“How much does an ICF house cost in Belize?” has no single answer, because the walls are only one part of the house. What we can do is show you what goes into the cost of an ICF wall, what Stelcor’s blocks cost, and how to get a real number for your own plans.
What an ICF wall is made of
An insulated concrete form (ICF) wall is a reinforced concrete wall built inside foam forms that stay in place. Stelcor’s standard block is 1 ft high by 4 ft long, with 2¼ inches of EPS on each face around a 6-inch reinforced concrete core, for a 10½-inch nominal wall. The forms shape the concrete, stay on as continuous insulation, and remove the step of building and stripping formwork.
So the cost of the wall is the cost of four things: the blocks, the steel, the concrete and the labour to put them together.
1. The blocks
Stelcor ICF blocks currently cost roughly US$7.50 per square foot of wall for the complete block, including its connectors. Concrete, rebar and labour are separate. Each block covers 4 square feet. Because the blocks are manufactured in Belize, the price is not tied to shipping containers from abroad.
2. The reinforcement
Rebar runs horizontally and vertically through the core and seats into the block connectors. The quantity and size are set by the structural engineer for your house, your site and your spans.
3. The concrete
A 6-inch core holds about half a cubic foot of concrete per square foot of wall. A house with 1,360 square feet of net wall area, after windows and doors are taken out, needs roughly 680 cubic feet, or about 25 cubic yards, of concrete for the walls before waste.
4. The labour
ICF walls are stacked, braced, reinforced and filled. The work is carried out by independent builders, and their rates depend on the project, the location and the schedule.
A simple example
Take that same house with 1,360 square feet of net wall area:
- ICF blocks (complete blocks only): 1,360 sq ft × US$7.50 = about US$10,200
- Concrete: about 25 cubic yards at your local delivered price
- Rebar: as specified by your engineer
- Labour: quoted by your builder
Those are the wall costs only. The full house cost also includes the foundation, floor and roof, openings, plumbing, electrical, finishes, wastewater, water and site work.
Compare ICF with concrete block for your house
The fairest comparison with reinforced concrete block is the full installed wall, not the price of one block against another. Concrete block walls also need plaster on both sides, and insulation if you want it, while the ICF wall arrives insulated with surfaces ready for finishes.
Our ICF vs concrete block calculator prices both walls side by side from the same wall dimensions, with every assumption visible and editable. The ICF materials calculator estimates how many blocks your project needs.
Get a number for your plans
If you have drawings, send them for a preliminary ICF materials estimate and we will prepare a takeoff for your wall package. Still at the planning stage? Start with our Building in Belize guide, or read how to build a house in Belize from abroad.