I am in between phases on my new construction in mid-michigan (waiting for the rain to stop so my SIP framers can show up!) and I thought I would post some of my experiences.
We're building at 2800 sq ft two story farmhouse doing much of the labor ourselves.
ICF foundation- I used Hobbs engineered ICF system. Its a vertical panel system that is contoured on the inside to provide structure and reduce cement needed. I had 183 linear feet of 8'4" panel (1519 sq ft) and 138 ln feet of 4' wall (552 sq ft) Total wall sq ft 2071. The entire package cost was $8353.86 which was very reasonable, I thought. I order 30 yards of concrete at $81.96/yd for a total of about $2500 but I only ended using about 24yds of the stuff. Bummer. I had a pump truck to pump the stuff, whcih would have only been $800 but since the cement trucks were 1 hr late I ran into overtime with the pump truck and ended up being $1191. We also bought the rebar for $1167 We installed the ICF by ourselves with the help of a guy who does it for a living who charged about $1600, including his tools, bracing, and some materials. Install took about a week, considering rain and a bunch of yahoos (my family and I and some Miller high Life) were working on it. That is a grand total of $14811. We had conventional cement walls quoted at at least $13,000. For an extra $1800 I don't think it's too bad for the added insulation value. I will have to throw up some drywall to finish the basement, but I figure 50 sheets = $300 so it's still not bad.
I placed the steel beams, floor joists and decking on my own. My 8" SIPS totaled $12,310 with an Rvalue of 32. The rest of my interior lumber and trusses should total not much more than $15,000. I'll have the crew do the SIPs, second floor joists, trusses and sheeting for roof for, hopefully not more than $7500. It seems to me to have the entire shell up, materials and labor for about $25000 isn't bad.
I'll frame most of the interior and put the roofing on and get windows in, hopefully before snow:)
My mother, of all people, and I are wiring the whole thing. I've got a plumber and HVAC crew. We were seriously considering Geothermal to get away from rising propane costs but it's just not in the budget and I don't think we would see the return with such a well insulated house. We'll end up going with an efficient 2 stage furnace with an air to air heat pump for about half of the Geo but still have similar monthly heating bills.
I'll also be doing much of the interior finish work. Our total budget, including $10,000 for an existing barn remodel (my wife has a horse, shoot me) is $185,000.
Not bad for a pretty big house. We're working with my teaching salary. My wife stays home with our two small children. We may go totally insane living in a tiny rental for the next 8 months, but it should be worth it.
Thanks for all of the insight that I have found on this site.
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