For the first time, someone just stated the cost breakdown of a project with ICF. Simple, yet so hard to find on the web. Thank You! This helps!

We did the complete home ourselves, tremendous cost savings to what you represented. 2200 Sq.Ft. Basement complete with 10'5" walls and 3100 upstairs with 9' living up to 17' vaulted. All plumbing, heating, electrical and finish is very easy. Our only problem is with the tightness you have to install a whole house air exchanger that if its not running the exterior doors have to be pulled shut because you pull a vacuum on the space. Also never use treated window bucks, they make ICF window bucks so you can completely eliminate any thermal tie from the interior to the exterior. Great video

Thanks for breaking down the costs because now I realize that this is doable for me.

Just to add some additional pro-ICF info. I built a clients house in 2015 using Quad Lock ICF. It is up at over 5k' elevation in the mountains of Northern Utah. The climate pushes high 90s in the summer and a few below zeros in the winter on those special days. The system has 4" of exterior foam, 8" concrete core, and 2" of interior foam. The system was called the R38 thermal mass optimized. The design utilized principles of passive design. We installed hydronic heat into the slab on grade over 2" of rigid foam. There is an ARV to circulate fresh air a few times a day. This house has no cooling system. During the summer days the temp in the house maintains about 75 and holds steady. During the winter the sun heats the slab so effectively that the living room area of the house rarely if ever calls for heat and the owner typically cracks some windows to cool it down. During the summer all windows are shaded so no sunlight directly beams into the house. The house one of the quietest houses I have ever been in as a bonus. My experience was that compared to framing it did take longer to set the foam blocks compared to framing. But building a frame wall with the same insulation as this ICF to compare apples to apples would have cost much more in the end.

You just don't know how valuable this video is to many of us. Great job. Thank you. I'm torn between going ICF and ICCF. But this was beyond helpful. Looking to do a large (and tall) garage too. Thanks again.

With the housing market where it is in my neck of the woods, houses with half the square footage are going for $350,000. Usually built in the 1970's. No doubt riddled with code issues. Vid like this really helps in bringing perspective on whether building a home from scratch is a better alternative if you have the land. Thank you.

It always amazes me to see people not digging out a basement for a house, as for minimal extra cost you gain double the square footage of the size of the main floor of a house, plus the ability to locate the furnace, water heater, and utilities away from the main living area.

Great overview! And very good explanation of costs, benefits, and considerations. Wish you luck bud.

Josh thank you for the break down and detailed explanations - nicely done!

Thanks for sharing. Greetings from Sweden! Keep it coming!

Great reviews thanks for sharing

Thank you sooo much for pricing all of the items. Helps a lot for new and prospective builders.

Thanks for the great video, helpful!

Great video and information!

Thank you sooo much for the breakdown of costs. I'm sold on going with ICF

Great work bro!

VERY helpful and outstanding video Josh! We are about to do the same thing. We are planning on going with Fox Blocks. I will be subscribed and following from here on out. 👍

Thanks for this presentation

Earned a sub! You broke this down very well!

EXTREMELY HELPFUL!!!!

Awesome job, thanks! Nice touch not editing out your phone interruption 😂.

great work bro!

Thanks man helpful fersure and conrates

Edit: thanks for stating the sq footage at the end of the video. Original: Might have missed it, but the square footage would have been a hood to know. But I saw toward the end where you stated the grand total being roughly $42/ft. Thats a big house and cheap!!! Nice work!

Soooo helpful oh my goodness.

Thank you for sharing!

How much faster is it to complete project build compared to stick built home? Like the RV garage Nice build.

Thank you sir

ICF walls is the best way to go… if I ever build a house, I would do Quadlock ICF, easier to transport the foams…. ICF; energy efficient and quality

Looks like a beautiful new build. How do you run electric along the un-framed walls with ICF? Exposed conduit? I noticed the non-partioning walls weren't wood framed.

Awesome break down. Thanks. Did you consider insuldeck, lite deck concrete roof etc. Think it would have been less than. All the woodwork.

Five years I was looking for this video 😅 Thanks man

Thanks for sharing the break down costs. While every build is different, this gives me a better understanding. 👍

Hi. Thanks for the information. Quick question. Maybe I’ve missed but Is there roof insulation and how much did that cost? Thanks

this helps alot! Im looking to do the same. If the land we can find is a good price then this will work even better than i thought ( In florida)

Great info. Did you shop any other ICF manufacturers (Fox, Nudura, Amvic, etc)? Wondering how Stronghold compares price wise.

PACIFIC ICF supplies AMVIC R-30 and R-22 ICF in BC and western US and Ontario. Amvic is very strong with 6" spacing of webs on the R-22 ICF block

A good presentation of what they spent. To compare that to wood frame construction you would have to know how wood framed houses costs are broken down to the equivalent build point of this video. That is not easy to do. Also there are other costs to carry the home to completion that need to be compared. Electrical and plumbing can cost more or require modifying the floor plan to accomodate ICFs. Window and door framing can be more expensive, but this video is at least giving you a place to start from, but without good construction knowledge and cost estimating capability the normal homeowner would be at a loss to estimate the completion cost for the home.

Fantastic information! Did you consider an ICF roof vs wood? If so, why go with wood?

Ty 👍

Thank you so much. What is the resale value on these builds? Do they depreciate like manufacured homes?

Are you going to install a whole house dehumidifer on this build? Many of the costs are also going to be area specific along with date specific too. As we know the price of building materials can very wildly in price. What will this house being using for it's HVAC system?

Great breakdown! Can this go to a second story?

Hey perfect timing finding your video, as I am considering doing this. I was in construction for a little, and helped with a single ICF foundation years ago which turned me onto it. Couple of questions: How much change would putting a basement or second floor be? Seems like a cost effective way for more sqft. Where does the plumbing go in, I am assuming in the floor, how much of a problem is it if you get leaks? As far as design of the house, would it be best to get a design from an ICF company, or get an archetit and just say icf? I just need very basic design, nothing crazy.

Just curious. If you have a truss system for the ceiling do you need bearing walls on the interior? Could you have gone with steel stud interior walls? Much easier for the electrician. And lower labor, ends up cheaper. Thanks.

Awesome. We are moving for my wife's work. Buying a house is out of the question. Prices are obscene. I'm planning to buy property and build a 2400-3000 Sq ft ICF ranch, full basement. In floor heat. Geothermal. I'll do it all myself. I figure I can be all in for less than $100 a square ft.

Do you have an anticipated total finished build cost? I love the idea of doing a custom ICF build over mass produced stick frame garbage with poor tolerances where efficency is an afterthought. I also hate the thought of manufactured i joists and it seems like most builders use them today to try and pass them off as a positive for having open floor plans with fewer support structures, but ask firefighters what structures they'd prefer to go in.

Is this type of foundation recommended for places with harsh winters ?

I went through this and a poured foundation with ZipR-12 sheathing (2-1/2" R-12.5 XPS below grade) and R-18 spray foam on the inside was less expensive in my area. Styrofoam is not nearly as good of an insulator as XPS or closed cell spray foam and your walls won't be as thick for equivalent R-values. You also don't need to add nailing strips for siding, which adds even more thickness using ICF, as ZipR is the nailing surface. ICF is rarely used in my area for a reason. If we lived in Tornado Alley parts of the country, ICF might be the way to go?

How much was plumbing and HVAC? Are you using an active ventilation system? I heard because ICF is so tightly sealed that you'll need strong ventilation for high humidity and mold prevention

How familiar are you with SuperForm ICF? It seems to be much cheaper than Nundra and Fox Block. Based on some quick research it seems much stronger than and less likely to blowout.

Where are you located? We live in Minnesota and this would be great but I’m not sure who to talk to about ICF in our area. Any suggestions?

How long are those 2x6 joist spans? Wow, no chairs on the rebar?

Only question I have is does the cost of structural/architectural engineering plans defer at all with an ICF build?

It’s hard for me to see the cost and effort of ICF being used only for the wall structures when there are ICF roof systems as well. Of course, I am looking at the utility of ICF through a strength and safety lens, not just for the insulation and noise reduction benefits. The ICF system can be used to create tornado proof and hurricane proof homes when combined with a poured lid as a roof.

Could see a safe room in One corner of the room in floor heat?

Nice Work, I wish i could do some ICF projects but we just don't have any trades down here in Texas who do that as often. kinda scary to be the guinea pig.

It really sucks in north America that we typically have to build with wood. South America is almost all concrete structures, and Europe is a lot of brick. And yet either of those are prohibitive here. Why???

Say, I had an ICF build house and wanted to make an ICF addition, how easy / difficult would it be to do so?

$42.20/sqft

Did labor cost include wall bracing? Did you rent or own?

What state are you in? I know cost does vary depending on ones jurisdiction...

Im surprised Washington state only requires such low footers. Usually in 4 season norther states its 4 foot minimum.

To many thinks to thank you about on this videos The only thing missing was the rough time it took for each install/stage.

Damn, considering I have construction experience and I can save 10% at Lowe's/Home Depot with military discount, and considering my dream home is just over HALF this square footage, looks like I could probably build up to this same point of completion for $35/sqft.

Sometimes it makes me wonder if it even makes sense to build an ICF basement if your building an ICF main level.. cost is pretty much the same as long as you have the land to build

I want to build a 50,000 sq ft building. what price range do you think it might cost?

What’s the r value with that? Did I miss it?

Can we build 5000 sqft ICF home on the hill?

I gave you a thumb up just because of that long roll of plastic you let fall and totally dead-panned it.

What is the R rating of this ICF walls?

Just wondering how many square foot of walls and Floor

That’s an awful lot for site work and just to do footings. How big is this home?

What state was this done at?

Thanks for the breakdown. iphone sucks and constantly spies on you, LOL.

Great video. Siri, shut up!!!

Can you say where this is being built? That'll have an impact on the costs.

$165,000 for 4000 sqft house is extremely affordable

How much per sqfoot for icf blocks

23k for foam and plastic?

What sqft?

ROOD DECK ROOD DECK ROOD RECK ROOD DECK ROOD DECK

Wow our concrete is 200 a yd in fl panhandle

no wood please termites inside walls icf too roof icf frame it concrete only and foam never pay for insurance again make it 5 to 6 feet higher too than usual the house itself Thank you

These costs are low and assume skilled labor is readily available. Skilled labor is not readilly available in most parts of the country. If you want an ICF home, you'll be waiting 2 years to get started and much higher costs than shown in this video.

I am building with icf as well but in europe, it is a far superior build and a much better product

The cost of excavation has nothing to do with it being ICF... you need a foundation with any other house, too. Just stop trying to overanalyze. Take the total cost of this house and compare against the cost per square foot of a stick-built home. Easy. The slab also doesn't really matter with it being ICF. If you're doing slab... it is a slab. You don't have to do slab on grade with ICF, either. You could do a crawspace and frame up joists. You could also do a crawlspace and pour a floor with the structural foam forms. Really, the only thing is to compare building the entire structure one way or the other, with similar dimensions (including ceiling heights). Or, you could just look at the cost for the exteriors walls. The purpose of your video... you didn't really address them. You just talked specifically about the costs for this specific project and no comparison. ICF has less labor, so if you're doing DIY, you have less to save with ICF than stick-built... but ICF enables DIY more easily.

Classic Siri...

What’s icf?

8:08 why do you do not make the rooms also ICF that would cut off all the wood in the inside and then you will only needed the roof. When I get my money from the government that's how I will do my house everything will be ICF it would probably be zero wood in my house and I will make all my bedroom doors bigger then the average. 01-07-24

6100 to excavate? God! 2 day job!

he kinda sounds like tai lopez

Only going up 14 ft. Why do you need so much concrete in those walls? 3 in of concrete between the Styrofoam would be just fine?

I'd have done ICF internal walls too.

total WAKO !

Knowing about the house building prices in Germany, your house is really cheap.

ICF? What does ICF mean? You expect viewers to understand your content, when the average person has never heard of ICF? Why would people be interested in your trade if you don’t explain the most basic question?

You mean to tell me you can’t rent an excavator and dig that simple crap yourself for WAY cheaper…. Buy a transit and stick, rent the tractor and bring your ole buddy out for a fun half day of work. $6100!?!? Ridiculous for some easily do it yourself digging

You got ripped off

So you blab on for 10 minutes without ever saying what ICF is.