Okay, gotten my estimates and rough plans for addition a 24×12 addition behind a double-car garage.
Everyone suggested a crawlspace (as opposed to a slab) for the addition, as that keeps the floor height the same.
So I was thinking:
if they gotta dig 4′ down for the footers and stuff, why not go down another 4′ or whatever and put in a “full” basement?
I was thinking that it could be easily tied into the current basement (concrete block), and it would greatly increase the amount of square footage, plus give a spot to put the HVAC system for the addition.
Obviously it will cost more (I know concrete is expensive) but in the long run, I’m wondering it that will be better than having to mess around with crawl spaces (insulating, venting, etc.)
Thoughts?
Replies
I vote full basement or a slab...
nothing in between...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
basement as 1st choice..
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
As someone who completed last summer a 2 year project of digging out a crawl space by hand, replacing interior supports with flitch plate beams. I vote for a basement - will not cost you that much more. The digging I spent months doing by hand could have been done in an hour or two by a real backhoe. Not to mention the giant pain of placing the concrete floor one wheelbarrow load at a time.
I think you'll find all sorts of use for the space and will not regret going for the basement.
Thanks, that's what I was looking for. Of course we'll see what the local bldg. department has to say about "integrating" the two basements together (I would think it would be easy to cut out the concrete block to make a door, provided you strengthen the headers and all that).I don't really care for a bilco (?) door entrance to a basement.My feeling is that with a full basement I can better control the temperature on the room above, vs. with a crawl space.
i did a 1100 sf addition with a full basement. cost was about 17,500 for labor and materials.lot of space for 15.00 sf. i think you said you had block walls, but i had a co. come in and saw the wall out for a door, then pushed it out into the excavation for the floor,then poured the floor right over it. worked pretty good but if somebody ever has to drill a hole ther it's a long way through. also read the post going on about tying into old wall,lots of ideas larryhand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.
I'm the second one posting here tonight who converted a crawl space to a basement after getting frustrated with the freezing pipes, lack of access, etc.
Absolutely go with a full basement. This summer I completed a 20x24 addition to my house and went with a full basement. I used a 12/27 steel I-beam across the long span and therefore have a room that is 20x24 with no posts in the way. Fantastic flexibility for future use. A crawl space was going to cost me 5500.00 while a full 8 foot basement cost me 8700.00. I asked for 27 mpa concrete and it cost an extra 300.00 bucks. Grand total for material and labour was 9000.00. The extra 3500.00 was well worth it. As a side note, make sure you put in windows that satisfy egress requirements so if you ever want to you can use basement space for a bedroom.
What IMERC said.
I'm thankful for the loyal opposition! It's hard to learn much from those who simply agree with you.
As for me, I'd go with an insulated crawl space (no vents required). To me, there is no point in paying more for building a basement (I should talk, my wife convinced me build ours, so I could have a shop, now she wants it to be a play room for the kids). So far, my basement is costing me about $10,000 more for 1100 sq feet, unfinished. The basement values never appraise at what they even cost to build/finish (they appraise out at about $15/sq foot finished). I can build an awful nice out-building for a shop [or in your case HVAC shed] for a lot less than what the basement cost.
Hope this helps,
Roger <><
Unfortunately where I live, building codes require that the crawl space be vented and have a minimum of something like 32" to "crawl" around in.Given that we have lovely 50 mph winds (wind chill is -34 right now), the insulating factor is going to be tough to deal with, compared to the basement.Obviously if the contractor tells me it's $10k more to do a 240 sq basement than a crawlspace, it's a diff. story. But I'd say if it's 5-7k more I think I'll do it.