I spoke with a sales rep in PA a few weeks ago. He was pushing the precast
foundation panels pretty hard. The price looked good (about 20K for 2000 sq
ft, 9' ht) but I wondered about the thickness in terms of supporting the
house. It also seemed odd that the panels sit on stone and not a poured
footer. He assured me that wasn't a problem.
The ICFs looked better to me than the factory poured panels.
I'm budgeting about 100K for land and 200K for building. I'd rather reduce
in size than in quality to meet budget.
Scout

"gonefishiing" wrote in message
...
if you're interested: have a look at arcat.com
a site for construction related resources.
ICFs are ok.
9' high foundation walls will generally require reinforcing---depends are
where the ground elevation is located relative to the basemnet floor.
make sure you have it engineered.

there are also precast foundation panel and insulation systems.
personally, i'd stay away from them.
usually VERY thin wall thickness. any movement (earth or thermal) ar
water/freezing prolbems, and you will have bigger problems.

just my view, of course.
good luck

gf.

"Scout" wrote in message
...
Aye, and it went quickly, as did one of the bikes. We're lightening the
load for the move. We've been looking at homes for months and couldn't
find one with all the features we'd like. We finally decided to find some
land and build. I'm liking what I'm seeing in these ICF's (Insulated
Concrete Forms) and would like to build a concrete home on top of a 2000
sq ft x 9' high basement. We've looked as far out as Bucktown and north
to Pennsburg.
www.rewardwalls.com
Scout

"Scott Vernon" wrote in message
...
you sell your boat yet?

"Scout" wrote in message
...
"Scott Vernon" wrote in message
...
I'm not as drink as some people thunk I am