Basement House Plans

Can any house plan have a basement?

Yes, any house plan can have a basement if the local zoning and landscape permit it. To map out what your basement could be in your new home, our collection of home plans with a basement includes various types of this foundation. The basement foundation describes our traditional layouts without doors or windows, while the daylight basement contains windows. The walkout basement takes the most advantage of a sloped lot, allowing you to walk out onto the backyard through a door.

What are the three types of basements for house plans?

You start with three basements when designing a basement in your home: masonry wall, precast panel, and poured concrete wall.

• Masonry Wall Basements. The basement walls are constructed with bricks or stone (masonry). There are a lot of joints where bricks connect, so make sure your basement is adequately reinforced, and the walls are waterproofed to avoid water seepage, which will cause significant damage to your home’s foundation.
• Precast Panel Basements. The walls on precast concrete comprise high-strength concrete panels made off-site and contain solid concrete studs for load-bearing support and a built-in concrete footing. These panels can save time and money because they are made ahead of time and often result in drier and warmer basements since they have fewer slabs than masonry.
• Poured Concrete Wall Basements. These are the most common type of basement style on the market because the solid construction resists cave-in more than the other two options, and it is more fire and water-resistant since it has the fewest voids of all types of basements.

Is a basement better than a slab foundation?

Many people, including builders, prefer house plans with a basement because it gives you additional space if your total footprint is limited. If you can’t build out, build up or down!

What are the advantages of a walkout basement?

House plans with a walkout basement have many noticeable benefits and disadvantages that may not be obvious immediately. Here are the many advantages of having a walkout basement:

• It increased natural light. A walkout basement includes doors and windows, giving it almost as much natural light as many other rooms in your home, making it feel much more inviting than other, more closed-in basements.
• Multiple room configuration options. Basements are giant blank canvases, and with a walkout basement, you can add even more features to make them easily accessible. For example, build a large home office or look at house plans with bedrooms in the basement as an in-law suite. You could even add a full bar!
• It increased home value. While a basement may not increase the square footage of your home, it does increase the value and the “livable” space in the house, which ups the value of your house compared to the others on the block.  
• Potential extra income. As stated above, you can add an entire small suite in a walkout basement, making it perfect for long- or short-term rental, meaning you could earn an extra monthly income and increase your home’s value!
• Additional emergency escapes. From a safety and security perspective, having a walkout basement can give you a little extra peace of mind knowing you and your family have just a few more ways to get out of the house in an emergency.

What is the difference between a daylight basement and a walkout basement?

Daylight basement house plans differ from walkout basements in one significant way: there’s no door. So if you want to get some natural sunlight into your basement without all the hassle of adding a door, look no further than a daylight basement. These are perfect for malfunctioning rooms, game rooms, or offices.