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Building a Home Design Dilemma Basements

Superior wall basement

last month

Hi! we are currently building and will be doing a superior wall basement. we are also doing a masonry front porch, as i prefer the durability over wood. The front porch will have brick steps, however the rest of the foundation will be stucco from the superior wall basement. our builder thinks it may look weird that the only thing brick is the steps. any thoughts on this or pics of something similar? im hoping landscaping can cover it? i dont want to pay for brick for the front of the foundation that would be cosmetic only.

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Comments (6)

PRO
PPF.
last month
What will the house look like?
shirlpp
last month
Do you mean brick - like a red brick?
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If you're working with an architect, make sure he knows of your plans to eventually finish the basement. Consider the placement of mechanicals. It might cost a little more now in terms of pipe and ductwork but it's better than having to work around them later. If you're going to put in a bathroom, do the rough plumbing as part of the new construction. Make sure the electrical panel is sufficiently sized to accommodate additional circuits/load. A deeper basement is better, especially if you'll eventually use some kind of sleeper system for the floors but the deeper you go the more likely you run into water problems. If you can, talk to neighbors to see if they've been having any problems. I'd also suggest waiting a full year before finishing the basement. That way you go through all four seasons and it should give you a good indication if you will have any problems. It's a lot easier (and cheaper) to fix, say, a leak before the walls go up. Enjoy your new home!
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comfortdog - We are in Guilford County (Greensboro area). We're happy with them so far, but they were just installed, so only time will tell. My husband thinks it's the way to go, once your base gravel is set they come in and have the walls set in one day. I, too, had my reservations about the thickness of the wall and it being structurally sound. But most homes I've seen with them have two stories sitting on top of them, so they must be stout. SW has their own installers, so it made me feel a little more comfortable that they knew what they were doing since they do it on a daily basis.
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I'm a builder and building inspector and have installed or inspected close to a thousand precast 'superior' walls foundations. Superior walls are stronger than block or poured concrete walls being engineered to 5000 psf or greater. Because of the density of the concrete, the walls are tested and listed to be installed without waterproofing or dampproofing. Superior walls and other similar types of precast foundation systems come pre-insulated. Superior walls come with built-in "studs" that make up the walls. There is no therefore no additional requirement to frame walls with Superior walls if one wishes to finish the basement. These studs and plates come pre-bored for ease of bolting on plates and pulling wire cables. Wall sections can easily be cut to add windows or door openings after installation...or bored for utility installations. Dollar for dollar pre-cast walls are much cheaper than conventional walls, are stronger, and afford the easiest installation. And while pre-cast wall systems, like block or concrete foundations walls also cannot be installed on frozen soil, Pre-cast concrete walls provide the most consistent, lowest risk, and safest winter installation possible. In my experience, pre-cast walls systems are superior to block and concrete without doubt.
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Hi Jessica - this is a duplicate, you posted the same thing about 2 hours ago now. This particular forum does not move quickly, and so posting the same thing twice will not speed up any answers. I would recommend deleting one of the posts... Also, you may want to try searching the forum. There have been many discussions about Superior's walls. I have had them in 2 homes. I liked them so much on the first that I specifically asked for them on the second home build. I have had exactly zero issues with my Superior Walls over 2 homes, starting with the first home I owned in 1995. Other people don't like them, and so if you search around here you can likely find posts detailing their reasons why. Good luck, neither option is cheap so I understand your desire to learn more.
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Lindsay T
Original Author
last month
last modified: last month
@shirlpp

This is the brick we chose. grey family so im hoping it will go well?
Lindsay T
Original Author
last month
@PPF. this is the home….but we are doing white (not blue) and will only have banisters if it is high enough to require it
PRO
PPF.
last month

Choose a stucco color to match the brick. No one will notice.

I'd probably change the columns going from 6 to 4, making them larger and white instead of stained. Might make the porch less wide -- like 3 or 4 feet overall. Make the steps wider and space the inner two columns to match. You want to welcome visitors, not funnel them in. Consider increasing the height of the beam running across the columns.

The two windows flanking the front door seem really close to it. Barely enough room for a wall, so I wonder about the floor plan.

And I prefer simple, so I've removed the dormer.

Your rendering shows the wall hanging over the foundation several inches. Probably just a poor rendering, but it should overlap only a small amount.

For the windows, consider using a sill across the bottom (left) instead of picture framing.
Lindsay T
Original Author
last month
Thanks @PPF. ! we have actually already made several of the changes you’ve mentioned, they just didnt update the rendering. we doubled the width of the front steps. and the front door along with the flanking windows are all in the living room.

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