Aerial view of a Mariner Construction ICF home on pour day: full-height ICF walls with window openings braced, concrete pump boom reaching over the building, and the mixer truck feeding it

ICF Homes & Foundations

Strong Walls.
Warm House.

Insulated Concrete Forms do the work of framing and insulation at once: concrete for strength, foam for warmth.

ICF homes & foundations

Quieter rooms, lower heating and cooling bills, and walls ten times stronger. That's an ICF house, and it's about as quick to build as a framed one. We build them year-round across Central and Southern Maine and beyond. Here's how it works, how it's built, and what it costs.

What we build

Homes, footing to roofline
Foundations and stem walls
Retaining walls
Garages and outbuildings
Pools New
Commercial and agricultural structures

Gabe's finished ICF home in Mt. Vernon: white board-and-batten gable, red siding, and a deck, in winter sun — **Gabe's own ICF home, Mount Vernon** See it built

40–60% lower heating bills
75% less air infiltration
10× stronger
200mph wind resistance
3hr fire rating
STC51+ around 3× quieter

What is ICF

ICF is a foam-and-concrete wall system patented in 1966. It has been a standard way to build in Canada and Europe for decades, proven from northern winters to Florida hurricanes. This Florida ICF home was left unscathed after being hit by two major hurricanes. In Maine, its reputation is catching up to its record, winter after winter.

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See it built on Gabe's house

The process: Gabe's ICF home

Footing forms with rebar set in the excavated houselot — 01 Forming the footings

Stacks of white ICF blocks staged around freshly poured concrete footings — 02 Footings poured, blocks organized

First courses of ICF foundation wall stacked on the footings — 03 Building the first floor

Aerial view of first-floor ICF walls stacked on the foundation, fall foliage behind — 04 First floor ready to be poured

Concrete pump truck and mixer set up to pour the ICF walls — 05 Pumping the walls full of concrete

Second-floor ICF walls braced, window openings bucked, fall woods behind — 06 Second floor almost fully stacked

Interlocking ICF blocks stacked above a second-floor opening — 07 The interlock, up close

Roof truss hanging from a crane line above the ICF walls — 08 Flying the trusses

Aerial view of the house with trusses set and the gable sheathed — 09 Trusses set, roof taking shape

The ICF shell under snow, roof sheathed and wall brackets still up — 10 Closing in

Red clapboard siding going on over furring strips in winter — 11 Hanging the siding

The finished house in morning fog: white board-and-batten gable, red siding, and a deck — 12 Roofed and sided

The finished garage at dusk, moon overhead — 13 The finished exterior

The finished kitchen: white cabinets, dark countertops, patterned tile backsplash, and wide pine floors — 14 Warm, quiet, and ready to move in

What it costs

3–7%

more than the same house framed with 2x6 walls

Source: BuildBlock

What it saves

HVAC: A tighter house can run on a smaller system.
Bills: Heating and cooling can cost 40 to 60% less.
Insurance: Concrete walls are cheaper to insure than wood.
Resale: Energy-efficient homes are valued at 3% more.

Common questions

Guide

Why ICF in Maine

By Gabe Giguere

Why Gabe built his own house in ICF, and the numbers on energy, cost, resale, and durability.

Read the guide

Can ICF work with my house plans?

Generally, yes. Windows, doors, plumbing runs, and floor connections have to be decided before the pour, since they can't move once the concrete is in. If part of a plan would be hard to pour, we can frame that section in wood.

Does the whole house have to be ICF?

No. We build ICF foundations under framed houses, and full ICF homes from the footings to the roofline.

What siding can go on an ICF house?

Most of the same finishes as a framed house: clapboard and other siding, stucco, stone, and brick veneer. Siding fastens to the webs in the foam, and drywall goes on inside the same way. Shake siding is the exception. It needs solid backing, and an ICF wall has no plywood, so it means sheathing over the foam first, which adds cost.

Can you pour ICF in a Maine winter?

Yes. The foam forms insulate both sides of the fresh concrete while it cures, and we cover any exposed concrete with tarps or other protection when it's cold.

What are the downsides?

It costs more up front, and it's hard to change once the concrete is poured. Moving a window in a framed wall is inconvenient. In an ICF wall, it means cutting reinforced concrete.

A question not on this list is worth a call to Gabe: (207) 495-7398

Block sales

Whether a builder is quoting a full ICF home or an owner is stacking their own garage, the blocks can come from a crew that installs them for a living. Mariner is a dealer for BuildBlock, SuperForm, and Element.

Where we work

We build ICF homes, foundations, and specialty structures statewide for homeowners, architects, and builders, most often across Central Maine (Augusta, Waterville, Gardiner, Winthrop, and the Belgrade Lakes region) and Southern Maine (Portland, South Portland, Scarborough, Falmouth, Yarmouth, Cape Elizabeth, Freeport, Windham, Westbrook, Gorham, and Saco).

Get an Estimate

Tell us about your project, whether it's a full set of plans or just an idea. We follow up to talk it through, usually within two business days.

Gabe: (207) 495-7398 gabe@marinerme.com

Justin: (207) 495-7334 justin@marinerme.com

Strong Walls. Warm House.