runs can remain independent and are not forced closed.
Ordinary orthogonal closure normally uses long horizontal and vertical walls. Angled closure can instead solve a suitable non-parallel pair along its actual bearings. The roughly 101mm half-module limit applies to the ordinary closure remainder, not necessarily to the total recorded wall adjustment.
A bastard cut is a partial block needed when a wall length cannot be built from full modules. Where saved wall and opening evidence identifies a suitable host, the cut can be placed over the centre of the opening so the vertical joint lands where the wall is already interrupted rather than in a clear run of blockwork. The chosen opening must sit at least three modules (609.6mm) clear of either corner. If no opening qualifies, the saved placement falls back to the wall centre. The current plan and schedule do not by themselves verify that position.
Critical: unlike standard staggered block joints, a bastard cut creates a vertical joint running the full height of the wall. That joint needs extra support during the pour — typically a sheet of plywood each side covering the join — or it will bow.
Waste tip: the offcut from one adjusted wall can often be reused on the other adjusted wall.
The paired-wall tool is intended for opposite sides of an ordinary orthogonal outline. On an angled or irregular plan, verify that the offered pair really suits the geometry and confirm the outline remains correct after applying it.
Modular adjustment = add or remove whole 203.2mm modules; the app applies the same signed length change to both selected walls and then rebuilds the outline.
Non-modular (exact) adjustment = use the entered amount without rounding. A non-module result can require cut blocks, so use it when the source setout requires it and review the downstream construction effects.
Worked example: wall needs 5350mm; 26 blocks × 203.2mm = 5283mm; the remaining 67mm is the bastard cut. If that wall has a window clear of the corners, the cut goes over the centre of the window; if not, it goes to the wall centre.