the 1.5 story. The potential for issues with soil conditions increases with more basement / digging. Nestling the second bath "in" the roof area uses "free" space.

I’m afraid this has to be a very general question, but to provide some more insight, the 1 1/2 story would not have a basement. I do not know anything about ground conditions because we have no land or even idea of area yet. I was wondering about square footage vs. footprint though.

Generally speaking...smaller footprints, with smaller foundations and roof structure/roofing are less expensive that larger footprints, with larger foundations and larger roof structure/roofing.

Like everything, however, it all depends on the design and finishes.

Basements are an entirely different kettle of fish...

Bob likes mixed metaphors almost as much as he likes to shop for new heifers...

Design and finishes aside, along with fish...!...the cost of digging, cement, deeper sewer, bearing wall structures vs. building up, steeper roof, plumbing etc. I wondered what a builders view would be.

Then there's the third option- build a one story on a finished basement that can be used for living space. That's what we did. Due to the slope of our property, we would have either had a 6' crawl space, or an enormous amount of fill. Not wanting to disrupt the topography so much, we went with an insulated full walk-out basement. Best of both worlds; the back of the basement has a door at grade and several large windows. The house (including the basement) is ICF, so it is already insulated.We have a full bathroom and a bedroom in the basement, and room for another bedroom if wanted. All of our daily living is on the 1400 sq ft main floor, with the basement being used as needed when folks stay overnight. Works fine for us nearly-retireds.

Having lived with a leaky basement in the past, I pulled out all of the stops to be sure that it would remain dry. First, the site is near the top of the hill, so there's less run-off to be concerned with. The house itself has large roof overhangs, gutters, proper grading, and waterproofing below grade. Over the sealing membrane, there's dimple board to protect it and promote drainage. The back fill is gravel, protected from soil infiltration with geotextile below the top soil. There's a perimeter drain all the way around which carries water further down the hill, rather than letting it sit against the foundation. Sound like a lot? Yup, but our basement is cozy and dry.

The answer remains, 'It depends'. On our property, the basement was the path of least resistance, and allowed us to keep a small footprint. Resale might be tough, but that's not an issue for us.

This is a question without a real answer because we have no idea about your property, your style way too many variables to get concrete answers. We have a one storey house 1600 sq ft with a walk out basement also 1600 sqft and we bought it so that if the time ever comes when we can’t use the stairs we can live on the main floor with everything we need thereand probably do a suite in the basement.

Yes, it’s a very general question. We don’t have the property we want yet and I was assuming a flat lot and a small house for two retired people. Right now we have a crawlspace and we use one bedroom for storage, so a basement would be for storage only. If we had a 1 1/2 story house on a slab and flat lot, I was thinking of putting the guest room and bath upstairs and wall off the sloped sides for storage. We are moderate minimalists so we don’t want or need that much extra room. Cozy is the mantra here.

I am assuming that digging a basement, even if soil and water conditions were favorable, would be far more expensive for a 1500 sq ft footprint than adding a “half” story to say, a 1300 sq ft footprint. But I have never been involved in building so I really have no clue!

We are in the design stage of our new build and had the same issue. We wanted a small second floor master suite and office and a main floor guest suite, built on an unfinished basement. The ballpark cost was way over budget and so we axed the second floor and opted to finish half of the basement. This means our master is now on the main floor and we had to add a main floor powder room. Our builder says this is the less expensive option. Waiting for cost estimate now. I think there will be some savings, but not the $250,000 we were over with the second floor.

How many sq ft is your build?

Generally.

If you have to significantly excavate to get the footing below the frost line, your basement is going to be the most economically finishable space. If your frost line is 24”, then excavating to habitable height for a basement is going to cost more than going up for habitable space. If you are in an area of slab foundations, then a basement isnt done, and will be astronomical to add. Going up is the only option.

The cheapest thing to do is to do what your neighbors have done and what your builder is used to doing. Out of spec costs considerably more, no matter what it is.

There are many factors to consider: your location, the topography and local labor/material costs. I recommend talking to a few architects and general contractors that are highly recommended before you make any decisions. Good luck and hope you enjoy the holidays!

Excellent point. The lot we do own is in Bigfork, Montana right by Flathead Lake. They are not digging basements there so the only options are to spread out a bit or build up. But we are selling that lot so I do not know what the circumstances will be.

Sq footage was about 1800 on the main and 500 on the second floor. Plan is now to finish 800 sq ft of the basement which includes full bath & guest suite. Like you, this is our riverfront retirement home, eastern Idaho.

" . . . lot we do own is in Bigfork, Montana right by Flathead Lake . . . "

" . . . riverfront retirement home, eastern Idaho . . . "

This Midwesterner's dream.

Bigfork is a great place. There are affordable lots. Not right on the lake but within one minute. That’s where ours is. We have decided that a smaller lot than the one we have suits us better. We will retire there. If you are a fisherman check out the Flathead Lake fishing videos on youtube and the nature trail just by town.

I'm repeating probably, but I was told that always more to build from the bottom by creating foundation for a house, than to add on top of existing 1st floor......

Something else to consider is not only the cost of building with, or without, a basement, but also the (future) value of a basement -- in terms of both $ and space/sq footage -- to you and/or any buyer for resale.

True, I expect a basement would enhance resale value.

I too live in Montana. We are in the process of design and build. We examined a number of alternatives from using a modular home (different than a trailer, different than a manufactured home) and the issue of basement vs 2nd story.

with a modular home, it is cheaper to build up. With the traditional stick built house, it’s cheaper to add a finished basement. With the finished basement, it is important to inquire about the means they use to pour and form the foundation. In our case, the foundation walls are a dual insulation remain in place form. Meaning there is 8-10 inches of insulation on both the exterior and interior wall. The concrete is then poured into the cavity of that form. This not only adds energy efficiency below grade, but it also adds that “ground water” vapor barrier.

that said, there is a difference in how basements and 2nd stories are appraised. Typically below grade is valued at 40-50% of the above grade story. Think of it like this, your main floor is 1000 sq ft. It appraised at 100 per sq ft. The basement is 1000 sq ft. Even if it mirrors the main floor, it might only appraise at $40-$50 per sq ft. Where as if that basement was an above grade story, it would appraise at the $100 sq ft.

keep this mind, as it affects appraisal value, but may not influence a resale value in the same manner. It is best to contact a local real estate agent, and a local appraiser to inquire about these specifics in your area.

Definitely watch your local real estate market for how it will appraise. Basement can be cheap area to finish but moving from the Midwest to the South, are appraised at very different values. If you have LTV ratio you have to hit, it might complicate things.