Our home here is 900 square feet, and we are looking at building a 1200 square foot house (with a full sized icf basement). That will be quite the change and a huge improvement for space!


We have a builder lined up now too Gonna check a few places and see if anyone will beat the price, and if not, we should have it getting started on in march!

Sherm, Im gonna try and post the florplan, if your interested. Its nothing fancy, but sure fits perfect for where we are putting the house and whatnot.

 

allow me to talk you out of the ICF basement. Its way overhyped and over priced for what you get. A wood basement is your best choice. If you're worried about insulation and structural support, go with a 2x8 on 12 inch centers. 2x8 will allow for R40 insulation, the 12 inch centers is overkill for structure. Most common is a 2x6, 16 inch centers... i see a lot of these ICF basements being done around here, and the best and only use for them is lightening your wallet by increasing costs!!!!

i'd be happy to look over your plan... i enjoy it!!

 

prep,
300 sq.ft. is dirt namely the basement! and we don't even use that part of the house.

 

Ill be honest with ya, Sandi is doing most of the planning lol. Im relaying what you said to her, and gonna relay what she says about that.

She is concerned about wood "rotting" in the future come 20-30 years. She also mentioned that she THINKS icf is eleigible for a energy efficiency government grant. or something like that (she also said you may know more about that then her)

I dont know if we ever priced out a wood basement, but the icf is 40k! We were actually thinking about taking a course in yorkton in aprilish that teaches how to do them, then hire this fella out here that has done them lots, to oversee our project, that would save is a ton of cash.

But I would like to hear any more input you have about the subject. Sandi and I are not carpenters, we dont build houses, and what we read is information that can easily be swayed either way haha.

Heres the plan. Tell me what ya think! (keep in mind its pretty basic and not fancy, just the way we like it haha)



On edit: we are also adding 4 feet onto the total length of the house, and increasing all the bedroom sizes. And we are having an attached garage built on the left side of the house(next to the kitchen)

 

And a good evening to you too!

 

Prep thats a real nice floor plan. Adding the extra 4 feet is an excellent idea and you will never regret the extra cost. I really hope that attached garage is going to be heated... Your floor plan is similar to one we had picked out when we built our place. Ours is just over 1450 sq ft. And I curse everytime I have to do the housecleaning!! Especially now that the basement is almost finished.

 

prep,
wheres the pool? erin said to ask you that!

 

Good point Jack, got to have a pool.....

 

Haha no pool unfortunately! But there will be a hot tub on or built in the deck, kind of near the master bedroom. Sandis goal is for me to work hard enough to buy and get one put in so we can enjoy a christmas at home in the hot tub!

 

Smart lady you got there! Best get to work on that.

 

Prep... thats a great layout!! really good design that i've had in mind myself!! one suggestion, the closet in bedroom #2, make it box-out into the bedroom making that bedroom smaller, and give yourself a walk in closet. You'll really find that an asset!!!

to my knowledge there aren't any gov't grants for new construction, but if you were doing it as an addition or upgrade to an existing home there's a few different incentives out there right now.

40g seems like the right ballpark for the basement, but that'll only get an 8ft height, 7'8" after the floor is poured. let me tell you, you'll want a 9' basement wall so the ductwork/plumbing is all high enough that you can still have a 8' finished ceiling. another bonus to the 9' walls is it allows for much larger windows in the basement. Its quite costly to add another row of blocks to the ICF, not so bad to buy longer studs. Doing ICF yourself is a possibility but let me assure you, its very, very hard to keep them straight...even experienced guys will/should tell you this.

Wood basement for approx 1200sqft would cost you about 9-13g for materials, and about 3-4g labour... this includes Blueskinning the exterior and insulating it which you'd probably do yourself. i have yet to see a properly built wood basement rot. I know of a few that should never have been allowed that are still standing as well!! They're constructed entirely out of PWF material, (below grade pressure treated lumber) and the Blueskin is a rubberized peel-and-stick product that you apply to the exterior from above ground level right to the footing, out and over the footing so that water cannot get between the footing and the plate. Believe me, properly constructed, the wood isn't going anywhere, and the amount of money you save will far surpass any possible grant from the gov't.

 

um...hello???????

 

hi sherm,
i get the same response!

 

i have run up to the shop and take some pics of my old coronet so i can sell it. not that i want to i have to!

 

Bummer Jack, I don`t know where to hope it sells for you or not......