Hi, I'm new to this forum and new to ICF. I'm building a 40x50 basement and shopping ICF. I've done a bunch of reading on this forum and have learned that price isn't everything, but I do have a budget and I don't want to overpay. Is $49 per Nudura block (8' x 18" x 8") a fair price? I have 130' of 8' wall, and 126' of 4' frost wall to pour. I'm using an experience ICF person to help me with the installation (I'm basically going to do what he tells me). I understand that Nudura sends their person out for 3 days, which is undoubtedly included in the price. Not sure if I need that b/c I'm using an experienced contractor. Thanks very much for your replies.

Not a bad price for a small quantity. Nudura is a decent product, but at 18" tall, you will have a bunch of waste on 4' and 8' walls. If you want to email me offline, I could offer other insights.

hey bruce two full courses and then run the product threw the table saw cutting it in half useing both halfs along with a 3" hight adj also made by NUDURA you have zero wast maybe you would like us to send you some info on NUDURA

Sure, Mike. I think I have most of it, but feel free to send me anythihng new.

Great to see your doing the homework on block choices. A lot of pricing depends on your location and the availabilty of local distributors for the many manufacturers. I like using Greenblock and you can purchase direct from the manufacturer - no middle man. I do know that their pricing will be more competitive than the Nudura pricing you listed and will be delivered directly your jobsite - a little more than a dollar per square foot less. The other advantage is that with their 12 inch block height, your 4 and 8 foot tall walls are really simple - 4 and 8 courses. Mike makes a good point about cutting the Nudura and adding spacers. However, this is more work, time and ultimately money. You can go directly to the Greenblock website and click on your regional sales manager from the company to get pricing.

Hi Everyone, thanks for all the replies. The Nudura quote is now at $48/block, delivered... including on-site rep. for 3 days. I have a side question regarding the ICF. I'm going to have a 4' frost wall in places, with the 8' basement wall on top of it. That would total 12', and perhaps this is a total novice question, but I'll ask anyway: Do I pour the 4' section, let it cure, the pour the 8' section? Do I have to take this into consideration when choosing ICF?

Pour the whole thing in one shot including the footing.

It might be important to empasize again that a NUDURA block is 12 square feet and not the typical 5.33.

Also, interesting is the 12' height -- thats 8 courses of NUDURA with no waste. Regards.

Smartwall - how would I pour everything in one shot?

allegany
your question has been asked in its simplicity since this forum was started.

A good answer to your question it too read thru the threads on this forum, and glean the info from a lot of previous posts.....which will help you!!

Thanks for posting the price of your project. I don't see enough of this in this forum and it is very difficult to get this information from suppliers with the usual excuses (where, when, how much, only thru distributers, contractors).

It would be nice if how to pore the footing and wall in one shot was in the ICF Learning Center instead of searching thru hundreds of posts looking for information since this is a common novice question. I have read hundreds of post and have still found no comprehensive answer on how to do this without concrete leaking out the bottom or air pockets forming. It might be in here somewhere, but I have seen no linik to it yet.

I posted pictures of a mono pour I did on Nov. 18 ,2008. If I had a clue how to repost it I would. I found it by searching mono pour in the search area on this page and found on the fifth page.

I did it. Four and a half years of college wasn't a waste after all

smartwall

Can you explain to me how you prevented the concrete you were pouring down inside the wall from not flowing out your footings? It is difficult to see what you used in your picture. Did you use some type of form a footing? If not, can you provide more detail.

See http://www.icfmag.com/how-to/ht_wet-setting.html for additional details.

This isn't wet setting but pouring the whole wall and footing. You start with a stiff mix for the footings. The footing forms are lumber, in this case the builder used rough cut 1x 10's. They work with a metal cross tie that I made.

You could also use Polycrete Flex850 for forming the footing and Big Block for the walls. Works perfectly since the Flex850 is 1' tall and you can make it whatever width you need by ordering the appropriate cross ties. The Big Block sits on top of the Flex850's steel cross ties with or without the starter base.It's a beautiful thing.

I think cost may be an issue . What I use cost about $1.60 per lin. ft for a 20" footing which is pretty common here.

Yep, that costs less.

smartwall

Sorry if I am beating a dead horse...

What mix of concrete (stength, slump) did you first pour in your footings so that the pressure from 8 to 10 feet of concrete in the walls was held in place by the viscosity of the footing mix preventing the concrete from flowing out the top of the footing on the sides?