WalkOut Basement Into 1st Floor of Home?!?
Comments (25)
PROSharon Brindley Designs
3 years agoAna Paula Dias
3 years agoRelated Discussions
walk out basement VS non-walk out type
Comments (17)I went back and forth with deciding on a walk out or not. I think the same way you do, I don't really like the look of a two story home on the backside. That being said, I really wanted big daylight windows in the basement. We went with large windows, but no walk out. We would have had to bring the grade up a bit more for a walk out and as it is, we will have to put in two retaining walls. I am not sure how much more expensive it was with the large windows, but I am sure it was more than smaller windows and the extra expense of the excavation. I thought about what we would be walking out to and that is a woodsy area on our 7 acres. It is nothing special and since most of our living space on the property is on the other side, it didn't seem to make sense to put the walk out in. We do have the large, two story look on the back side, but we have made that look shorter by siding choices. We put a cedar shake on the top section, then followed with straight siding. You can see photos of it here. Good luck with your decision. It is one of many you will be going through. Here is a link that might be useful: My house building blog...See MoreCan 1 AC Unit Cool 1st & 2nd Floor of 200 yr old house?
Comments (1)I suggest that you find out about the suitability of using an attic air handler and current ductwork. You may need to under cut the doors about 1 inch to allow for return air. While my home is not as old as your, it does have radiators for heat, and plaster walls and stone foundation. Our main return air is in the ceiling in the upstairs hall and is about 24x36, and unit is above in the attic....See Moreplease advise.. new house, crawl space cold, 1st floor cold
Comments (4)I just had an energy rater give my some info on what to do to properly insulate my crawlspace. The diagram he gave me shows that vapor barrier should be applied to the ground and sealed to the walls and around the piers. Then the outside walls need to be lined with insulation. The walls should be insulated between the floor joists, too. If I remember correctly (and this sounds weird to me) the diagram also shows that the vapor barrier should cover the insulation as well and be sealed to the ground barrier (so that the insulation is in a pocket of its own with the outside walls, but still separated from the bare ground). There would be small styrofoam sheets between the floor joists to help seal the insulation to the floor above. Lastly, the insulation should lay in front of the outside walls, coming in four feet from the wall. (L shaped). If it's fall, you should be closing your vents, of course....See MoreSmall house 1st floor - comments please - elevation?
Comments (99)Comments on small things: - I don't have any opinion about whether your bedroom should be just off the kitchen, but I can tell you that a child's bedroom should not be in this position! We were a "sit in the kitchen" family, and I had the bedroom just off the kitchen. I overheard MANY things that were really none of my business, for example, I remember being terrified after a smoke alarm salesman came to our house to talk to my parents (yes, when they first came out, they were sold door to door), and I really shouldn't have heard all the details about why my parents were divorcing. - Width of the door isn't the only consideration. A larger door is heavier and larger, and it is more difficult for an elderly or infirm person to open (because the person has to reach 4" farther to reach the door and allow it to swing open); we're a short family, and our arms aren't that long. A larger door also requires a greater "swing area", meaning that in a small house furniture placement may be hindered, and you might like to use those few extra inches for slightly larger kitchen cabinets or slightly larger bookshelves. If you are ever confined to a wheelchair full time, you'll probably buy an electric wheelchair, which is more narrow than a traditional push-it chair (because electric chairs are "driven" with a joystick on the arm, and you don't need to allow space for your hands beside the wheels); I had a student in such a wheelchair this semester, and she could scoot through small spaces -- but she couldn't fit under a standard-height table! Additionally, if you go with smaller doors now and later find that you need the extra few inches, you can always switch your doors to swing-away hinges later. And since you want both accessibility and budget-friendly choices, be sure you choose standard-sized doors; I think it's 34" that isn't standard (?). Note, too, that these arguments don't apply to pocket doors. Okay, after reading on in the thread, I see the above thoughts on 36" doors had already been covered. -- Since you mentioned wheelchairs, I'll toss this out: My grandmother didn't have any type of accident or disease, but as she approached 100 she became more fragile. She was never confined to a wheelchair (few people are actually in wheelchairs ALL THE TIME); rather, she went through the typical old-age progression: First she started using a walker only when she left the house ... then she started using the walker inside the house too ... and in the last two years of her life she started using a wheelchair outside the house but used the walker inside the house. Until the last 2-3 days of her life, she never used the wheelchair in the house. She never had any problem with any doors (and I know the ones in my house -- she lived with me for a time), and I know the doors in my house are 32". What WAS a problem was not having a place to store the walker (and later the wheelchair) when she wasn't using it! Finally we bought a second walker, so she used the blue one INSIDE the house, and she was able to take the one step down to the garage, where her pink walker was waiting by the door. When she started using the wheelchair outside the house, we'd help her up the ramp and into the house, then after she was seated in her favorite recliner, one of us would have to take the wheelchair back out to be stored in the garage ... and then she she was ready to go out again, someone had to bring it back in the house for her. We were always moving something because we had no place to store the things! As a result, for the house we're building, I'm planning a spot (in the utility room) near the garage entry that will hold a 36" chest of drawers in a little alcove ... but in the future, if we need to house a wheelchair inside the house, we can remove the chest and use that alcove as a wheelchair storage spot. Regardless, the walker-and-wheelchair and/or doors weren't what gave my grandmother the most trouble. The #1 thing that gave her trouble was the shower; she had trouble lifting her foot over the threshhold (though it only about 6") and a larger shower with a larger, more comfortable stool would've been good. The #2 problem for her was being able to carry her laundry and reach into the machine. #3 was probably changes in flooring (even a 1/2" difference between tile and hardwood could trip her). Oh, and she wouldn't go to one relative's house because she couldn't get into the toilet-in-a-closet. In contrast, the household detail that gave her the most joy was probably the big bay window by the table where she always sat. It let in so much light and she could enjoy the lovely back yard. Honestly, aging-in-place is a common topic on this board, but most people are discussing the wrong things. The discussion goes way beyond wider doorways and walkways; I definitely learned a great deal from being my grandmother's caretaker. - I don't know how large a shower kids "need", but my girls have a tub-sized shower in their bathroom, and we all LOVE it. (I say tub-sized because we recently had the old tub pulled out and replaced with a tiled shower.) My only regret about their shower is that I wish we'd had two niches build (or an extra-long niche); they aren't particularly high-maintenance, but a big squirt bottle of shampoo and another of conditioner plus a bottle of squirt soap ... well, it's all full, so they have to keep shaving cream and body wash on the floor. It would've required only a tiny bit more effort and money to have had more storage. The shower in my bathroom is 3'x4', and it's comfortable; however, I'm planning to make the one in my new house 8" wider. Why? Because I want to install grab bars on both sides, and I don't want to make the usable space any less than 3' wide. - Dormers may not be necessary, but I think they'll add significantly to the quality of light in the upstairs. I'd do my best to include them....See More- PRO
Sharon Brindley Designs
3 years ago Ana Paula Dias
3 years agoAna Paula Dias
3 years agolast modified: 3 years ago- PRO
Sharon Brindley Designs
3 years ago 
PROGN Builders L.L.C
3 years agoAna, your house brings some good memories, my 1st house was almost the same as yours and I loved that house.
I also had a side entrance garage, but I had property on the side which I subdivided to build another home to sell so I had to move the garage to the front, something you mentioned you want to do in the future.
The addition above the garage became a large master bedroom (the smallest front bedroom become a sitting room and was used as a nursery at the time) it had a large walking closet, and a large master bath (I had a 4x8' jacuzzi in there with a huge shower and double sinks.
Downstairs the previous garages became bedrooms. The layout was almost identical to your sketch with only a few minor layout changes. This type of house is easy to do add-ons.
I only found 2 pictures of the exterior to give you an idea of how it will look if you add the addition on the front of it. (Image quality is so so, the pic are
old pictures)
Good luck
PROPatricia Colwell Consulting
3 years ago
Kate
3 years ago
apple_pie_order
3 years ago
Seabornman
3 years agoAna Paula Dias
3 years agoThanks everyone!!! I will try to answer all of the questions. 1. We've been here nearly 2 years now. So we've uncovered the issues, etc... 2. The neighborhood is AMAZING. Our house was very cheap. But most of our neighbor's homes are much larger than ours and sell for twice what we paid (most homes are going for 270-340,000). A tornado hit our neighborhood last year (first one in over 20 years), and the homes that were damaged/destroyed are getting built back much larger and fancier, so property values may go up even higher. The location is also very good in terms of being near a mall, a park, and other amenities. 3. JuneKnow and Patricia, I would take a sketch to the architect of how I'd like the house to work and flow. Obviously, I'd still work with the architect and listen and would have a working relationship (that was my major in college, but after a few years I had to stop to care for a sick relative, but I know a little bit about how it works).
My second choice (actually my first) would be to build an addition in the front of the house (on the top part of the slope). This addition would be around 16'x24' (2 story) and would house the entrance, stairs to the basement and to a second floor master, and a formal living room. Then I'd remove the stairs from the middle of my now living room/dining combo, and be able to get an open family room, kitchen combo. I just can't shake the feeling that I am being wasteful by not using the 1000sq ft of already built space that my house is sitting on. But, at least there would be no need to build a second garage. The only other "con" is that I'd still have a crappy, sloping yard. But I guess I could build a huge deck to compensate. It's just that option seems a lot more expensive and I am trying to do the most cost-effective remodel.Ps. GN Builders, the house looks lovely!! That's very much what I was thinking! But I thought it would be more expensive than working with the existing basement!
Here's a sketch of what option 2 might look like. And this would be a "split". Not as high as the current house, as the ground is lower, by about 4 feet (there's a deck to enter the home).
ashtonchic
3 years agoAna Paula Dias
3 years agoashtonchic
3 years ago
decoenthusiaste
3 years ago
Becca
3 years agoAna Paula Dias
3 years agoChris T
3 years agoAna Paula Dias
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Sharon Brindley Designs