Basement cost vs slab cost

MrJT

MrJT

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Hello forum!

The good news is after so many, many years of living in the city of Scranton, my wife and I are going to build a home outside of the city.

Bad news... They want money to build it!

We're in the early stages, but I have a question for those who may have had either constructed in recent years:

What's the cost of a basment and the cost of a slab?

We're building small.. the basement or slab will be 1200 sq ft, no corners. 30X40. The ground is pretty flat so a good amount of digging would be needed for a basement.

Any input? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
 
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Basement would be great. Allows increased size and value. Just make sure the "lay" of the land will allow it, so you can have good water run-off AWAY from the basement.
 
My information is a little dated... We had a house built in 1999 with a daylight basement, i.e., not a lot of digging. The 2000 square foot basement added $20K to the cost at the time we signed the contract. When the house was completed 6 months later, the price for the basement had increased to $30K for new buyers. It was absolutely worth it for us. We finished it off into our "play rooms"; our kids have a playroom with TV and games, my wife has her art studio, and I have my woodshop. It really helps resale value, too.
 
I would kill for a basement.... but down here we call em "pools" LOL If I were to build, and could afford it, I could not resist a basement.
 
Man, do it, make the basement "Man's Land" it'll give you your own space and add resale value. What's not to like?
Our basement's finished as a Medieval dungeon with swords, armor and a plastic skeleton. It has a pool table, dart board, bar and a jacuzzi. I've also got a small workshop tucked in one corner and a toilet in the other. We have a finished attic and it serves as a huge walk in closet for my wife with a 20" clothes rod. She can keep all her clutter up there. The garage and basement are clutter free zones.
 
The bottom line is whether the slope of the land, soil composition and water table are contusive to a basement or not. There are large parts of Texas where a basement is a no-no due to either soil composition or water table. Where I live the water table is about 6-7 feet. Houses have a post and beam foundation. Unless there are a lot of successful basements near where you are building, get an engineering opinion on a basement. They do not cost that much.
 
I guess I'm the odd man out here. We built a new house 7 years ago and we did NOT want a basement. We had owned 2 different houses in the past and they both had very damp basements that we didn't, couldn't use for anything.

Our house has a full foundation, footer with 4 row of block on top with a cement slab poured inside. It is on a level 1 1/2 acre lot in the country. For me the only way I would consider a basement is if I was building on a sloped lot where there would be at least one exposed basement wall.

The gun room idea in the basement doesn't appeal to me. If you do have a fire where is the house going to burn and fall into? Where is all the water going to go from the fire dept? So much for your guns, ect.

For storage we have an attic above the garage.

For cost comparison I can't help there as we didn't price it both ways as we didn't want the basement. Resale may suffer, but we built what we wanted. Hopefully this will be our last house, the kids can worry about the resale.
 
Don't build a house on a slab though unless you plan on paying a lot of $ to heat the slab (and ground its on). I could never get our last house to feel warm in the winter due to the slab floor.
 
The next choice is Slab vs. crawl space, if you can't do a basement.
As mentioned, check with the homes in the area, you can add a stem wall and landscape up to the home.
Congrats on the move.
Good luck
tb
 
The basement costs a lot more than slab

But it would be great to have a basement. Once you build, the opportunity is gone. My bro had one in Missouri and he pretty much had another house underneath the one he lived in.
 
EugeneNine said:
Don't build a house on a slab though unless you plan on paying a lot of $ to heat the slab (and ground its on). I could never get our last house to feel warm in the winter due to the slab floor.
Click to expand...

EugeneNine, I gave a lot of thought about putting heat in the floor, but decided against it due to cost. I have an electric heat pump and that is what we used the first winter and I will admit my floor was "cool" not cold. You didn't notice it on the carpeted areas but did notice it on the laminated and tiled areas.

The second winter I put in a pellet stove and it heats the whole house, 1600 square feet. AND the floors are not "cool" anymore. I burn approx. 3 ton of pellets per year. Very nice warm house and cheap heat.
 
superior wall

Build the basement. The HVAC and water heater go down there, freeing space upstairs. Plumbing repairs easier and cheaper than with a slab. Superior Walls - Simply Superior is the place to check out if they have a builder in your area. Price is less than a conventional basement and you get a better basement. They use precast walls, installation about two days. It is common here for builders to build a basement on grade, then raise the front grade to the top of the basement. This lowers installation cost more. Also leaves the back avail for a garage in basement or walk out finished space . Once you have a basement that is built right, ie water tite , you will not want to have a house without one
 
There is no way I'd build without a basement. We built 3 years ago and went from a terrible dungeon to the current sahara equivalent basement we have. We got an energy star home (that means nothing much) except that the builder went all out on the basement. He did a good job, complete with the footer on both sides had gravel and drainage pipes. Then the floor above it sloped just a little and a sump system (but those only work if you have electricity.) I can go downstairs and hear water running. But its only in the summer and its condensate from the AC. Yes, the basement does have its own open ducts and its kept cool in summer and warm in the winter.

There are some minor tradeoffs. The homes with basements have the furnace and water heater. They're fairly easy to work on and take up no upstairs room. But you lose it in the stairs, etc.

All builders aren't the same. There are different skill levels and some just do a great job. Others maybe not so much. Our builder subbed it out to a company that has a great reputation. They work fast and good.

There's just no way I'd ever consider not having a basement. Its beyond great.
 
I've got a weight room, mechanical room, work room, 6 closets, a full bathroom, tv/entertainment area, game/pool table area and a full bar in my walkout basement. I couldn't imagine living without one. Almost regardless of cost.
 
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