The cost of the basement vs. the cost of additional main floor square footage will vary a lot depending on your location. In Utah, basements are common -- in fact, not having a basement will hurt resale. It's rare to find homes with more than 2500 square feet on the main floor (unless you look at mansions). I don't like stairs, at all, and wanted to build 2700-2900 square feet on the main floor and everyone thought I was crazy and advised me to just move some of the rooms to the basement. The cost per square foot to build and finish basement space is half of what the same space would cost on the main floor. That being said, I am still trying to get all the rooms that I want on our main level. (4 bedrooms and a den -- in addition to the great room, kitchen, dining, and laundry.) We've cut back and are now trying to fit in 2400 sq ft. You could consider putting some rooms over the garage. The kids could make lots of noise up there and it wouldn't bother you in the main living spaces.

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.

D E, you are really close, but from your example I am not certain you are totally there as cost is part of the consideration. cost effective would be getting the r60 roof. I can save money by going down to r38 but that was not effective because I didn't achieve my stated goal. That depends on the marginal utility of the r60 roof over an r38 roof, which is something that I can't answer for you. It is less about stated goals than maximizing utility, and utility is a bit individualistic. So for example, if you would prefer an r60 roof, but find that it will only add about 20% more utility to your life than an r38 roof at a cost of 80% more money then it is not cost effective (utility being some combination of comfort and discounted cooling costs). Thinking about this example in reverse is better. If you only want and need an r38 roof, any marginal cost to get you to an r60 roof is wasted regardless of how great a deal it is. ----- Looking at what I do from a resale perspective. Let me clarify my meaning of going through the design a few square feet at a time and asking is there any way to increase profit out of that square footage. What I really do is set a target price point, and ask is that square footage (or design element) helping me get to that price point? If the answer is no, then I ask if it can be eliminated? I don't care whether it cost me $20 or $500, if it isn't helping me get to my price point, it is wasted regardless of how much it costs. Obviously, you start at the most expensive stuff, and that is where the efficiency really comes in. Converting this from resale to living, I ask how will I use that square footage? If the answer is anything similar to I wouldn't, then I see if it can be eliminated. This can be used for square footage, rooms, r value, HVAC, etc.

Thanks 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).