Your Build Process:

Start Your Homebuilding Journey with ICF Walls of the Ozarks

Building a home is one of the most exciting journeys you’ll ever take. At ICF Walls of the Ozarks, we know it can feel overwhelming at times, which is why we’ve built a process that’s clear, supportive, and designed to keep you confident every step of the way. 



In this guide, we’re walking you through our step-by-step approach—from planning to completion—so you know exactly what to expect at every stage. Our goal is simple: reduce uncertainty, eliminate surprises, and help you feel confident throughout your home-building journey. 

Step 1: Your Vision, Plans, and Budget

Every home begins with a vision. A great place to start is browsing home plans online to find layouts and styles you like. While we don’t provide full design services in-house, we do offer design consultation—a collaborative review of your chosen plans. During this review, we can:

• Identify cost-saving strategies within the design to keep your project on budget
• Discuss how design choices impact overall cost (square footage, rooflines, window placement, and more)
• Provide a free build estimate based on the plans you’ve selected



Once the consultation is complete, you’ll take your plans to a drafter, who can adapt them to ICF standards and prepare them for construction. This way, you’ll have a clear understanding of both the design and the financial path forward before committing to professionally drafted plans.

Step 2: Your Custom Build Estimate

Understanding what is (and isn’t) included in your estimate is key to building with confidence.

Once we have a finalized set of plans, we’ll prepare a custom dry-in estimate for your home. Dry-in refers to the stage where the foundation, walls, roof, and windows and doors are complete, allowing the home to be protected from rain and weather. 

We clearly outline the major components that make up your project so you know where your investment is going.

Our dry-in estimate includes five core elements:

• ICF walls and footings
• Floor preparation
• Finished concrete slabs
• Roof system
• Interior framing labor (includes setting windows and doors)



Together, we’ll sit down, review the numbers, and answer all your questions. At this stage, we’ll also invite you to tour an ICF home so you can see our Legacy System—our signature combination of strength, energy efficiency, and resilience—up close and in person.

Step 3: Your Scoping Meeting & Deposit

After you approve your estimate, we’ll schedule a scoping meeting to walk through all the details:

• Build timeline overview – projected start date, key milestones, and expected completion
• Billing and payment phases – when payments are due and how costs are structured
• Pre-construction work – site preparation, excavation, permitting, and utility coordination
• Roles and responsibilities – what we’ll handle vs. decisions you’ll need to make along the way

When you’re ready, you’ll place a deposit, and we’ll add your project to our build calendar.

Step 4: Building Your ICF Walls & Pour Day

Once onsite, our crew stages your ICF blocks and sets them in place, almost like building with giant LEGOs. Then comes one of the most exciting moments: Concrete Pour Day! We use a monolithic pour method, meaning the walls and footing are poured together in one continuous process. This approach delivers:

• Unmatched strength and durability – your home’s walls and foundation form a single, solid structure.
• No cold breaks at the foundation – creating a continuous, airtight thermal envelope that prevents energy loss and enhances efficiency.
• Superior moisture protection – by removing seams where water could seep in, your home stays drier and resists mold from the ground up.
• Long-term peace of mind – your structure is built to resist shifting, settling, and lateral pressure on hilly Ozarks terrain. 

Together, this integrated approach ensures your home doesn’t just meet code—it exceeds expectations, delivering a stronger, tighter, and more resilient foundation you can count on for generations.

Step 5: Your Slab Foundation

After the walls cure, it’s time to pour your foundation. We begin with two inches of foam insulation and reinforcement, then carefully lay radiant heat tubing—pressure tested for reliability—before pouring your slab. To maximize efficiency, we zone the tubing based on individual rooms and mark the floor plan directly onto the base before installation. This ensures every part of the heating system is usable and that tubing never ends up beneath an interior framed wall. 

Once installed, your slab can even be customized with color and, when polished, delivers a high-end marbled finish that’s as beautiful as it is functional.

Step 6: Your Legacy Roof & Interior Framing

With your foundation in place, we complete the structural shell with our Legacy Roof System—engineered for strength, longevity, and total protection. This phase includes:

• Custom-engineered roof trusses rated for 200 mph winds
• Simpson® steel tie-down system that creates a continuous load path from roof to foundation
• ZIP System® roof decking for superior air and moisture control
• Your choice of roofing: architectural shingles or a standing-seam, hidden-fastener steel roof

Once the roof is installed, we complete the dry-in by finishing interior framing and setting all windows and doors.

At this stage, your home is officially “in the dry”—a fully enclosed, structurally reinforced shell designed to withstand whatever the Ozarks weather delivers.

Step 7: Your Finishing Touches

Once the structure is complete, you have flexibility in how you want to finish your home. Many homeowners add their own sweat equity, while others hire subcontractors. Either way, we’re here to guide you with recommendations for skilled tradespeople who specialize in every detail: siding, drywall, cabinetry, painting, and more.

Step 8: Going Solar (Optional)

As a final touch, you can take your Legacy Home one step further with our new grid-tie and off-grid solar packages. It’s a way to harness sustainability, lower your energy costs, and fully realize the net-zero potential of your ICF home.



Whether your goal is lower utility bills, backup power, or full energy independence, combining solar with ICF creates a resilient, high-performance home system.

Start Your Homebuilding Journey Today

Building your home doesn’t have to feel overwhelming—it can be exciting, inspiring, and deeply rewarding. With ICF Walls of the Ozarks, you gain a trusted partner who walks with you from blueprint to the day you step inside your resilient, energy-efficient forever home.

We hope this guide has given you clarity about what to expect and shown how a well-defined process makes all the difference. More than anything, we want you to know that we see ourselves as partners in your journey—here to answer questions, provide guidance, and support you at every stage.

If you’re ready to start planning your dream home in the Ozarks, we’d love to connect.



Contact us to schedule your free, no-obligation project consultation today and take the first step with confidence.

🌷join us at our Spring Open House: Plant the Seeds for Your Forever Home🌷

Thinking about building but unsure where to begin? Join us for our Spring Open House and gain clear, practical insight into the homebuilding process—especially if you’re interested in stronger, more energy-efficient, storm-resilient homes built with Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF).

This relaxed, come-and-go event is designed to help you move forward with confidence.

What You’ll Experience:

• Clear guidance on the building process—from early planning through dry-in, budgets, and timelines
• Common myths vs. truths about ICF construction
• A welcoming, no-pressure environment with refreshments and time for real conversations

Bring Your House Plans (Optional but Encouraged!)

Bring your plans—final drawings, preliminary designs, online plans, or even a detailed hand sketch with dimensions. Our team will provide a high-level rough estimate for the Legacy System dry-in package to help support your early planning and decision-making.

Whether you’re just beginning to dream or already gathering plans, this event is a valuable opportunity to get informed, ask questions, and take your next step.

Learn more and get your FREE tickets today on our Spring Open House Facebook Event page!