Geegan Residence, Kentucky, USA

When homeowner Tim Geegan and his wife decided it was time to build their dream home in Bowling Green, Kentucky, there was no doubt what building material they would use.

Tim is an executive vice-president with Alliance Corporation, a local company that has built award-winning schools in the area for about 20 years. They have successfully used insulated concrete forms (ICFs) for the foundations and exterior walls of these commercial buildings, so he sought out ICF for his own home.

“I wanted some of the same characteristics of the schools [we build] in my house: energy efficiency, storm resistance, sound proofing. Overall, a well-built, solid house was what I was looking for,” he says.

From his experience working with ICFs, Tim knew that they had many benefits over more traditional building techniques, especially in a tornado-prone region like Kentucky. The couple moved into their home in October, 2021. His wife was impressed, he explains. “It was everything I told her it was going to be. But she didn’t really have a concept of what it was until she actually spent the first night here,” says Tim. “She said, ‘Wow, this is nice.’ Our finishes are nice, but it was the sound, the comfort, the air quality, all of those things you really want, but don’t really think about.”  

The disaster-proof nature of ICF walls was quickly put to the test at Tim’s home. our homes. That December, just months after moving in, multiple tornados swept through the county with wind speeds upwards of 150 mph.  

Geegan says, “It completely destroyed our old house and two or three other houses on that block. There’s a lot of damage to my [current] neighbors’ houses. One door down was completely destroyed.” And yet, the Geegan family’s new home had no damage thanks to the wind-resistance of Nudura ICFs. “In 25 years, we’ve never had a storm to through here of that magnitude, but it only takes one to make you really start thinking about that. To have a place that you know you’re safe, that means a lot.”