Hello. Im wanting to do a ICF home in Marathon FL.I will be doing the shell with Fox Block. In the process of finding a engineer. Getting prices all over the board! Prices range from 3.00 to 9.00 a sq ft including architectural,plumbing,hvac,electrical,Structural,and site preparations drawings. Also includes window/door calculations,roofing calculations,drainage calculations and energy calculations. Does not include permit,surveys and habitat analysis. Why is the range in prices so differant? The house is not cut up at all. 30x44 1320 sq ft with 10x30 covered porch on the end of house and 8x16 side deck the stairs lead up to. living space top level lower or groung level is to be finished at a later time but i want to do the outside walls now.I have the plans for my house that i built in OBX North carolina on the beach. Done with wood pilings and wood structure. Any help would be great. will not let me load drawings. limited to 100 kb. Thanks.

"3.00 to 9.00 a sq ft" of what? Wall? Floor? This is just for engineering? Drafting? Why do you need engineering? Is engineering required for everything there?

Posted By raptor on 14 Feb 2015 08:21 AM
Hello. Im wanting to do a ICF home in Marathon FL.I will be doing the shell with Fox Block. In the process of finding a engineer. Getting prices all over the board! Prices range from 3.00 to 9.00 a sq ft including architectural,plumbing,hvac,electrical,Structural,and site preparations drawings. Also includes window/door calculations,roofing calculations,drainage calculations and energy calculations.

To do all of the above you mentioned (architectural, engineering, mechanical, etc) that is a steal at $3.00 per square foot and a decent deal at $9.00 per square foot.

There is a lot of trades involved in the above; an architect, an engineer, mechanical engineer, electrical & plumbing engineer, etc. These are trained professionals and with that comes a price tag.

In commercial work it is NOT uncommon to spend 10% - 17% of the total cost of the project on architectural drawings. On a $1mil build that would equal $100k - $170k on that project. 

So on a smaller scale in residential build if the build costs come in at $300k that is $30k.

Nothing good comes for free and if you don't want to spend that $$$ on a CUSTOM HOME design, your option is to just find a pre-designed house plan that is pulled from a book of cookie-cutter designs that they sell to everyone. The engineering, architectural, etc are all done and you pay less money.

Brad,
yes in Florida no matter what the construction type the structural must be engineered.
However, cost should be $1.00 to $1.50 sq. ft.including HVAC calcs, for slab on grade ...............Pilings and grade beams probably another 50 cents/ sq. ft.

Yes. Everything has to be engineered in Florida. 16x16 precast pilings driven in ground and 12x16 grade beams with a 7 inch thick slab on top. Then you can start the blocks for the walls. Engineered floor trusses for the second story floor and engineered roof trusses for the roof. Pretty much the same as a high rise building. 175 MPH wind load. Impact windows and doors. This will be a DIY build. Some engineers are not icf savy so the price for plans and engineering are high. The ones that do icf are not as expensive. You can tell right away when you talk to them. Thay try to sway you to build CMU.

I have built in the Keys before, actually in Key Largo, have you considered using Insul-Deck for your first floor connecting all the 16x16 pilings, it gives you an insulated floor and its structural, you could use it for all your floors and roof for that matter. they are located in Florida so i am pretty sure you could get a good deal on the forms.

We still have not decided on plans and engineering. The plans are already in pdf and everybody I have sent them to is at .50 cents a foot. So im learning that the house plans are cheap. Its the engineering that must be costly. Do i find a engineer to do the foundation and all engineering or go with a architect/engineer to do the whole package? it seems like im looking for cheep but im not. I also dont want to pay 10 grand for the same thing that the other guy will do for 5 grand. Thats alot of ICF blocks LOL.

i would not combine the architectural work with the engineering work, you will need a civil engineer and a structural engineer, one is for the grading and lot items the other is for the structural components of the build. i cant remember but does Florida require stamps from the architect and the structural engineer(PE) or just the PE?

Posted By raptor on 04 May 2015 06:26 PM

Do i find a engineer to do the foundation and all engineering or go with a architect/engineer to do the whole package?

You are talking about 2 different fields of science. An architect studies to be an architect and graduates with a degree in Architecture. An engineer studies engineering and graduates with a degree in Engineering. While each profession knows a little about the other profession, they are separate fields. If you get an engineer to draft your home, your home will resemble a home that was designed by an engineer. In other words, it will not have the proper architectural flow and design. I highly advise against having an engineer dabble into a field that is not their field of study.

Custom home designs is not an inexpensive realm. If you want to save money the best bet is to buy a generic set of plans and have them tweak it. Otherwise you are trying to design a custom home on a budget that is not meant for custom homes.

A truly "custom" home means it starts from scratch. An idea and vision that gets put on paper/CAD. It's one of a kind, designed specifically for you. That does not come inexpensively. It requires an architect and then it will require an engineer.

Thanks for the help. now i can find a engineer that will help me to get this house going.

ok if you think an engineer is going to get the house going you might be a bit disappointed. As Lbear stated above you have different fields of science involved, the engineer will not really get your build started, he is just going to "Specify" load elements and structural requirements of the house, you should really consider interviewing some project managers or construction managers or maybe even a GC, it has been my experience that DIYs with little or no experience in construction will tend to actually spend more money in their DIY learning curve than if they would have bit the bullet and let a building professional help them, not trying to hurt your feelings but the questions you are asking indicate to me that professional construction help would be a great piece of advice to assist you, i have been building for over 30 years, in a variety of capacities, GC, Sub, sub of a sub its amazing the amount of money a DIY will spend in excess of what is necessary just so they can say they built their own house...not that they really knew that though. But hey i only say it once, though.
good luck!

Thanks billnaegeli. Im not at all taking things wrong. Im taking it all in stride. ICF is new to me. I have built five houses of my own but all in north carolina. Wood construction and wood pilings. So the concrete is new to me. Its what is required in the fl keys. Im going to have some help from a GC who does know whats going on but plan to do all i can to save labor cost. I find this as a chalange to me and i like it. Here in NC 1500. will get you plans and engineering for 2000 sq ft of house. So i ask questions to you guys cus yall are the pros with ICF. I think its a great envalope for a house in high wind areas. Thanks again for all the help!