Re basement:
I have been asked about that before. I wanted a walkout basement but several factors killed that.
In no particular order.
1. Cost - It was going to cost probably $10k extra.
2. The septic field could not go where I wanted it because of granite. I would have had serious grading issues to make it walk out how things ended up.
3. There is no room for internal stairs in the floor plan and I didn't want exterior stairs for drainage issue.
4. Granite! The shallow side, near left in pics has a granite shelf, not sure of size or shape but it was I think the same granite the septic contractor found.
5. The wife had no interest in a basement so with these issues it wasn't worth the battle.
6. Floor beams are 2 @ 18" and 1 @ 24" so the middle will be particularly low. I forget the exact code right now but wood must be a certain distance from dirt which is part of why it ended up as deep as it is.
I considered adding a "rat-slab" but with the price of concrete right now that was an additional $4-$5k.
Since we will not get a loan all costs must be carefully weighed. We want the money to go into the major structure and finishes.
I have been asked about that before. I wanted a walkout basement but several factors killed that.
In no particular order.
1. Cost - It was going to cost probably $10k extra.
2. The septic field could not go where I wanted it because of granite. I would have had serious grading issues to make it walk out how things ended up.
3. There is no room for internal stairs in the floor plan and I didn't want exterior stairs for drainage issue.
4. Granite! The shallow side, near left in pics has a granite shelf, not sure of size or shape but it was I think the same granite the septic contractor found.
5. The wife had no interest in a basement so with these issues it wasn't worth the battle.
6. Floor beams are 2 @ 18" and 1 @ 24" so the middle will be particularly low. I forget the exact code right now but wood must be a certain distance from dirt which is part of why it ended up as deep as it is.
I considered adding a "rat-slab" but with the price of concrete right now that was an additional $4-$5k.
Since we will not get a loan all costs must be carefully weighed. We want the money to go into the major structure and finishes.
