Of course you could consider a 2 story with Master on the Main.
You keep the views, the stairs can be used by the family visitors and THEY look through the trees...
Hate to miss an opportunity to muddy clear waters when I get a chance.
What costs more? 1-story w/ double the concrete & roof, or 2-story w/ joists?
- Thread starter beppington
- Start date
Of course you could consider a 2 story with Master on the Main.
You keep the views, the stairs can be used by the family visitors and THEY look through the trees...
Hate to miss an opportunity to muddy clear waters when I get a chance.
radioman
Super Member
Not necessarily. when the leaves fall off in fall for winter- you can see more of fields during winter.
however- you didnt state WHICH room you would be looking at the fields from. bedrooms? It would be ideal from second floor to see the deer better hidden in fields. Or you could be lookinng at your favorite sunset from kitchen,living room, front porch during summer. So- does it really matter if it a second story or ranch style? just walk to your favorite floor/room to look at view you want. what about a combo style?
Now- since you are the builder- 1 story is definitively easier to build. better for retirement with no stairs to climb.
But with a 2 story you can have better views, better floor arrangements, easier to heat since heat rises and less long horizontal HVAC duct runs. verticle is better.
decisions decisions- :confused2::laughing:
dmccarty
Super Star Member
A two story house will save money on roof and foundation. But it will cost more to put up the exterior on the second floor. I would think putting up trim and painting is going to be more expensive for a two story vs single. It certainly will be a PITA when painting has to be redone. Not sure if you get charged more for the roof from going from one to two stories.
Another expense in a two story house is the stairs. Completely wasted space that cannot be lived in or used for much. The best that can be done is storage squeezed in around the stairs. Bathrooms are one of the expensive rooms in a house. You can put a half bath under the stairs but do you need a half bath? I know I don't.
If you figure that the stairs, including walls are four feet wide and 12 feet long, that is 48 sf. At $100 a sf that is $4,800. But that is only 48 sf on one floor, the stairs really consume twice that because it is on two floors. I think the brick for our house cost $5,000. I would rather have brick than stairs.
Another problem with two story houses is the complication of optimum room size vs cost. Building design is a compromise between cost and room size. For instance, in our house it would be nice to have an extra one foot of space in the utility room. To add one foot to the room, without taking a loss of room in another space mean we would have to add 32 square feet in the house to gain the 16 sf in the room. At $100 a sf that added foot of space cost $3,200. It would be nice for our closet to have another square foot but to get a couple of square feet in the closet would cost another $3,200. Adding another foot in our bathroom would cost $6,500.
When we balanced out the cost/benefit of this added space we figure it was best to spend the money elsewhere.
For a TWO story house the numbers would have DOUBLED because the square footage increase would have impacted two floors.
The first designs we had were two stories. To get room sizes we needed on the second floor would push out square footage on the first floor. This was space we did not need but it increased cost.
I don't buy the idea that two stories are always cheaper than one. I am dubious.
Our house is a single floor with a finished concrete slab. Waste plumbing under the slab with water supply in the attic. The plan is for this house to be our retirement home. Two floors are out for that purpose. All doors are 36 inches wide and the bathrooms follow the guidelines for wheel chair usage as much as possible. Our shower does not have a door, shower curtain or lip. You could get a chair in there pretty easily. Comes in real handy for cleaning out the beer making buckets. :licking:
Later,
Dan
Another expense in a two story house is the stairs. Completely wasted space that cannot be lived in or used for much. The best that can be done is storage squeezed in around the stairs. Bathrooms are one of the expensive rooms in a house. You can put a half bath under the stairs but do you need a half bath? I know I don't.
If you figure that the stairs, including walls are four feet wide and 12 feet long, that is 48 sf. At $100 a sf that is $4,800. But that is only 48 sf on one floor, the stairs really consume twice that because it is on two floors. I think the brick for our house cost $5,000. I would rather have brick than stairs.
Another problem with two story houses is the complication of optimum room size vs cost. Building design is a compromise between cost and room size. For instance, in our house it would be nice to have an extra one foot of space in the utility room. To add one foot to the room, without taking a loss of room in another space mean we would have to add 32 square feet in the house to gain the 16 sf in the room. At $100 a sf that added foot of space cost $3,200. It would be nice for our closet to have another square foot but to get a couple of square feet in the closet would cost another $3,200. Adding another foot in our bathroom would cost $6,500.
When we balanced out the cost/benefit of this added space we figure it was best to spend the money elsewhere.
For a TWO story house the numbers would have DOUBLED because the square footage increase would have impacted two floors.
The first designs we had were two stories. To get room sizes we needed on the second floor would push out square footage on the first floor. This was space we did not need but it increased cost.
I don't buy the idea that two stories are always cheaper than one. I am dubious.
Our house is a single floor with a finished concrete slab. Waste plumbing under the slab with water supply in the attic. The plan is for this house to be our retirement home. Two floors are out for that purpose. All doors are 36 inches wide and the bathrooms follow the guidelines for wheel chair usage as much as possible. Our shower does not have a door, shower curtain or lip. You could get a chair in there pretty easily. Comes in real handy for cleaning out the beer making buckets. :licking:
Later,
Dan
SandburRanch
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Under slab plumbing and HVAC isn't a problem with some planning and it will be there the remainder of your life plus some. Pex supply lines sleeved for plumbing and PVC pipe for HVAC ducts. Any heat lost in ducts tends to warm the floor in winter and cool the floor in summer. That's how I heat and cool 1800 sq. ft with a 2.5 ton unit. Put the extra money the second floor will cost in quality insulation.
forgeblast
Elite Member
You could do a two story just make the second floor a big attic
I would imagine that in Florida heating isn't much of an issue for 363 days a year. Now COOLING is.
OP
beppington
Elite Member
If you like to travel to your team's road games, you'll be able to witness our weather firsthand when they play the Gators :thumbsup:
We get into the 20's for a few days sometimes, 30's for a month or less.
not2old
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I'm fortunate enough to be in an area where I could put the lower floor mostly into the ground and have a one storey house with a full basement under it. I don't know about Florida, but here, the heating costs for all the square footage I have, if on one floor would be outrageous. A basement is heated for almost free.
When we built our house a few years ago, we opted for the 1 1/2 story (second floor under roof with dormers) because it was the cheapest material's wise - you sacrifice some square footage on the second floor and we have kneewalls that go down to 5' with closet storage behind that (not convenient, but alot of otherwise wasted space used for storage of seasonal items).
We did all of the construction ourselves and were very cost-sensitive. We certainly made some sacrifices, but it has been well worth it. We are now planning an addition that will also be two stories. It will address some of the concerns that have been mentioned here - i.e. the difficulties of traversing stairs when older or injured. We will now have a room that can serve as a downstairs bedroom (it will be a craft/multi-purpose room in the meantime).
I agree that stairs are more or less wasted space, but in our case we sacrificed about 80 sq. ft. to access another 800 square feet (plus storage). Pretty good trade, overall.
I would certainly not base my decision entirely on cost - as previous posters mentioned here, it's a house and you're apt to live with it for a long time.
Good luck and take care with whatever you choose.
We did all of the construction ourselves and were very cost-sensitive. We certainly made some sacrifices, but it has been well worth it. We are now planning an addition that will also be two stories. It will address some of the concerns that have been mentioned here - i.e. the difficulties of traversing stairs when older or injured. We will now have a room that can serve as a downstairs bedroom (it will be a craft/multi-purpose room in the meantime).
I agree that stairs are more or less wasted space, but in our case we sacrificed about 80 sq. ft. to access another 800 square feet (plus storage). Pretty good trade, overall.
I would certainly not base my decision entirely on cost - as previous posters mentioned here, it's a house and you're apt to live with it for a long time.
Good luck and take care with whatever you choose.
newbury
Super Star Member
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We've recently bought this house in Ms., 2 stories w/ a walkout basement.
The second story (basically 2 bdrm, rec room, bath) will be used when my wife wants to go up and do crafts and for visitors.
If one can buy land with topography such that you can get a full walkout basement it seems to me to offer the best of both worlds.
My 5 bdrm house in Va has an almost walkout, ground level is about 2' high in the back. This helps keep that portion of our living area temperature stabilized by the ground, fairly warm in the winter, cool in the summer.
Plus it makes a handy place to have a shop to work in the backyard. One can drive their tractor up to easily carry stuff in and out of the basement
Saturday I moved 3 pallets full of "stuff" from the basement. Real nice to walk out on the level, load on pallet on the pallet forks on the tractor, drive off. Rather than carrying it up a flight of stairs.
The second story (basically 2 bdrm, rec room, bath) will be used when my wife wants to go up and do crafts and for visitors.
If one can buy land with topography such that you can get a full walkout basement it seems to me to offer the best of both worlds.
My 5 bdrm house in Va has an almost walkout, ground level is about 2' high in the back. This helps keep that portion of our living area temperature stabilized by the ground, fairly warm in the winter, cool in the summer.
Plus it makes a handy place to have a shop to work in the backyard. One can drive their tractor up to easily carry stuff in and out of the basement
Saturday I moved 3 pallets full of "stuff" from the basement. Real nice to walk out on the level, load on pallet on the pallet forks on the tractor, drive off. Rather than carrying it up a flight of stairs.