My wife and I are working on a house design prior to consulting an architect. The site is 3.6 acres in the mid-west and I would like the exterior to resemble an old farm house.
I notice that many older homes (like the one I grew up in), have exposed brick foundations and 3-5 steps to walk up to main level while newer homes seem to be built closer to the ground. Building the home with the basement partially out of the ground seems to solve several problems.
1) don’t need to dig so deep for basement
2) better for drainage away from house
3) more light into basement
The only drawback I see is accessibility. Are there other reasons today’s homes are built closer to the ground which we ought to consider in our design?
Replies
I think it is simply a style that has gone out of fashion.
The only REASON I know of, is that with a ground level house, you dont have the window wells to the basement. They can be both a drainage problem and a security problem.
If security is not an issue, there are options and methods to deal with the drainage issues.
Lastly it is a design issue more than anything else.
ground level is easier access for elderly, but ramps can be built that are fine.
This actually touches on a pet peeve of mine.
I build - or like to design that way - so the sills are 18" above grade. There are at least two good reasons for this. It helps prevent insect infestations in my area, and it allows for shaping drainage cleanly to keep water away from the foundation. It also fits the way the older homes I work with are originally done. But I was just thinking the other day about how every one I have completed in the last few years is then hit by the landscaping designers who seem to take delight in ruining a good drainage plan and doing all they can to cover up the foundation. One owner spent an added seventeen thousand on a granite facade foundation wall to make it look like the original houise, only to have landscapers cover it with topsoil right up to the sills, ignoring my advice.
Thanks for the chance to vent.
But the fact is that it happens eventually anyhow. I was studying a book of photos in a historical archive of many of the same homes I have worked on. A hundred years ago, they all had three to five steps in front leading up to the entry porch. Now, the same houses have only one to three steps.
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I wish my boss agreed with you. He likes the "close to the ground" look, doesn't like to see much foundation. The house we're about done with is on a low lot, and the house is low. Surprise--moisture issues in basement. Aargh.
The house we're starting, same thing. Boss arbitrarily decided to drop it 12" from what the landscape designer suggested. The owner was po'd, as he is paying for real stone veneer all around the house and he wanted to see more of the stone!
Don't get me wrong, for the most part he's a great guy and great boss. But all the guys in the field are tired of having to deal with owners unhappy with their wet basements, and no one cares if the house was a bit higher.
On Nantucket, 'Sconset gutters are popular, a vestage of the old fishing shacks. Bring grade up above the sill, as much as a couple of feet, and use 2-bys to hold the dirt away from the house. I don't know how many arguments I've had with people about how bad an idea it is, but, "that's how it's always done" is the answer. Double aargh.
Mike
if proposed home will use a tile bed and the bed is a "raised bed" you want the foundation to be at least as high as the tile bed to avoid the need for a pump up unit .
in most areas you need 4 ft of fill over the footings
although digging is usually cheaper than fill it is very hard to get positive drainage after the house is built too deep in the ground
i am currently watching a neighbour spend multy bucks fixing a drainage problem 15 years after i told him to keep his house up to avoid water problems
as i sold him the lot he figured i was getting a kick back from the pit owner
he wanted to GC his own home to make sure it was done right LOL
I think it has a lot to do with geographic location as well. Im up near piffin, and most houses here have 18" to 2 ft exposed foundation.
I was just thinking the other day how I would love to have a house that I could just walk out the back door right onto a patio rather than a dumb deck. Im not a fan of the foundation look, or the steps but I guess everything has its reasons. Around here many of the house foundations are still raw even with the form nails still sticking out, no matter how old they are, or have big pits where the nails have been pulled or whacked off.
I too was working last year at a 150 year old farm house painting the exterior. I met the neighbor who had a house older than the one I was working on. The year before he had an excavator come in and pull back the lawn because it had mulched itself so high that the siding was below grade. The house wasnt sinking, but the leaves, sprills, and blown dirt raised the lawn.
-zen
You're right, it probably does have something to do with how deep the snow piles up
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This may be too late for you...
"(1) don't need to dig so deep for basement" - you will still have to dig below the frostline, if that's req'd in your area. Might even be 6'.
"2) better for drainage away from house" - makes no difference. Drainage is drainage.
"The only drawback I see is accessibility. Are there other reasons today's homes are built closer to the ground which we ought to consider in our design?" - you could always ramp-up to a side or rear door. If you ARE worried abt that, ensure that the whole house is 'accessible' too
cheers
***I'm a contractor - but I'm trying to go straight!***
" This may be too late for you..."doesn't look like he is in any hurry. hasn't been back to read his replies, but it's a good thread anyhow.
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I've been reading the responses and want to thank everyone for their input. I often don't log in so my coming and going doesn't show up.
There's definitely a concern about having to dig too deep in this area. Houses around here have generally gone from 8' to 9' ceilings in the basement and being just over 6' myself, I like the extra head room, so 9' appeals to me on that count.
The existing house on the lot has a brick foundation. In the spring water comes up through the brick floor and the sump pump runs nearly continuously. This with only a 6 1/2' ceiling.
At this point in my life, having the house built up out of the ground seems like a good idea. If my wife and I get to the point when it's hard to go up and down steps, we probably won't be able to take care of the property here anyway.
As far as when we'll actually start, we have a meeting with an architect on Thursday, but he's already told us he has so much work at present that he wouldn't have all our plans completed until spring of '06. We may pursue other options, but this architect was recommended to me and in a short conversation with him I was impressed by his comments about the land and fitting the house to the property.
Out here in the Pacific NW the frost line is almost non existant. Local building code only requires 18" of concrete over footings.
Because of this most homes are built near grade. Most homes have minimal crawl space with a wood framed floor. Usually 2-3 steps to main floor level. Allows crawl space venting to be above grade.
Some architects like the wood floor to be framed at grade. No steps into house. Creates vent wells which have similar issues that Rick 503 mentioned. http://forums.taunton.com/tp-housechat/messages?msg=638.3Adam Greisz<!----><!---->
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My boss will not build any basement below the high water table. To many people around here end up with multiple sump pumps running 10 months a year to try to keep the basement from turning into indoor swimming pool. some times that means that the basement floor is three feet below grade. five or six feet above grade if there is going to be a basement. It is not a good design for some one worried about ease of access. to fix the problem either long ramps of a lot of fill needs to hauled in.