Clark
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| 09/20/2009 12:21 PM |
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As an owner/builder, I'm in the final stages of building my ICF house. I thought some members of this forum will be interested in what it cost me to build with ICF. If so, read on.
It's a single story house of 2200 sq. ft. and a full basement. The plan is moderately complex with 14 corners and 4 T intersections. I used TF System vertical ICF forms - 8" for the foundations and 6" for the above ground walls. The gross wall area is 5300 sq. ft. with moderate window and door area framed with pressure treated lumber.
Material cost:
ICF forms 19,000
Rebar 2,200
Concrete 8,500
Waterproof 600
Lumber 400
Bracing/Scaf 1,300
Pumper 1,900
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33,900
Labor cost: 20,000
---------------------------------
Total $53,900
That's $10.17/sf.
The labor cost of $20K is a quote for the job. Actually, my son and I erected the forms ourselves with the help of an experienced ICF installer and saved $15,700 in labor costs. That reduced my out-of-pocket cost to $7.20/sf.
The question I always get is, "How does that compare to standard stick construction?"
I didn't bother getting quotes for a standard poured concrete foundation and a conventional 2x4 or 2x6 frame.
I'm sure the cost would be less, but it wouldn't mean anything since I'd be comparing apples to oranges.
Anyone have cost data to share for your project?
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Hoowood
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| 09/21/2009 6:40 AM |
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| If I devide $53,900 by 2200sf my number is $24,50 |
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smartwall
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| 09/21/2009 7:19 AM |
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| Did you do the gables with ICF's ? |
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jmagill
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| 09/21/2009 7:32 AM |
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Posted By Hoowood on 09/21/2009 6:40 AM
If I devide $53,900 by 2200sf my number is $24,50
I think he is quoting square foot of wall, as most ICF companies do. |
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Clark
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| 09/21/2009 8:18 AM |
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Posted By smartwall on 09/21/2009 7:19 AM
Did you do the gables with ICF's ?
No, the gables and roof are stick built, and so are the garages which have conventional poured concrete frost walls. Those decisions were driven by my overall project budget.
How do my ICF construction costs here in northern Illinois compare to elsewhere in the country? |
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Hoowood
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| 09/21/2009 11:15 AM |
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| Better take it out when people like you don´t like an information |
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The Sipper
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| 09/21/2009 12:29 PM |
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| Hoowood, the man has already built his home, and is sharing information with others regarding cost. It looks to me like you're making a pretty hard sales pitch here, posting prices, and your contact information. On another thread, you were chastizing others for doing the same thing, even though no one on that thread was nearly as aggressive as you are here. |
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dwangle
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| 09/21/2009 6:41 PM |
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| Beautiful house! How do you like it so far? Welcome to the ICF homeowner club. :) |
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ICF for life |
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Hoowood
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| 09/22/2009 2:19 AM |
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Posted By The Sipper on 09/21/2009 12:29 PM
Hoowood, the man has already built his home, and is sharing information with others regarding cost. It looks to me like you're making a pretty hard sales pitch here, posting prices, and your contact information. On another thread, you were chastizing others for doing the same thing, even though no one on that thread was nearly as aggressive as you are here. [/quote]
Sipper
Can not see your experience...but agressive means something else than BS |
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Earl
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| 09/22/2009 8:44 AM |
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| Clark, thank you! As someone in the planning stages of an icf home now, that kind of information is very, very helpful. Thanks for sharing. |
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angdeer
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| 09/22/2009 9:23 AM |
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| Real nice place. Never have I seen a double garage but separated like you did. Almost didn't even notice the one to the right, good idea. That way the garage doesn't look bigger than the house! |
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Clark
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| 09/22/2009 1:15 PM |
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Posted By angdeer on 09/22/2009 9:23 AM
Real nice place. Never have I seen a double garage but separated like you did. Almost didn't even notice the one to the right, good idea. That way the garage doesn't look bigger than the house!
Thanks. Also, the garage door is 10' high to accomodate my 22' Class B motorhome. Every other design made the garage door stand out and spoil the appearance of the house.
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Dug
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| 09/23/2009 12:35 AM |
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Nice house, Clark!
I finished my house in August and the materials cost ran $6.50 per square foot (of wall space). It's been a while since I ran my comparative numbers, but if I recall correctly, I spent about $2,000 more with ICF over conventional building.
I went with 6.25 Logix on the basement and first floor and doubled my steel (every 16 inches rather than 32 inches) and upped my concrete to 4000 psi. |
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vhehn
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| 09/23/2009 5:47 PM |
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| nice curb appeal |
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Earl
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| 09/24/2009 10:02 AM |
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| How many man-hours did it take for your crew to set up, rebar, brace, and pour the walls? |
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Hoowood
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| 09/24/2009 10:19 AM |
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Posted By Earl on 09/24/2009 10:02 AM
How many man-hours did it take for your crew to set up, rebar, brace, and pour the walls?
I shows again that DIY´s can do it as good if not better than the "pro´s" but if the DIY is doing it he saves what the pro names profit.  |
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Donnerwetter
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| 09/24/2009 10:28 AM |
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| Clark |
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Donnerwetter
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| 09/24/2009 10:41 AM |
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ooops
Clark - the house really looks good!!! How did the pour treat you - in perticular the TF system. Haven't had the opportunity to use or see the TF system during a pour - but I am courious (from a DYI standpoint). As to the overall price you are well within the norm (@ +/- $10.00 maybe a little less than average) than what an ICF contractor would charge...but than my people want just a tad more than 60 minutes an hour :) |
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Clark
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| 09/24/2009 3:20 PM |
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Posted By Donnerwetter on 09/24/2009 10:41 AM
ooops
Clark - the house really looks good!!! How did the pour treat you - in perticular the TF system. Haven't had the opportunity to use or see the TF system during a pour - but I am courious (from a DYI standpoint). As to the overall price you are well within the norm (@ +/- $10.00 maybe a little less than average) than what an ICF contractor would charge...but than my people want just a tad more than 60 minutes an hour :)
The pour went extremely well. I was cautious enough to hire an experienced TF System installer to check out my bracing and help me with the pour of the foundation. He charged a flat $500 for doing that. We used a conveyor, standard wall mix (3/4" aggregate) with a 4 to 5" slump. Three lifts to fill the 7.5" x 10' forms. We had no blowouts; not even a bulge in the forms. We had to increase the slump to get the concrete to flow under the steel basement window bucks (no slot in sill to inject concrete) and, still, the forms stayed strong. Couldn't locate a 1" vibrator with an 8' whip for the life of me, so we ended up consolidating by use of a rod and hammering the sides of the forms. All indications are that worked fine.
On the above grade (5.5" x 9') walls, I used 4000 psi concrete, pea gravel aggregate, and a pumper. To save money, I hired a local concrete laborer to help with the pour (his first ICF pour.) I told him what to do. Concrete placement went even smoother than the basement walls. The pumper operator could control the flow through a 3" nozzle (no double 90 was used.) The pumper operator said it was one of the easiest ICF pours he'd ever done. Three hours from start to finish.
TF System forms are really easy and fun to put up. Not much bracing is called for. Rebar is easy to put in, tie and inspect f you put the inside panels in last. Most of the work is done from the ground.
I didn't keep accurate records of the labor needed to put up the forms. It took six days to erect the foundation wall forms and 10 days to do the main floor walls (lots of window and door bucks.) Not very fast, but I remember that the weather was in the 90's most days and we were learning as we went. It also included inserting PVC conduit in the forms and erecting our homemade scaffolding. I estimate a total of about 350 to 400 man-hours, 50 of which was for professional help.
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jdebree
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| 09/24/2009 3:55 PM |
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| Clark- That's excellent, practical information, and the house looks great! I'm planning a DIY ICF basement (and maybe walls) and info like you give is hard to come by. Thanks! |
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