What Is The Best Foundation For Building A New House?

What kind of base does your new home design have? Any great floor plan begins with a solid base, so build yours on the best possible conditions. It’s important to choose the right foundation form for your home — get some guidance here, and you are going to make the right choice. Let’s dig deeper and learn more about each form of base.

Slab

Approximately half of all new homes constructed in the U.S. are constructed on slab foundations. Since the slab is by far the most cost-effective alternative, consumers are taking advantage of this budget-friendly option. It’s fast and simple, as far as the foundations are concerned – a slab can often be poured directly on the ground or on a bed of gravel. Your contractor can need to do only a little excavation beforehand to construct a usable surface.

The slab base is a perfect choice for warm and dry climates where the depth of frost is not a matter of concern. They also operate well in places where water tables preclude basements from being feasible. However, a slab probably won’t be a choice if you’re building on a sloping lot (a slab or basement can be your best bet here, depending on your conditions).

Advantages

• Price: In general, slab foundations are your cheapest option when it comes to foundations, an excellent choice if the budget is front-of-mind.
• Low Maintenance: Of all foundation forms, slabs require a minimum amount of maintenance, adding value to their price.

Disadvantages

• Potentially Expensive Repairs: Plumbing systems are buried BELOW on the slab, making repairs costly, since you would have to first crack through the concrete slab to access the pipe. However, with modern technologies, such as pex plumbing systems, increasingly used by builders, the eventual need for access below your slab is much less likely than in the past.
• Bad Weather: Slabs provide insufficient security for your home from storms and other inclement weather events.

Crawlspace

A gateway incorporates the elements of both the basement and the slab foundations. The comparatively inexpensive construction of a crawlspace allows those who hope to stay mindful of the budget. Meanwhile, the 2-3 feet (or more) of space it offers below the home would give its owner much-needed access to mechanical and plumbing fixtures. This will help you save time and money on maintenance for years to come.

A gateway is also a great choice for customers building on a sloping lot. Footings are used to establish a level foundation to construct your home. Crawlspaces are often chosen in most flood zone areas, as the gap between the ground and the first floor serves as a barrier to flood protection.

Advantages

• Accessible Utilities: Addressing the main downside of the slab, the gateway enables better access to your home wiring, pipe and ductwork, making it possible to fix and update in the future.
• Warmer Floors: In comparison to the slab frame, the first floor of a house built on a crawl space doesn’t sound like it’s built on concrete. In fact, the floors appear to be colder, since the crawling space is conditioned.

Disadvantages

• Prone to moisture: even with the construction of state-of-the-art vapor barriers, it is still possible for crawling areas to help the growth of molds and fungi. For this reason, you’re going to want to keep an eye on your ramp. In the case of Reinbrecht Homes, our refurbished crawl spaces further aid with humidity problems in the harbor.
• Little Storm Security: Like slab foundations, crawl spaces give little-to-no security from inclement weather to the structure of your house.

Basement

Basement foundations are the most costly to create, but come with fantastic benefits! When you want to build with this foundation style, you generate an abundance of additional square footage – not to mention access to utilities is a non-issue! Create a gaming space, a family room or a guest suite. Your imagination is the only limit. Buildings in colder climates also opt to build a basement foundation. This is the case because of the rate of ice. Footings for a home must be dug and poured below the local frost mark, so it makes the decision to go a little deeper to make the entire basement much simpler.

Advantages

• More, Cheap Square Footage: The most important advantage to the basement foundation is the extra square footage — and at a much lower cost per square foot than other areas of the building.
• Seasonal Living Space: perfect for smaller footprint houses, the addition of a finished basement creates energy-efficient living spaces that are well suited to changing seasons, warm in winter and cool in summer.
• Easy-Access for Repairs: It goes without saying that it’s faster (and cheaper) for technicians to repair your home utilities by standing up instead of crawling in a rack or digging in a slab.
• Storm Protection: for both you, the residents and your house. Basements make perfect shelters from the worst mother nature can bring on you, while also providing a strong anchor for your home.

Disadvantages

• Increased Cost: The basement is, of course, the most expensive foundation-type of the three listed here — more so if you want to finish the room. Even then, the finished square footage of the basement would most likely be the least costly in your entire house.
• Potential Flooding: You can end up in a flooded basement without a pump. To tackle (and virtually eliminate) flood hazards, we recommend backup of batteries, generators or water-flow backups. However, in all situations , the best scenario to avoid possible flooding is to maintain a natural drainage route.
• Lack of Natural Light: If you’re turning your basement into a living room, and it’s NOT a walkout, you might have to find creative ways to get some light into it. Again, this isn’t a matter of getting out of the basements.