House design

[woodsteach]

Here is the story:

We are planning on building a house next spring.  So we are in the design process.  We have the location,  on a flat spot that is about 24' above where the garden, orchard, and ridding arena will be.  It will have 9' or 10' tall basement walls with a walk out down to the garden.  That is the easy part.

Here are questions we have?

Is a 2 story house cheaper to build than a single story?  ex less roofing, plumbing can line up (shorter runs)

Is a square house cheaper than a rectangle?  ex 40'x40'= 1600 sqft  with 1600 l.f. of wall.  vs a 30'x50' =1500 sqft with 1600 lf of wall.

Is a sq house easier to heat/cool?  air movement


That is all for now

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

In the Carolinas, the way the economy is, it is cheaper to buy a house than it is to build a house right now.

I can't answer all your questions, but I wish you the best and hope you send us pics as you begin your project.
You'll love your basement, Woodsteach.

[sandhills]

Sorry I can't help but glad you brought it up, my wife and I are thinking along the same lines.  I'm anxious to hear what the pros have to say, I've dreamt our house a million different ways, just hope we can get it right, good luck and keep us posted.

[Ianab]

I'd think a single level house would be cheaper to construct. Simpler construction and engineering. With a 2 story house you need to engineer the ground floor to support the floor above. A stairway looses you some floor space, and adds cost.

Most of the local "budget" designed houses are a simple rectangle layout. Possible a square would be the most efficient, but you then have a longer span for the roof trusses, and harder to lay out the floor plan to give natural light to all the rooms.

To simplify the plumbing, all the "service" rooms would be along one wall, kitchen, laundry, toilet, bathroom, and you would have that wall facing away from the sun. North in your case, South here. This leaves your living and dining rooms on the sunny side.

You would end up with something like this, which is sold locally by one of my clients. Simple, and about as cheap as you can build a real house.
http://www.valuehomes.co.nz/#/kitset-option/4542871354

Those plans are about 1,000sq ft, but scaling them up slightly doesn't really change the design ideas, just gives you slightly bigger rooms.

Ian

[shinnlinger]

In New Hampshire and areas where it is cold, and you want a conventional foundation, you usually go two stories.  That is because you need to go down 5 ft to get past the frost line.  Since you went down 5 you might as well go 8 to get a full basement for just a little more $ but since the concrete cost is significant you want to stack as much as you can on it, hence 2 stories.

My house is rectangular with the long wall facing due south to take advantage of sun in winter but with decent overhang to keep sun out in summer.  I have a central stair ending in a cupola to allow venting in summer and transfer of heat in winter.

Ian's comments are good points as well.  Back the kitchen "water wall" up the the bathrooms and stick the 2nd floor bath on top of the 1st.

All that said, if you and your family are doing a significant amount of the work, you will save so much money you can retire early.  Well maybe not, but every time I got sick of building my house and got a quote or to two to have someone else come in, the sticker shock got me off my keister.

Dave

[Norm]

From a cost per square foot a two story is cheaper to build. Square versus rectangular is not much difference to build but cheaper for running your utilities, ie wiring plumbing and such. Heating and cooling would not make much of a difference.

[woodsteach]

Thank you all for the replies. 

Ian happy birthday and thanks for the link.

Dave, do you have your plans available?  So your house is 2 stories + basement and is a rectangle footprint?  How many sq ft?

In the Carolinas, the way the economy is, it is cheaper to buy a house than it is to build a house right now.

I looked at moving a very well kept up 120 yr old house 25 miles to my location and WOW!  60-80k in moving it alone! 

Paul

[Ianab]

Having to build serious foundations for the frost would change things. Here you can just pour a slab or sit the house on wooden piles, relatively cheap. If you have to put in 1/2 a basement anyway, then going the whole way makes sense.

Ian