*
How would the cost of building a story and a half compare with the cost of a one-story house of the same number of square feet? I’m thinking that since the footprint of the one-story would be greater than the story and a half, the greater foundation costs for the one-story would compare favorably(unfavorably?) with half-story costs of the Cape Cod style house.
Could someone point me to a text or other advisor who could help with planning and comparing? Are there rule-of-thumb costs/lineal feet that could be used?
Replies
*
A 1.5 story house
i can
be cheaper, if it isn't too wierd. You're absolutely right about the footprint being smaller and the foundation costs being less.
But - I have a lot of problems with morons drawing floor plans on CAD systems with no thought to how to support the 2nd floor. I had one of those last week that took me 2 days to sort out. It ended up taking 5 beams and 3 girder trusses to hold up the 2nd floor, and they had to go back and add a beam and 3 posts in the crawl space that they hadn't figured on. (This was
i after
they'd already poured the foundation) That one would've probably been cheaper as a one story.
But how about going with a 2 story? Smaller footpring yet, and you tend to have less structural problems.
* Attic trusses can solve alot of structural problems with the 1 1/2 storey scenario at not alot of additional cost. The biggest additional costs seem to be in the insulation envelope.
*I am building a 1 1/2 right now. Ron is right. You need to be absolutely sure how you are going to support the 2nd floor. (With a 2 story you transfer much of the load through the lower, outer walls. With a 1 1/2 the load is moved in from the outer walls, towards the center of the house. We used 16" floor trusses, hung off of laminated beams front and back, which were sitting on top of the lower walls. Each load point (where a beam crosses a load bearing wall) should be carried all the way to the ground. IF you do this right, it is not expensive. Do it wrong, and come back and fix it, it gets expensive quick.That said, the foundation is still cheaper, and the roof is smaller and cheaper. But you also have to add stairs, insulation is more difficult, drywall hanging/finishing is a little more expensive because of the cut-up ceiling upstairs.My advice, based purely on my experience, is that unless you are building a really big house, or you just want an upstairs, I'd keep it all on the same level. It is much simpler and will go up much, much faster, with very few "gotcha"s.
*
How would the cost of building a story and a half compare with the cost of a one-story house of the same number of square feet? I'm thinking that since the footprint of the one-story would be greater than the story and a half, the greater foundation costs for the one-story would compare favorably(unfavorably?) with half-story costs of the Cape Cod style house.
Could someone point me to a text or other advisor who could help with planning and comparing? Are there rule-of-thumb costs/lineal feet that could be used?