Should you Build your House without a Basement?

[@DeuceDeuceBravo]

All valid points, but what about overall cost per square foot? With building material pricing these days it's a lot cheaper to build a finished basement than to put all the square footage above grade (at least here in New England). I'd much rather have two stories above grade with a slab, but the cost difference is huge.

[@Theconsciousbuilder]

It would depend on the site conditions. If you're building on a lot in a rural area where we build, you would need to bring in a lot of fill to bring up the lot to acomodate a basement because of where the water table is. Or you may hit bedrock and pay a lot to chip the bedrock.

[@DeuceDeuceBravo]

@@Theconsciousbuilder Great points. A lot of the building lots around us are very rocky and might require blasting through ledge, which obviously gets very expensive.

[@KrossKountry595]

Hey I thought slabs were to be avoided in cold areas? Also , from your experience, are homes more desirable with a basement vs slab?

[@agisler87]

Would uou say the same thing about a crawlspace? Having the mechanicals accessable especially plumbing is really appealing.

[@Theconsciousbuilder]

The only mechanicals we typically run in a concrete slab is the plumbing drainage and maybe a water line if there's no way to get to an area from the top (ie. an island with a sink in a kitchen). It's very rare for plumbing to fail so having a crawl space just for this is not worth the headache if you can avoid it. Crawl spaces create for volume that need to be conditioned and potential for moisture issues. It also makes it harder to keep the air barrier continuous and it adds more framing. Nobody ever likes to work in a crawl space either!

[@yunus203]

Very informative

[@Mountain-Man-3000]

I'm going to have 2 basements

[@Theconsciousbuilder]

Go you!

[@mohibquadri4053]

Sir could you suggest me how to get a job as fresher beginner after 4 yrs of gap due to family reasons, i am a hvac design engineer in Aec construction industry completed my studies then internship of 6 months also experience in 2019 but i haven't joined any company bcoz my mother was working alone here in my hometown so i helped her with domestic works etc but now i am free after this month to hunt for a job so i am anxious about how should i plan or approach the upcoming challenges now to get hired effectively without wasting time or coming across as unprofessional in any way infront of recruiters ? What books would be useful to read for around this topic to know more about getting selected faster in company ??

[@Theconsciousbuilder]

Hi, sounds like you may want to reach out to HVAC design companies. Best of luck with your job hunt!