Insulated Concrete Forms House Construction

[TJSum]

I received an appraisal request to do a proposed construction appraisal for an ICF, Insulated Concrete Forms Home. The proposed costs are far greater than anything in my market area. There are no similarly constructed homes in this area. At their proposed cost, they are in the $190 per square foot ball park, it is a two level colonial, 2,595 sf on crawl space. I don't see much new construction in this area (typical frame) going over $150 per square foot.

I have never been on the inside of one of these homes and only have plans to look at. I am interested in feedback on how great this construction is and if it warrants this great of a difference in construction costs. I have no other ICF homes to compare, so my value is not close to the proposed plans. Just wish to do as much proper research as possible on this construction before killing this one off.

 

[Ray Miller]

I received an appraisal request to do a proposed construction appraisal for an ICF, Insulated Concrete Forms Home. The proposed costs are far greater than anything in my market area. There are no similarly constructed homes in this area. At their proposed cost, they are in the $190 per square foot ball park, it is a two level colonial, 2,595 sf on crawl space. I don't see much new construction in this area (typical frame) going over $150 per square foot.

I have never been on the inside of one of these homes and only have plans to look at. I am interested in feedback on how great this construction is and if it warrants this great of a difference in construction costs. I have no other ICF homes to compare, so my value is not close to the proposed plans. Just wish to do as much proper research as possible on this construction before killing this one off.

There were a few that have been built in the rural area that I cover. Your best bet to locate this type of construction is to have coffee at the Quick Stop every morning with the concrete form construction people and the boys and girls that are working at saving the world and settling the problems of the country (I call these people the real township committee ) because they know everything that is going on in the township, the county, the state, the country. They can tell you about TF and Julie, oops that another thread. Anyway these people can point you in the right direction and give you cost figures as well. Each market is different so I can’t answer you about cost in your area.

I do know they cost a bit more to build, I don’t know if that carries through in sales adjustment yet or not.

I find it best to stop at these local watering holes when I am out and about. BS with them a bit and pick their brains for information. Be surprise at the data you can dig up.

 

[Offshore]

TJSum if you're near the coast you will see more of these in the coming years, both commercial and residential. I'm sure there are some ICF custom homes on the eastern shore.The "hurricane house" can withstand winds of 150 mph and from what I've heard will be the only practical way to build on barrier islands in the future. The cost approach may even be relevant in these assignments, and I have my doubts about the accuracy of Marshall & Swift with this product/process. Your $ per SF figures are similar to what I've seen.

 

[TJSum]

The house will be located in the Washington, DC suburbs. The builder states he has done several of these in the area, but none in my county. He also stated all the others he has done were million dollar plus homes, this one is less than half of that. Even though the construction costs are higher, not sure how to gauge any potential market reaction to this type construction. ????? Maybe I should give an "energy efficiency adjustment or something along those lines. ???

 

[Howard Klahr]

The cost for this type of construction shoud not be higher, but rather lower when compared to other similar structures. ICF utilizes the insulation as the concrete form so you do not have to first construct forms and then add insulation to the walls. You are eliminating a step in the construction process thereby reducing costs.

It would seem that the typical home in your area is not poured concrete but rather frame construction? If that is the case, a direct comparison would be challenging in that you would not have much data to evaluate market acceptance.

 

[Mr Rex]

It is more expensive as there are few subcontractors familiar with working with this type building system. Even the forms themselves are different than typical concrete form-work. Electricians have to use a hot knife (think wood engraving etc) to burrow into the ICF to place the wiring, the plumber has to be especially careful to properly place sleeves through the forms before poured, and even the framers will charge a premium for the interior framing and roof, just because its "different" than what they are used to. I am very familiar with this product and had an opportunity to become a partner in a company doing these around the Raleigh area back in the 90s. They never could gain enough traction to routinely pay the difference in initial costs and kinda faded away. I still have a couple of several different company's samples in a storage building around here somewhere.

 

[Offshore]

Rex I should be impressed since you're a general contractor, but I'm not. I'm waiting for a CE instructor who took a correspondence course on ICF construction to make a post on the subject. They're the recognized experts.

 

[Michigan CG]

http://www.concrete-home.com/

http://www.designbasics.com/Altcon/insulated_concrete_forms.asp


From the Appraisal Journal:
http://www.icfi.com/Markets/Community_Development/doc_files/apj1099.pdf

http://appraisersforum.com/showthread.php?t=88167

 

[Abester]

I had my basement done with Reward ICFs. The basement is about 2500 sf, and the cost of the forms was about 10K in 2006. It took 2 days to set up and pour. Running electric is as easily as using an old saw with a stacked blade set to just cut through the foam for the wire chases. The forms have 2.5" of insulation per side, and the webbing is designed so that the drywall can be screwed right to it. The upstairs is conventionlly framed, but I wish I had done the whole thing with ICF.