Joplin Habitat's storm-resistant house taking shape [The Joplin Globe, Mo.]

May 5—Joplin Area Habitat for Humanity has been partnering with the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety to construct a storm resistant home in Joplin for a local Marine Corps veteran and his family.

The institute is an independent, nonprofit, scientific research and communications organization supported solely by property insurers and reinsurers.

In 2010, the institute established the FORTIFIED program, a voluntary construction and re-roofing program designed to strengthen homes and commercial buildings against severe weather such as high winds, hail, hurricanes and tornadoes. Several representatives of the group toured the house Wednesday and met with the homeowner.

"Some of the things that are FORTIFIED related are things like sealing the roof deck," said Fred Malik, managing director of FORTIFIED Products at the institute. There are additional layers of protection underneath the roof cover on top of the wood deck, he said, so if the primary cover is damaged, water is prevented from coming inside the structure. "Water is an amplifier of damage," he said. "If it gets in the home, it can really cause lots of other consequences that can make the house unusable."

The roof of the new house is a FORTIFIED roof. When re-roofing a 2,000-square-foot home, the cost increase is typically between $1,000 and $3,000.

U.S. Marine Corps veteran Charles Timothy Peay, of Joplin, hopes to move into his first house in the 2100 block of South Empire Avenue in Joplin this summer. The home was dedicated on Veterans Day last year.

"It's amazing," Peay said. "Ever since the exterior walls went up, I've been waiting for things to happen. I'll come over, clean and meet people who are constructing it. Now that we have our forms up and our rooms are separated, the electrician has about one more day."

Peay started the Veterans Build application process with Habitat in 2018 and has volunteered with the organization on other projects. The Veterans Build program, established in 2017, provides volunteer and homeownership opportunities to veterans, military service members and their families.

"It was just me and my son (Tim Jr.) when I started this, and now I'm married to my wife, Karen," Peay said. "My two-bedroom apartment is shrinking, so we're dying to get in. We're always talking about where we're going to put this, and where we're going to put that. We're excited."

Concrete formsThe three-bedroom, two-bathroom house features a one-car garage and a storm shelter. Its insulated concrete forms, which are lightweight and easy to install, are a FORTIFIED-compatible system, Malik said, but not a requirement.

"Once that 6 inches of concrete is fully cured, it has a tremendous ability to resist wind loads and flying debris," Malik said. "We have a number of ICF homes around the country that have been FORTIFIED. It's important when you're evaluating what kind of building products you're going to use to build your home that you take into account, not just the individual cost of the particular system, but what other things may be involved. In this particular case, when you use something like ICF, you're replacing the wood framing, you're replacing the labor that's required to field frame and you're also eliminating things like insulation."

The forms are made using hollow foam blocks that are reinforced with steel rebar and filled in with concrete. Not only do insulated concrete forms help with severe weather, but they also provide structures with better insulation, noise reduction, strength and energy efficiency.

"It's our first time building with walls of concrete," said Scott Clayton, executive director of Joplin Area Habitat for Humanity. "We've also added a FORTIFIED component that will offer a more resilient roof. There's all kinds of added features that will benefit Tim and his family."

Build With StrengthThe home is a joint effort by Joplin Area Habitat for Humanity, a coalition of the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association called Build With Strength, and community partners Nudura, Joplin Concrete and other businesses. A portion of the concrete for the home was donated by National Ready Mixed Concrete Association members.

Clayton said the local habitat chapter was selected on a national level from over 1,000 other affiliates to partner with the concrete association to participate on Build With Strength, which works with communities, lawmakers and industry employees to advocate for safer, sustainable building materials.

"Through this ICF partnership and the NRMCA, we were then connected with an added component of the Build With Strength program, which was the FORTIFIED steps," Clayton said. "It seemed like a seamless transition. If we're going to be doing these concrete forms, then we can also add some resiliency to the roof as a good combination."

Clayton said he'd like to see more insulated concrete forms and FORTIFIED homes built throughout the Joplin community.

"This is our first ICF house, and we just started our first FORTIFIED duplex on the 1400 block of East Sixth Street," he said. "Our goal is to get this house completed as fast as we can."

For more information, visit https://fortifiedhome.org.

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