I am about to start a new do-decagon home with ICF.  I have used ICF in the past and I am solid on my decision, but still going back and forth on which block.  I like some of the characteristics of Fox Block? Has anyone used them?  Are there better blocks?  I have also had a hard time finding cost per block from anyone without going through a bunch of hoops and multiple estimates.  I have no corner blocks in my project and need around 800 straight 8" blocks.  Project is in Oregon and I will build it myself.  Is there any place that gives a good cost per block just for the ICF block by brand just for high level comparison?   Very frustrating while planing not to have that.  I know there will be a lot of comments on that not being the only factor but it would help with a place to start.  I think not being open about block price has held back this great industry.  I can find prices on just about anything on the internet with out having to fill out a form and wait for someone to call or email me back.  The ICF companies need to get up to date or they will not survive in the wave of instant information.  Thanks in advance for any direction.  

One of the issues is that the ICF's are just starting to hit retail(Menards dot com lists fox blocks). Most are still only dealt whole-sale thru distributors and the end price you get will probably be a factor of how many you order. For Fox, I think I paid around $18 for 8" straights about a year ago. I am in WA and those blocks came out of the Idaho plant. I will have to look at my paperwork to confirm that. The Menards website currently lists 8" straights for $23.98. For Fox in the Northwest, have you called Cal Portland? They were great to deal with and wound up being 1 stop shopping for a few items I needed. We had one 54' trailer and one flatbed delivery truck, and they managed to get the rebar and waterproofing materials on that flatbed which economized the shipping. Plus their rebar bid beat my local sources...

We are doing 2000 SQ/Ft rectangle(6") over a full daylight basement(8"). In fact we are pouring the main floor(6") wall tomorrow I don't have any real gripes with Fox. The blocks and ties themselves are pretty tough and appear to take the CC without a hint of failure. the markings on the blocks make hand cutting layout easy(did some mitered corners to save on excess corners ordered), they run thru the table saw fairly easily. I like the large interlocking teeth as they are easy to clean out prior to stacking the next course. The CC guy I am using has been using them and Arxx before fox bought them out without any issues for quite a while now. The fox clips are very cool and very fast for tying things together both vertically and horizontally. My grandson and I could stack and tie a 180' course including rebar in about an hour... I did a 12' arched garage doorway and easily clipped it all together on the ground and lifted the whole archway into place as one assembly. IF you should make a mistake, you simply pop the clips out and pull the block back apart as fast as it went together. Way easier than using tie wire IMO...

Good luck with our project.

EDIT: $18 per 8" straight block. The @23 I mentioned was for one of the corbels I ordered...

Thank you. I will check out Cal Portland. Have you used the window and door bucks from Fox? It is one of the reasons I was looking at them. The clips look like they will help the job move along and build a better product with less bracing. $18 per straight block is a good price. If I can stay in that price range I would be very happy.

I used Foxbucks on the upper 6" wall. Just poured that wall on tuesday, everything stayed put braced with 2X4's following foxes spec(2' O.C.). I had a few places where the buck opening was greater than 4" to the nearest crosstie, those I tied back to the crossties with plywood. Everything stayed put great. I think the windows will go into them very well.

The clips work great, but are not a substitute for bracing. You need that to true up the wall before it solidifies. I did my bracing and scaffold using 2X4's and fabbed my own adjusters. All the brace lumber will be rolled back into the build. This allowed me to avoid the cost and more importantly the time pressure of rental bracing(I am pretty slow). Net cost for the adjuster hardware was about $3 per brace, and I may eventually use that hardware on another project...