House with a basement

[4570Man]

Another plus to the somewhat heated basement is my hot water last a lot longer with the same size water heater than it did in the previous house with the lines running in the cold crawl space.

 

[Sigarms]

I have been told by both a mortgage lender and my builder that a basement even when finished is not counted as square footage living space when appraising the property.

I find that VERY hard to believe.

Edit - looked, seems like it's a mixed bag in Virginia.

That said, if you have a great conditioned basement and don't have it added on for taxes, guess you can't complain.

However, if you were ever to sell the house, I can't see a furnished walk out basement as nothing more than an additional feature that will help sell the home.

When my wife and I looked for a home together, we only had a couple of requirements, one being a basement. You don't know how hard they are to find in North Carolina LOL

If planning a home with a basement, always suggest you build a mechancial room.

 

[RalphVa]

Almost every house around here in rolling central Va has a walkout basement. Cool in summer: no AC needed in basement but cold in winter. We have ductless units down here and run them when we're in the basement in the winter.

Heating and cooling should be less for a basement house because of less roof area and part of the house down under.

Ralph

 

[Turbys_1700]

My grandfather built my current house in 1954 with a walk out basement unfinished with a garage door. My father built a house with a walk out basement and garage door in 1957.

I've owned one house with a crawl space. Personally, if I was building today, it would have a basement. To me the positives outweigh the negatives.

 

[Erik M]

If space is not a concern I would build on a slab with radiant heat in floor and avoid the whole basement issue. A heat pump or two can provide plenty of AC in the summer months.

Basements are a necessity for suburbanites who cannot afford the land for a ranch style home, but when one gets older, not needing to worry about stairs is an obvious plus.

As another has mentioned, finished basements don’t count in many real estate calculations of living space, and if you have any issues with ground water or even a broken pipe, all that stuff in your basement is a potential liability or loss.

Concrete costs plenty of money to purchase and place, so I would recommend building outbuildings instead of a basement if you have the space. I live in a 2400 sq ft two story country home built in 1912 on 10 acres that now has a basement added by a previous owner. But I also have recent 24’ x 24’ detached and a 28’ x 44’ detached two story garages, both heated and with water. Plus a 24’ x 24’ pole barn for storage. Nice to avoid hauling anything large or heavy down basement stairs.

Because of the age of the home, and the fact the shops are detached, my property taxes are only $1200 a year. It makes a large difference tax wise to have out buildings instead of an attached two car garage. Even a 4’ gap is enough, although my garages are 50 and 100’ from the house.

Suggest that you take a look at how property is assessed in your area as you consider what you will build. If you go with a basement, I would consider a walkout entrance on grade as a necessity.

 

[Jcoon]

I just put this modular in last fall, augaust of 17, I did all the work myself besides the concrete. Itç—´ not really any cheaper to build, cuz here we have to go down 4 for a frost protection anyways.

My last house was walk in basement also, I love this new house!

Plan is for a wrap around deck also as u can see from the board in place already.

Itç—´ fully insulated with r-10 insulation board, and the front stick wall is 2x8.

One thing I did, I recessed the foundation in 2 all the way around, so that my siding on the house is flush with the insulation board on the concrete walls, so that the 2 board does stick out, gives a better finish look and is easier to finish the insulation board with something later.

I heat with a coal boiler and I have 3 cast iron radiators in the basement, is a nice 73 down there.

 

[2ndhalf]

I just put this modular in last fall, augaust of 17, I did all the work myself besides the concrete. Itç—´ not really any cheaper to build, cuz here we have to go down 4 for a frost protection anyways.

My last house was walk in basement also, I love this new house!

Plan is for a wrap around deck also as u can see from the board in place already.

Itç—´ fully insulated with r-10 insulation board, and the front stick wall is 2x8.

One thing I did, I recessed the foundation in 2 all the way around, so that my siding on the house is flush with the insulation board on the concrete walls, so that the 2 board does stick out, gives a better finish look and is easier to finish the insulation board with something later.

I heat with a coil boiler and I have 3 cast iron radiators in the basement, is a nice 73 down there.

What modular company did you go with? We had an All American Modular and loved it. Not cheap but very well built. Yours doesn't look cheap either.

Also, interesting that your insulation board is on the outside of your foundation. Here in our county they require, I think the top four feet of the inside of the foundation to have insulated Wall board. Is that wall insulation required on the outside in NY?

Your doing yourself right on that walkout. That is going to be very nice!

 

[Jcoon]

We have a colony manufactured modular, I purchased it through Plattsburgh wholesale. It痴 code here for exterior insulation. And I prefer it anyways. I壇 rather have all the thermal mass of the concrete at room temp.

I致e got around 135,000 in the whole place, but that痴 all my work, if I would have paid contractors, it would of been north of 200,000

 

[WVH1977]

Thanks for all the responses so far. Me and the wife are really leaning towards a basement regardless of appraisal. It will give the kids a big place to romp around in.

A mechanical room will definitely be part of it. A friend of mine has a wood stove in his basement and I like the idea of doing that also.

We are still debating whether to put all the bedrooms and living area upstairs (probably around 2400 sqft) and leaving the basement unfinished with a mechanical room and shop area. This would increase the square footage quite a bit. We are still rather young but don't want to end up with too much house when we get to retirement. My wife's grandparents just went into a new living/retirement facility and have a huge 4000 sqft house that needs updating before they sell it. We have been thinking about a 1800 sqft ranch with daylight basement should be plenty of room for everybody.

 

[KennyG]

I had one house without a basement - didn't like it. Since then I've had three houses with conventional in ground basements and now have a walk-out. The current one is by far the best. My thoughts:

Plan for a full 8 foot ceiling in the basement with some type of suspended ceiling so you have easy access to the space under the floor. I have a finished drywall ceiling in part of my basement and wish it was all suspended. Design in an air exchange (heat recovery) ventilation system that will pull air out of the basement and put outside air into the upstairs. It will help with humidity issues when you aren't running the air conditioning. Put in a quality foundation drain system which, with a walkout, should be a gravity system. Mine could have been gravity but, for unknown reasons, they put in sump pumps. Also, try to put in the sewer system such that you can gravity drain everything. Because I'm on municipal sewer, I have to have an ejector pump pit in the basement for the bathroom.