EPLAN.HOUSEIn most of the northern states, the freezing depth is more than 3 feet, and the base of the foundation must be below this depth, so it would be foolish not to use this natural inconvenience to create comfort for yourself. A properly built basement significantly reduces the cost of building one square foot in the construction of the frame and monolithic houses. If you deepen the foundation just below freezing depth, you will get a fairly high base, which will allow you not only to arrange windows in the walls, but sometimes a door.
If you are lucky and you are the owner of a slopping lot, then despite a slight increase in the cost of building a foundation, you will get a chic house with the ability to make two entrances at different levels, as well as build a large terrace on which you can sit in a sun lounger and enjoy the view of the surroundings.
Besides, on the basement floor, you can place a boiler room and other utility rooms, such as a laundry, workshop or storerooms, as well as recreational facilities: a sauna, or a billiard room. Don't be afraid to build a house with a basement if conditions allow. You will then thank yourself all the time that you decided to do this.
If the room is not large, then you can make a gym, sauna or workshop there. And there is no better place to store supplies.
Do not be afraid of the high cost of the basement, which the owners of brick and other heavy houses talk about. In a frame house, the thickness of the outer walls does not exceed 10 inches, and more often 8 inches; the inner walls are built frame, like the rest of the house. This allows you to carry out communications in the walls and in the ceiling, getting significant savings on building materials and construction time, because there is no need to make boxes and shafts for pipes.
For a foundation with a basement, during the construction of a frame house, they do not make a slab under the whole house, but only a screed about 4" thick - again, cheaper and faster. The basement is insulated from the inside by building a thin frame wall along the outer walls or from the outside using expanded polystyrene boards. The floor is also insulated, but the thickness of the insulation is much less than for the Frost Protected Shallow Foundation. Compared with the latter - there is no need to insulate the blind area. Therefore, the cost of building a house with a basement is ultimately lower than the cost of building a house without a basement. If you do not equip the basement immediately during construction, then do it later.
