There are ALLOT of potholes in Fl and forming new ones every year as you can see this year. I would talk to an engineer first. They are ALL over Fl. IMO....it doesn't make sense to build a basement in FL.

To me, a walk-out implies a house that is built on a hill side. Where are you going to find a hill side in FL? There are hills in FL, but the slope is very, very gentle.

Rain is nothing. Soil and topography are everything. A walkout basement would be a unicorn in FL and would not appraise well. Do you have a reason for wanting a unicorn?

"There is the possibility of a houseplan..." - this is a concerning statement. Are you looking at a book of plans? This situation is one of the many reasons that is an absolutely horrible idea.

I do believe most every house in Florida is built on a slab for a very good reason...................

Find a lot first, then hire a professional to design a home that suits both the lot and your needs.

Choosing a plan without a site is sort of like choosing an outfit for the day - without knowing whether you will be attending a formal wedding or weeding the garden. The clothes you choose may fit you, but not the occasion.

There are a lot of houses with walkout basements in Florida . . . right next to the ski slopes.

How would you build a walkout basement where there's no slope? And considering the water table is too high in the whole state, you can't really dig down.

No clouds, thought you were working on that??????????????/

Amusing responses. While hills are not very common in Florida, they certainly do exist. In our area there are plenty of homes built on hillsides, and several bodies of water have steep banks in places. In fact our own waterfront lot has a hill that is so steep it is difficult to even stand on, let alone maintain (but provides the best slip and slide in our county). The first two home designers that we interviewed wanted to design houses with walk out basements, which unfortunately was not what we were looking for.

Our grandsons are not too impressed that we intend to terrace our hillside!

That's more like it.

Yes- there many hills and walkouts in central florida. South Florida is flat and coadtal areas. By most of the replies I think most of you are not familisr with the state. Many homes are also built elevated over a crawl space. Yes- I have 2 plans- I will find property to suit one of these plans. 30 years ago I did have a concrete slab built house- I do NOT prefer this type of build. As sis33 says- they are on a very steep hill in central Fl and walkots are common. My current home is on a gentle slope- not enough for a walkout (and too large for me). You do not have to buy property first- just look for property that suits your needs. Waterproofing is my concern.

So if you knew the answer you wanted, why did you come here and ask?

Mark, you crack me up.

Waterproofing on an appropriate lot is not a difficult issue. Picking a plan first before the lot is still a horrible idea. At least you have 2. Even if you are looking in an area that all has similar size buildable areas, they most certainly have different orientations. As an example, I am building in NC on a lot that has the backyard in the west. So I have a plan that orients the larger window areas to the south. Western sun is brutal in the afternoon for both glare and heat. Southern orientation allow you to control this better.

My last house was a walkout. We copied a nearby plan - of a one off spec plan. Used the same designer and made some changes. While it was a lovely house and we sold it to the first person who looked, it had issues because it wasn't designed for that lot. Mostly regarding windows but also shapes of bumpouts and how they interacted with the neighbors. It was all part of why we moved.

Now you could restrict yourself to a specific orientation and perhaps there are no views and no neighbor issues. In most areas, lots in ideal locations and price point are not so easy that you want to limit yourself in that way.

Most generic plans are compromises so they don't take advantage of light and views. They have to be to appeal to the most people possible. They are made to appeal to people who don't build houses regularly. And they need to look good on paper but not necessarily in real life. Building a custom house is an expensive endeavor and skimping on the plan is a really bad decision in so many ways.

Mark's solution will work if only because he added the clouds.

"Picking a plan first before the lot is still a horrible idea. At least you have 2 [horrible ideas]"

That is such a good concept I felt it needed repeating.

The water table is so high in FL that a basement can double as an indoor swimming pool! The average height above sea level is 6’. Only up near AL do you start to get any real elevation that would make a basement a real possibility.

Klassy.

Interesting comments. Particularly from the "professional" contrubutors. There is no reason not to build a house with a walk out basement in Florida. It depends on the context. If the soil is well drained wrt the water table, the orientation and form of the slope appropriate for the design of the house, it can be done. I sympathize with Ed and Stephen. It may well be that you can find neither an architect nor a builder that wants to build anything that is not "on slab" in Central Florida, but there is no scientific reason not to do so. It's just physics. I suggest you consult with a good engineer before moving forward. We have found architects in central Florida to be risk-averse and uninspired. Almost no-one builds walkout basements in the area anymore - but they certainly did 30 years ago - and these houses are still standing. The physics is no different today than it was in 1980. ;-)

I have a 1965 walkout basement in south Florida ... what’s the insulation recommendations???

Florida is flat and low. Britton Hill in the Florida Panhandle is the highest point in Florida at 345 feet above sea level. It is the lowest high point of all state high points.

In Florida a basement is called an indoor pool. Although we actually did know of some homes with basements, I would never consider it for my home. The water table is usually very high. Imagine another hurricane season like 2004. Four hurricanes in Florida. When Ivan circled up through Florida, through Georgia, and came through the east coast of Florida between Frances and Jeanne, we had 36” of rain from Ivan. Just simplify your search with a two story house on a slab.

“Rising water” is not covered under regular homeowners insurance. Check with an agent to see if flood insurance would cover you in the area you are considering.