Little house plans, with basement

mtman · July 06, 2009, 03:00:41 PM

Hi all,
Looking at building something small for full time living for 1-2 people. Looking to buy land in country, maybe beside national forest and building something like 14x24 to 16x24 with loft for sleeping. Was looking at building a basement first year to live in while building the rest the following summer.
Guess I want to know if its worth it being that small and if anyone has done it. Any pics to share would be great! Tell me what you have done, or ideas that are along these lines.

MushCreek · July 06, 2009, 03:28:23 PM

A basement is a great way to double your square footage inexpensively, if you do it right. A damp, moldy basement is worse than useless. Also, it's very hard to fit code legal stairs into very small houses. I'm trying to design something in the 1000 sq ft range, and the stairs eat up a frustratingly large amount of space. If you don't have inspection where you plan to build, you could get away with a ladder, I suppose, just like for a loft. Basements are cool in the summer, and (relatively) warm in the winter, so the space is easy to make livable. I like a walk-out basement, built into a hill side, so at least one wall can have windows and a door.

July 06, 2009, 05:03:11 PM

You have came up with all the same points I have MushCreek. Right now I'm starting to look for land, and hope to get where I can call it a cabin and build what I want. Have been browsing this site for awhile, and there are so many fine cabins and small homes on here it makes it hard to decide on your own plan!

MushCreek · July 06, 2009, 06:22:34 PM

We've already got our little slice of heaven- 7 acres in the SC mountains, almost in to NC. We've got a nice view of the Blue Ridge. We needed something within a reasonable commute of a decent sized city so we can find work. We're only 15 miles from the center of Greenville, but our area is very rural. Being that close to a city, we have to deal with inspections and building codes, but they seem reasonable to deal with, and permits would only be "a couple hundred dollars" in their words. Ours will be our final home (I hope) so a lot of thought is going in to it. I may put up a quick little cabin this fall as a temporary home while I build the main house.

Good luck finding just the right piece of land. Make sure you do your homework to make sure it's a good place for your needs, and doesn't flood every spring or something like that. We started with 2 dozen properties to look at, and by the end of the day, there were only 2 that we would consider. Oddly enough, the first one we looked at was the best! Offer made, accepted, done deal.

i wish we were up north · July 07, 2009, 12:23:52 AM

I also have a question about the stairs. If you are putting in a basement anyway is it feasible to add a 3' or 4' bumpout along one wall for the stairs? Kind of like the old bulkhead basement entry only all of the way up so you could access the stairs from the "future" main level? It is something I have been thinking about for a long time. This is what I was talking about http://www.basement-doors.com/ .

If it were made as a double back stair then you could also access the outdoors from a landing 1/2 way upstairs if your lot (like mine) would not support a walk-out basement. My lot will probably only be able to support a daylight basement and those windows will be facing North. It will look like a bi-level from the backyard.

Just a thought....

July 07, 2009, 04:18:08 AM

That was one of the many ideas I had. I don't see why it wouldn't work. I also toyed with the idea of a spiral stair in a half-round turret- could be an interesting architectural feature. Since mine will be our only house,and I plan to use the basement a lot, I decided a straight stair would be the most practical. Part of the space over the stairs is recoverable for storage, such as a closet.

archangel · July 09, 2009, 09:11:10 PM

Have you thought of a horizontal door?

Like a trap door in the floor that when close it you don't see it as it's now a part of the floor.

Also, the slanted storm cellar style door, but incorporated into the porch would work so you can access it rain or shine.

Redoverfarm · July 09, 2009, 09:18:34 PM

I think that is a "Bilco door" something like this.

http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/doors/replace/specialty/basement1/bilco.htm

John Raabe · July 10, 2009, 12:10:44 AM

As was suggested, I think if I were doing a 14' wide Little House with a usable loft and basement I would use a pop-out stair tower that goes from basement up to the loft. It would be about 7'-6" wide by 8' deep and house the universal "U" shaped stair. It could have a shed roof sloping down over the landing at the peak. That way you wouldn't take out interior floorspace for the stair. I would place that stairway loosely along a sidewall wall first and then see how the spaces layout adjusting the stair forward or back to make the interior work best. Stack plumbing where possible.

July 14, 2009, 03:31:48 PM

That's why I ask here, ideas I never even dreamed of. Never thought of a pop out tower.

archangel · July 14, 2009, 06:16:07 PM

A pop out stair tower??

I can't fine any reference to what it is.

Redoverfarm · July 14, 2009, 07:44:48 PM

In essence I believe it is an exterior stairway built off the outside wall. Fully enclosed as part of the structure it just "pops out" or protrudes from the main residence to incorporate a stairway. Maybe John has another take that I am not familar with.

archangel · July 14, 2009, 11:26:08 PM

OH!
I've seen those, and they are about the just plain UGLY!

I'd rather a spiral inside or one of those steep ladder like stairs where the steps are so step they are notched left and right to clear your feet stepping up!

Don_P · July 15, 2009, 07:50:14 AM

The steps you are describing are called alternating tread or ships ladders. They would be non code between habitable spaces

. I just worked in a house with a 5' spiral. Carrying and wearing tools was not real fun. Getting stuff of any size upstairs requires a "plan B". The bumpout with a real stair would be more functional, it need not be ugly, its all about design.

July 15, 2009, 11:19:39 AM

I really have to agree with Don_P on that one. It is all design, by design that makes home or building functionalable and useful for the long haul. Steep stairs are okay when you are young and well flexible and a spiral stair case is an adventure for sure. I have seem several stair towers or bump-outs that actually worked to ventilate a structure and incorporated into them great natural lighting provided by rather small well placed windows that added to the multi-functional purpose. I have also seem examples where they have incorporated spaces for books and like a reading bench/bed where you can sit or lay under the stairs where it makes transition. You can do so many things if you are willing to use and work with your imagination. A little graph paper and an open mind and you can sketch in a lot of function into any space that you have to work with.

Now with that said when we build our home up up at the our ranch I would love to incorporate a spiral stair case made from a dead tree I have my eye on located up there. I sort of have it penciled in to run it up to the loft from the front room or great room or gathering room what ever the architect is going to call it. I got the idea from this same forum. It is more just something I really want to do than anything else. It will be functionalble and sort of like in built in furniture. Truthfully more for the grandkids and their kids if it stays in the family that much longer. Yet the house will also have a more humane means of 'getting up there'. Be it a bump out or stairway off the kitchen it will have a regular stairway. Reason being is to get things up and down with out being the Great Houdini or Rickey the Great Chop Saw Artist.

archangel · July 16, 2009, 10:18:25 AM

I would just push out one wall rather than bump out a small portion of it and try and do some kind of convoluted insulation around it.

How would just a small portion sticking out be structurally?

Just extend the wall a few feet, insulate all around it and add the stairs in a straight run.

Don_P · July 16, 2009, 10:01:07 PM

I like for stairs to have a landing partway down. I took a trip down a set as a kid, sure wish they hadn't been a long straight run

Structurally an articulated section can strengthen a building if done right. I know I said spirals can be tight to get up and down, but not always, 4 stories and room to pass on this set. You'd think they had enough room but even here they went for the bumpout stair tower