On Jun 20, 7:48 pm, "J.A. Michel" wrote:
"marson" wrote in message

oups.com... On Jun 20, 4:14 pm, "J.A. Michel" wrote:
"Gary KW4Z" wrote in message

...

Codes in my area require exposed foam to be covered. Most people use
some type of stucco. There are synthetic stucco products that go
directly on the ICF's. Poured foundations (non ICF) have the problem
of not having insulation. Many ICF's have 5" of polystyrene--pretty
hard to get that with conventional poured.

True. A poured basement such as mine will suffer a greater heat loss in the
Winter than one done with ICF's
I would also think that (as you already mentioned) the exposed foam would
need to be covered somehow
to protect it from damage. I added 1" extruded foam to the insides of my
walls and insulated the rim joist to help it a little.

As a 3rd option, if the OP doesn't like ICF's or pre-cast walls, a guy could
do a regular poured basement, and add
foam to the outside of the walls after the forms are stripped, but before
the basement is backfilled.

If you have a long heating season Foam core that is filled with
concrete is wise as is radiant floor heat with foam under the slab.