Build A One-Story House Or Two?

 

A Lifestyle and Cost Decision In House Building


Because you’re building a house yourself  to save money, you should give serious consideration to building a two-story house.

A two-story house is much cheaper to build than a one-story of comparable square footage.
My experience has been that savings of ten thousand dollars are possible on a 4000 square foot house.  The savings accrue in primarily two areas: foundation and roofing. 

 

The perfect cost-saving two-story design is commonly called a “box.”


This type of design has exterior walls that, in most cases, rise straight from ground to roof level with few or no offsets or corners that aren’t necessary.


Such a design is by far the most cost-efficient.  It allows one square foot of foundation to serve two square feet of living space, with the same being true for roofing.

  

A box design doesn’t need to look “boxy”.

This attractive design is a house I built that is a virtually perfect example of the “two-for-one” principle.


The lifestyle question is primarily about stairs.  Some people just don’t like
them.

That issue can be dealt with to some extent by placing the master bedroom downstairs.  I look at stairs as aerobic exercise I should be doing anyway.

I don’t advocate one over the other.  It’s strictly an individual choice.