ICF construction

While you are researching this type of foundation, ask a lot of questions about carpenter ants. They really like to tunnel and nest in foam and an ICF sounds like ant heaven.

I have helped on one site. Not too hard (but there was a guy who had done one before). If you have a leak you will be hating life though. Some icf forms seem to be way better than others.

Take your time and make sure you get a good fit.

Lots of vids out there to watch.

Good luck.

We just completed an addition, and used Reward Wall forms. Worked great for us. Foundation walls were 3' to 6' high for crawl space.
They have a lot of good info on their site, and their materials seems to be competitively priced. Poured about 80 linear feet of wall and 600 sq ft of floor in under two hours. Rental of the concrete pump was key and made life much easier.
Blocks go together like legos, but made sure you support properly to prevent blow outs.
Good luck with your project.

If your talking about the walls that are poured at a plant and then set on location,I built a log home back in the early 1990s and I used them,I think the company was Advanced Concrete out of Middleburg,PA.I don't think that I would tackle something like that on my own and if I remember correctly,the price quoted was installed.I used the 8ft walls,the pad needs to be leveled and the walls are set on a footer of 1b stone,they do the final leveling as they set the walls,they need to be set into place with a crane.I'd be afraid to use them on ground where the footing was wet,although they claim they work ok.I'd definatly use them again if I were building a house with a finished basement,the house that I built had about 1/2 of the basement above ground and I did install 3in of insulation in the walls before I drywalled.If I remember correctly,there were a couple of minor issues with outlets and things but it was still better than trying to finish over concrete blocks.

I can vouch for the ants liking it. I insulated a doghouse with blue rigid foam and then lined the interior with pine bead board. Now there is lots of blue frass pouring out from between the boards.

If you are still in the planning stage, check out Structural Concrete Insulated Panels (or SCIPs), rather than ICF. SCIPs put the insulation inside and the concrete outsdie, each where it can do the most good. Google for Structural Concrete Insulated Panels ... somewhat harder to find, more expensive, but has a lot of advantages, including being fairly impervious to critters.

Peace,
- Sequoia