I'm finally into the permitting stage of my house and thought I had a contractor picked out to do the shell but he came back at $27 a square foot! I see older post about shell cost but nothing recent. Is $10-15 still a reasonable ball park or have cost gone up that much? The house is a two story rectangle, 32x44 with 8" thick walls. Can anyone recommend an installer in the Seattle/Tacoma area. Also, how long do you think it would take to put up a shell that size? I'm thinking of calling contractors that are a little further away. Maybe they would travel a little if the job is quick.

You need to be careful to define “shell” — for many it includes the roof. For some it may even include windows. $27 may not be that high if it includes the roof - Nevertheless first I would define shell and exactly what that means to ensure you’re comparing apples to apples. Regards, Cameron

Thanks Cameron. I should've specified. This is just for the ICF exterior walls and window and door buckouts. Foundation (which is just a slab), roof, interior walls, floor, windows, and permit not included.

The $27 per sq. ft. price is based on what factors? What are the wall heights of each story? Are you using total sq. footage 2816 or just 1408 Based on 32' x 44' you have approximately 152 Lft of wall per story, so a 2 story structure has 304 Lft. of walls x the H will give you the sq. ft. of total wall; then / the $ amount of quote to give you an accurate cost! Sq.Ft. pricing can only be used on the identical size structure for obtaining quotes between contractors for that particular project.

Walls are 20' high. The bid was $80k so with 3040 square feet it comes out to 26 and some change. I did not subtract for any garage doors or window openings. I'm working on getting a few more quotes but can anyone weigh in on current pricing that's about average?

I would suggest contacting Valley Supply who supplies the ICF contractors in your area with ICF construction materials and training. They are located in Woodinville, Puyallup, Ellensburg, Silverdale and Tumwater. They should be able to provide you with a list of ICF contractors working in your area so you can get several bids and references...which you definitely should do! We took some of our original ICF training there many years ago back when we operated in that area and we still occasionally get stuff from them even though we are now in southern Oregon. Perhaps say hello to Eric Cochran for us if you contact their Woodinville location.

Valley Supply

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